A bold and beautiful kitchen reno

I wanted to share an email and some photos with you all from a DTI reader: "I am Dana from Romania, one of your avid readers for some time now, and I have to tell you that desiretoinspire.net helped me with a lot of inspiration for my new apartment :) When I saw your post about Daniel and Helene Gauthier's kitchen in acid green, I was awed by the resemblance with my new kitchen furniture, so I waited to finish it completely, and then I just had to show you how it turned out :). I wanted to use this vivid color in my kitchen for a very long time, but my former kitchen was to small, and I was afraid it will look crowded. Now I have a larger kitchen (I transformed one bedroom into kitchen), so I could play with colors easily! I used white on walls and floor and chairs (Panton), but I needed more color so I added a pink fridge and a pink KitchenAid and some more pink details." What a gorgeous kitchen Dana has created - the pink and green is fabulous together and it looks like such a fun space to hang out and cook in. The random green tile in the backsplash is such a cute touch and she is SOOO lucky to have a pink Smeg fridge! I love it all! To see more of her kitchen and her new apartment check out her blog here and here. (Thank you for sharing with us Dana!)

Another reader's home

Dana from Bucharest, Romania wrote us a really sweet email and here's what she said: "Found about your blog, from friends (Claudiu and his fiancee in Cluj, Romania whom I posted about here). We all share the pleasure to decorate and re-re-redecorate our homes. To mix old and new items and express our mood and/or sensibility by home arranging. Transforming “things” into “spirit”. Here are some photos from my loft and my closed terrace in my mountain lodge at Cheia, Romania. Also, kindly note that the paintings are done by my father, Traian, who is now 84 years old, and started his painting hobby with 81 years old." Thank you for sharing your wonderful home (with an amazing view I might add) with us Dana!

Reader's homes

We have received several emails recently from reader's who wanted to share their homes so I thought I'd feature a bunch of them today.

The first is from Melody, of the blog me melodia. The following photos are of her friend's bedroom in Berlin. She posted them on her blog for a new series she's working on of her friends' interior spaces. It's such a comfy, relaxing space, and I ADORE the branch used to hang clothes!

We heard from Julie of Belle Vivir who recently made over her bathroom. She sent us some before and after photos. What a huge difference! I love the colour scheme and the totally cute toilet paper holder. Bathroom redos always make me jealous, as mine are embarrassingly horrid. I'm taking notes. (Click here for more photos).

Jen Venegas sent us a really sweet email the other day. A 25 year old woman who loves the notion of people turning their home into something that's a direct reflection of themselves, Jen just moved into a home and has been having fun making it her own. Her income is somewhat limiting (I hear ya), but she makes do with garage sale finds, and sort of prides herself on that (I hear ya again!). It excites me to no end that junk finds are making their way into so many people's homes, as it adds so much character to a space when it's not all item after item found in any major home decor store. (Jen, I will send you a great big virtual kiss if you hang your art much lower - I'm so anal about that).

Claudiu of Cluj, Romania wrote us wanting to share his work-in-progress home. He's an artist and his creativity is evident throughout his home, inside and out. The kitchen looks so cozy, and I love that he took his artwork to the exterior of his house as well.

Thanks to everyone featured here for wanting to share their homes with us and our readers!

Evan's incredible loft....and a dilemma

Evan emailed us looking for some help. Knowing our readers, I'm sure there will be lots of great advise provided that he can run with - just wait till you see what he's working with!

Evan just moved to downtown Los Angeles and he's facing his usual dilemma - he starts off strong and then doesn't know how to finish. "As usual I rushed into buying things that I wish I could replace but that will have to wait. My problem is I always end up at this point and don't know how to finish or were to go from here. I know something HUGE over the sofa will help and the building offers to paint two walls...should I take them up on their offer and most important - which two walls and what color? FYI: It's only been two months and I'm already looking to replace the dining table, cocktail table and entry hall table. I am notorious for rushing into things especially when I'm on a budget."

I was rendered speechless when I saw Evan's photos. The space ROCKS, and I love just about every piece of his furniture. So how about I show you all the photos, then I'll give my 2 cents and I'd love it if you guys could pipe in with ideas for Evan as well.

First thing is I would definitively paint 2 walls out, especially if the building is offering. I would paint the wall your sofa is on, and the long wall opposite up to the bathroom. (I'm guessing that area is the bedroom?) I do agree that something really large over your sofa would be great to really showcase the height and size of the space. If you want the sofa wall to be a bit of a bold accent colour then perhaps you should chose some artwork and then choose a wall colour that will highlight the art. The loft seems to get so much light from those windows, so you might even be able to get away with a dark colour, like a chocolate brown for drama. Or even black!! That being the case I'd chose artwork on the lighter side. The other wall I would do a concrete grey because I am a huge fan of grey as a neutral. It will go with everything. As for the furniture I agree about losing the dining table...and chairs. They look way too small and insignificant. I like the rest of the furniture ALOT, but the console table with the mirror above - I'd paint that out black. It looks too traditional with the rest of your furniture. While you're at it paint out the mirror too. :) A huge rug in the living room and another under your dining table and you'll be good to go!

I think I'll stop there and turn it over to everyone else. (Thanks for sharing your home with us Evan! Hope we can help!)

Little Simmons and Sam

I want to introduce you to the cutest little renovators I've ever seen, Mr Simmons and Sam. Ruth tells the story, "I can't help but email you a couple of photos of kitten and dog during our own renovation. Little Simmons (later known as Mr. Simmons due to his white cuffs and pinstripe suit of fur) could sleep through anything; the sink is set on its back right in the middle of our demo and he slept soundly.) Sam in the sweltering summer heat slumbered on anything as well. My husband is a residential architect in Nashville, and we did our own home with a lot of sweat and help from friends."

The renovation you ask? Wow! A remodeled ranchhouse with a lot of bang for a little buck. Look at the before and after shots! As Ruth emailed, the couple performed much of the work and used several do-it-yourself systems such as Ikea cabinetry and site-glazed windows to further reduce labor costs. Come back in a couple of hours for a full feature on Ruth's über talented husband Marcus.