Kim's personal links
MY FAVOURITE DECOR SHOPS IN OTTAWA
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kitchen remodel in my last house
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my twin sister's mostly kid's rooms decor blog
I found this really cool New Zealand home with a midcentury modern vibe and lots and lots of wood and had to share. Designed by Bull O'Sullivan Architecture, it has some interesting features like the groupings of light fixtures throughout the main space (an electrician's nightmare) and the floor to ceiling window looking out onto the backyard. I'm not sure I could live with this much wood but it certainly makes the space feel warm and "earthy".
The Rock House, perched on the edge of a cliff in the outskirts of Stockholm on Lake Mälaren. Designed by Arkitektstudio Widejdal Racki. What a beautiful location, and the mix of concrete, glass and wood creates a modern and organic retreat. I find it a bit cold but with the addition of more rugs and some plants, I think it would be the perfect getaway home.
The folks of Toronto design firm Prototype Design Lab sent along photos of a project they recently completed that I had to share. This is a family cottage in northern Ontario (McKellar) and it is unlike any 'cottage' I have ever seen. When I think cottage I envision pine panelled walls, a rustic kitchen and some antlers on the wall. This cottage IS NOT THAT. We designed this cottage for a family that loves to entertain, cook, and eat. Their whole lifestyle is based around the kitchen, so right off the bat we knew that this space had to be functional, but incredible. The kitchen starts out like a restaurant kitchen, with durable, stainless steel surfaces, but is designed to be warm and eclectic with a great mix of modern & vintage fixtures; pendant lamps, floating shelves and stunning blackened steel-framed chalkboard panels acting as cabinet doors. Then there are some really warm elements such as a reclaimed barn wood wall & ceiling feature, marble counter tops, glass shelving & and reclaimed wine crate table. The palette of the space suggest vintage, contemporary and industrial all at the same time!
You know your friends would be bugging you constantly to spend boring winter weekends at your cabin if this was yours. And in the summer? Absolutely! Another perfectly executed home by _naturehumaine. Having bought a beautiful plot of wooded land in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, the client dreamt of building a country house that would be in perfect symbiosis with its natural environment. The house is characterized by two stacked volumes; a wooden clad volume anchored into the mountain supports a cantilevering ground floor volume above. This gable roofed volume raised into the air gives the sensation that the house is floating amongst the trees. Vast views of Mount Orford and the valley below are framed by a long horizontal strip window. The kitchen and master bathroom are carved out of a black volume at the center of the house dividing living spaces from the master bedroom.
One of my favourite Canadian architecture firms continues to impress me with their ingenuity and attention to detail. _naturehumaine blew me away with this home in Montreal. The clients had outgrown their 1920's house on a large lot on Montreal’s south shore. They wanted a contemporary extension that would harmonize with their existing house and highlight and expose the structural brick. The existing house and the extension were separated by a glazed volume where the vertical circulation of the house is located. The extension is organized into 2 intertwining volumes. A brick volume makes up the base and becomes the support for a steel clad volume that projects out into the backyard. The 'sleeping basket' is found at this projection where a large window frames the foliage. This becomes a space to relax and gaze out towards the garden as well as an area for the children to play while maintaining contact with the kitchen and dining spaces below.
The new extension is subtle in its detail, and with a flat roof line matching the old house, seems to blend fairly seamlessly.
Of course, because they are brilliant, _naturehumaine kept the brick of the old part of the house exposed. AS THEY SHOULD. :)
Are you sick of pot lights too? LOOK WHAT THEY DID HERE!!!
That storage pod thing is pretty cool, housing a 'secret' powder room.
Mon, 2 Mar 2015