Reader's home - Elisabeth's lake house

This little blog apparently supplied Elisabeth with inspiration to come up with this absolutely incredible lake house. WOWZERS. I can't help but feel like a proud mother because this weekend getaway is a DREAM. I bow down to her for coming up with that 'sub' kitchen - I have plans for something similar in my next house and now I'm totally sold on the idea. (FYI: Her architect was Jay Corder)

the house is right outside of austin, tx on the pedernales river. we live in houston and drive there as many weekends as possible to relax, have family time and let our kids wakeboard on our boat.
the house is 3000 sq ft. with four bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths. there are a lot of great aspects about the house. the bunk room is cool because it was built to be an indoor/outdoor room for the kids - bunks inside with huge glass sliding doors that open out onto the 'outdoor' part of the room - a screened sleeping porch. we also have another interesting interior design aspect which is what we call our 'sub' kitchen. we have 2 main kitchen counters out in the main living space and then the sub kitchen is a small room adjacent to the kitchen that houses the refrigerator, shelf storage, an extra dishwasher and counter appliances and can be closed off with giant barn doors to hide all of that or to hide dishes after a dinner so the party can go on without a mess.
we love the simplicity of the house. it is incredibly functional and also provides such a relaxing respite for our family.

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A mag feature and some dishes

It's a busy week & weekend for me so I didn't have time to do much blog surfing for my blog favourites post so instead I give you more stuff I took photos of. First up is a magazine feature - 6 whole pages! - of my kitchen renovation. It's the Well-Styled Home summer 2013 issue of Kitchens & Baths. 

Another major event this week was the arrival of more of my Wonkiware dishes from Green Light District. When Deborah & David's shop was located here in Ottawa, I discovered these gorgeous handmade dishes from an artist in South Africa and fell in love. I purchased a few pieces each time I visited (they're investment dishes shall I say) hoping to eventually acquire a decent amount to be able to use them when having peeps over for a meal. I had a set of 4 (soup bowls, pasta bowls, side plates and dinner plates) and when I heard from Deborah that the artist had unexpectedly changed up the style of some of them, she agreed to bring some to Ottawa with her on a recent trip. I totally adore these dishes and have blogged them before (I think the last time was here) but could not resist taking more photos as these are my dream dishes and I am overjoyed to now have a set of 8 (except for side plates, Deborah only had 2 left of the original style). 

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Anna Cardell extra

I'm not usually a fan of red, black and white kitchens but this one is super cute! Not sure why the stove is located where it is but hey, you gotta cook somewhere! Styled by Anna Cardell.

Alexander James - kitchens

As promised, here are some kitchens captured by the gifted photographer and my new obsession, Alexander James.

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Henrybuilt

It's been several years since I first heard about Henrybuilt kitchens. I have lusted after their kitchens from that moment on. Modern and clean lines yet they exude warmth. We don't usually blog "products" but this is more about some fabulously designed kitchens, and when the folks at Henrybuilt sent over some photos, I was more than happy to share them here (especially when I heard their new range offers more traditional and rustic options). The next time I'm due for new kitchen cabinets, I'm totally going to harass these folks to hook me up. ;)

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