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
This Capel Sound home designed by Melbourne Architects Altereco Design has such a soothing, serene vibe brought on by lots of white, beautiful wood floors and streamlined kitchen and bath. So much potential once the homeowners ad their personal touches. Serenity now.
Always intrigued by how architects join an existing structure with a new addition, this one is a new favourite. Andrew Maynard Architects took neighbouring terrace homes (owned by two generations of the same family) and extended both at the rear, stacking the structure 3 levels high. Not trying to blend the old with the new, these brilliant architects separated them with a clear gap using glass infills. The new form is clad entirely with cedar, which is beautiful juxtaposed with the brick of the original homes. And the outline of the house in black is so damn cute.
One report, three interior stylists, one apartment, three ways. When Sweden's leading real estate brokerage firm Fastighetsbyrån wanted to know what effect styling a home for sale had on the price and how fast it sold they enlisted the aid of design psychologist Sally Augustin. Her report shows that home styling works if done correctly. The buyer must connect consciously and unconsciously with the home. They need to imagine themselves living there, moving right in, daydreaming and scheming how to get it. OK we all say. Fair enough. Nothing new there. That could have been the end of Fastighetsbyrån's research but ... they decided to take it one step further. They took one apartment and let three stylists, Mikael Beckman, Hans Blomquist and Tina Hellberg, mess with our minds and our hearts and make it into their version of our dream home. They put the research in practice. So now there is one apartment three ways and I have one big problem. I can't make up my mind which one I am moving into. They are all tugging at my heart strings.
First is classic modern by Mikael Beckman.
A modern take on the Australian corrugated shed vernacular this interior alteration to an existing 3 bedroom 1919 house provides open plan living, dining and kitchen with study mezzanine above while sheilding the rear of the house from the prying eyes of the residents of the large block of apartments behind. Tamarama Semi-Detached by David Langston-Jones.
I have always been intrigued by infill projects (especially over the past couple of years when I thought I was going to take on my own infill build). To see what an architect can come up with - does it blend with neighbouring homes, does it stick out like a sore thumb? And how does it make use of the typically small parcel of land it inhabits? In this case it is a much more modern residence than the surrounding 1920s homes, but it works. The exterior brick and the peaked rook mimics the homes on either side. And a simple yet brilliant idea to have a strip of different flooring material on the ground floor to give the impression of a corridor. Kudos to Drew Mandel Architects on this one.
Fri, 28 Nov 2014