Tugging at the heart strings

Sometimes a house just talks to you. Sometimes the connection is so strong you stop and daydream about living there. Sometimes you just draw your breath in sharply and use the "f" word. This house is my house. My house in my dreams. OK so there are things I'd change here and there. I'd have lots more art, it's screaming out for sculpture, add a bit more mid-century modern and a touch of quirkiness (besides the kilim sofa)- but this house!! Oh this house is the perfect shell for my dreams. Starting it's life as a dark little cottage it has been expanded and opened up while cocooning in and its beauty lies in the reclaimed timbers and the inside/outside blend. So do you get the idea that I really like it? Real estate stalking here.

realestate.com.au

I want this bathroom!

I was real estate stalking .... again, when I came across this great idea for a bathroom vanity. Find yourself an interesting deco dresser, remove the mirror (better still find one without - it will be so much cheaper), install the plumbing and then you'll have the perfect one off vanity for your very understated red bathroom. I've included a couple more photos just to give you a feel of the warehouse this bathroom is in. Unfortunately not enough fabulous photos to satisfy my curiosity. One question though. Why don't people clean before the real estate photos? The dirty marks on the doors are driving me crazy and the soap scum on the red tiles? It must go :)

realestate.com.au

If I were a house .....

Long time readers will remember a series of posts I did featuring rooms that spoke so much to me that I could see myself not only in them but as them. I had the same longing to "be" a place when I first saw this Creekside Guest House by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. The firm is well known and respected for their consideration of place and user, the meaning and sensibilities, the possibilities and sensitivity. Their portfolio is diverse as is expected from a large firm but it is this simple yet refined building which not only addresses but embraces its site that took my breath away. I love it. I want to live in it. Take the time to view their work particularly their residential, renovation and adaptive reuse projects. They are truly a gifted firm.

Hotze Eisma

Do you notice who takes the photos of your favourite rooms in interior design magazines? Do you file your tearsheets for future reference but never google the stylist or the photographer? I've been drawn to the work of Hotze Eisma ever since I stuck a post-it-note on a page of shots of stylist Reineke Groters in Elle Decoration a number of years ago. Since then I have found that whenever a photo of a wonderful and quirky home tugs at my heart strings it's inevitably one of Hotze's. I bookmarked his website months ago to share but somehow I never did. Go there now. You'll discover an amazing talent and the most wonderful and prolific portfolio. Careful you don't overdose!

Images from Hotze Eisma

Bus roll envy

One of my favourite things is a vintage bus roll. Love them! Have several. I used to find them in flea markets in the old days but now it's eBay. It looks like I have competition. Jennifer from Atlanta emailed. "I fell in love with the destination rolls and got one on eBay from London!!! I put stretcher bars together for my frame and stapled fabric to the sides. Then I used upholstery nails to tack the sign to the frame. I thought you'd like to see the finished product!!!" The upholstery nails are brilliant. If you've tried to stretch one of these babies you'll know there is not much spare fabric on the sides. I am so jealous of your roll Jennifer. Great destinations and fabulous job! (And from what I can see of your house, it's fabulous too!)