Christmas in Leipzig

A reader named Theresa emailed us recently with the following: "My name is - as you may have seen - Theresa, I am a 23 year old student of Book and Media Production in Leipzig/Germany. My large interest in Fashion, Interior Design and everything vintage. I am living at my blog www.neu4bauer.blogspot.com for more than 2 years now. What I like best about my 60 sqm appartment in the Eastern part of Germany are the high ceiling with ornaments, the amazing light because of many windows and the fact that almost all furniture (table, desk, drawers, ...) are made by my grandfather or taken from the attic of my grandma. We did a lot of refurbishing last year ;)" I am completely jealous of Theresa's space. Those windows! The ceiling height! The herringbone hardwood! And she has decorated it sooooo beautifully. (Geez, when I was a student I lived in a freezing cold, tiny, low ceiling basement apartment on the main bar strip). Thank you for sharing your home with us Theresa!!

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Every day life is beautiful...

I have been sick with yet another cold all week, but my spirits were instantly lifted the other day when I saw that we had received an email from Fabien, whose home in France (which he shares with Frédérique) I had posted back in June of last year. It seems Fabien and Frédérique have recently moved to another part of France and although their home is not decorated completely, they wanted to share it with us. And am I ever glad I did because once again the photos are beautiful and in the world of interior design where so often it's all frou-frou and expensive furniture and each item is placed JUST SO, it's nice to see how "normal" people live. (They are updating their website Harmonie intérieure and it will include some gorgeous raku pottery that Frédérique is working on - a couple photos of it are after the jump). Thanks again Fabien!

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Reader's home - kitchen renovation

Morgan of Seattle, WA emailed about the recently completed remodel of her mid century modern house and wanted to share her new spiffy kitchen. Here is some info from Morgan: "Here are a few "before" shots of the kitchen...the pictures are the fuzzy wide lens shots that realtors take...it was way worse in person :-)"

"A wall came down, the 20 year old laminate floors and formica countertops came out and my dream kitchen with an island went in! We bought this circa 1956 house in Northwest Seattle last spring for its kitchen-remodel potential. Galley kitchens are the norm in Seattle and mid century houses are rare in the close in neighborhoods. When we found this house, we were so excited to have a home where the kitchen was the heart! I had a folder on my desktop full of images from desiretoinspire, ready to put to good use in our design process. Thank you for the inspiration!
The backsplash tile is Villeroy-Boch in an awesomely European large format- 12" by 36". After falling in love with $70 a foot tiles at Ann Sacks it was a huge relief to find this at $12 a foot! The cabinets are walnut and the countertops are white quartz." I love it all - the walnut cabinetry and the backsplash are HOT, and I'm a sucker for white quartz countertops. Great job Morgan!!! Check out the after photos after the jump!

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Reader's home in Oslo

Anne-Lise, an avid reader of our little blog, emailed us the following: "I have been meaning to send in pictures of my own apartment in Oslo for a while now. It is in a building from 1901 in a cosy neighbourhood. Crown moldings and hardwood floors are original and in great shape. The style is somewhat mixed of Scandinavian with some old finds from grandparents etc, and some things are things that I have either made myself, like the large lamp in the living room. I created that along with my father by using seven lamps from Ikea. The dining table and chairs were in a sad condition when my sister gave them to me, but with lots of love, sanding and oil they all came back to life. It is sad to me that I have to say goodbye to the place, but alas I cannot take it with me to Paris, France where I have just bought a new place." What better way to say goodbye than to have a little DTI feature on a Friday! I can see why you'll be sad to see this place go Anne-Lise, but moving to Paris is so exciting! Hope you'll share photos of your new home with us once you're settled. :)

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A home in Marseille

Last week I blogged a reader request for industrial kitchens. As a result we received an email from Céline, who wanted to share her loft in downtown Marseille, the south of France. She sent some photos of her industrial kitchen, along with photos of her dining room and patio (which took 6 months to create) and a couple before photos. "In the dining room and kitchen we mixed vintage letterboxes, my father's old shop 'comptoir' with antique carrera marble, old advertising, a station board, tolix chairs ...." I adore the kitchen - it's far from sparse which gives it such an inviting feel. It's eclectic and creative and the result is functional and convenient. Fantastic job Céline!!