Stable Acre

If you've seen the Inside Out 2011 Annual Renovating & Decorating Guide (and you must see the Inside Out 2011 Annual Renovating & Decorating Guide) you'll recognise the converted stables home of gallerist Stuart Shave. I found it again at inspace Locations and the architect David Kohn's site. Open-plan orientated around a simple modernist fireplace, light spills in through walls of glass. It's warm and simple, mid-century and modern. Rough brick is smoothed with white paint, rustic and sparse yet sophisticated and softened. And for an art dealer strangely devoid of art. Moroccan pom-pom blanket anyone?

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Design crew

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don't know what to do? You're not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you .... that's you lot ... the readers!

Jesse emailed "I'm a big fan of the blog, and wanted to reach out & ask for a bit of advice. I've recently moved into a new apartment & am trying to make it a home. I'm a rustic minimalist but an eclectic at heart." Jesse wanted feedback. Then Jesse sent photos. After I picked myself up off the floor I thought Jesse wants advice? Jesse wants to take it to the next level? OMG the bones are fabulous. There is so much that is wonderful about her new space.

"I guess I was just looking for some general feedback than specific what-to-dos. I would love to hear back from readers in a Design Crew post, I'm just looking for others opinions." This is were all of you come in. Your feedback? The next step? She has motivated me to walk away from the computer and head back to my still unfinished "quick" kitchen redo. Can't wait to see what you guys have to say.

There's even more after the jump.

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Rustic idyll

More and more I feel myself drawn to the rustic ... the sophisticated rustic. The beauty of natural materials juxtaposed with contemporary luxury. Texture and minimalism. Solid, firm, permanent. One foot in the past, one in the future. I've featured Spanish firm Minim before and we have had a small glimpse of this Priorat house but when I found architectural photographer Eugeni Pons' portfolio I gasped. There is a richness, a warmth, a touch of humanity in these photos. Simple but luxe, rustic yet modern, it is a complex space. It may seem simple but it's a carefully considered play of opposites. Voids and solids, rough and smooth, past and present and Eugeni's shots capture it perfectly.

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Glamping

I'm just a little worried that I may have to move into a tent in the backyard if my painter and plasterer whip themselves into renovation frenzy next week. If it was a yurt like this one at Le Camp in Varen, Tarn et Garonne. Glamping ... that's the only way you'll get me in a tent.  Woodlands in France with a snug, a wooden shower house, a lovely swimming lake and peace and quiet. Bliss. For a week or two. I'm a city girl remember. Le Camp via Welcome Beyond.

P.S. Come back later. I need your help with suggestions for my hall.

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Brie Williams

Soft light like honey. Colours blossoming from each shot. Real beauty and hazy dreams. Gorgeous rooms exotic and everyday captured through the lens of über talented photographer Brie Williams. Take me away Brie. Pull me into the dream your photos weave. Here and now and steeped in history. Far away yet strangely close to home.

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