Little beach bach

This family beach house in Onemana, New Zealand was a student project for 16 third-year architectural students, known collectively as Studio 19, at Unitec, overseen by Dave Strachan of Strachan Group Architects and Marshall Cook of Cook Sargisson & Pirie. The bach is home to four (mum, dada and 2 girls) and provides master bedroom, bunkroom, bathroom, kitchen, living and dining as well as decks to extend the living spaces outwards. It's not elaborate or pretentious but harks back to the days of simple family holidays while still being stylish on a low budget. The bach was built on campus forming part of the end-of-year grad show before being transported to its final site.

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Dressed up for the holidays

I am finally done my Christmas preparations (besides food) and can start to relax for my week off from the day job (check out my super cheap gift wrapping solution on my page). Since I'm in the holiday mood, I thought I'd share a couple of really cute apartments I found on Micasa that are spruced up with a bit of festive decor. P.S. Jo and I never quit, so there will be blog posts up throughout the holidays. We typically do blog reading lists and favourites rooms from this past year so don't forget to stop by!

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UnWaste Bookcase

"You spin me right round, baby right round like a record ... "

Apologies to Dead or Alive but how cool is this rotating shelving wall, the UnWaste bookcase, a collaboration between architect Ben Milbourne (Bild Architecture), eco-designer Leyla Acaroglu (Eco Innovators) and specialist furniture designer David Waterworth (Against the Grain). (Photography by TM PHOTO.) It divides the open space into living and sleeping areas while allowing light and airflow between the spaces and providing much needed storage in a warehouse conversion. The bookcase is built from reclaimed plywood from construction site hoardings providing surface design interest through the remains of old advertising posters and stencils.

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Frank is fantastic

I have to admit, I have a hard time blogging on the weekends. I'm so busy with the day job and blogs during the week that I basically only have the weekends for errands, cleaning, random blog projects, Christmas shopping this time of year, and spending time with the hubby and cats. All this whining to say I have about 5 minutes to find something for my Sunday posts so bear with me. Yesterday afternoon I came across this very small but very cool apartment on Fantastic Frank. I'm tellin' ya, the FF folks are some of the best stylists and photographers in the biz. Canadian real estate agents take note, because 99% of you have no freaking clue how to market a place like these folks do. I love the funky eclectic vibe of this apartment - and am particularly fond of the sliding mural bedroom door. FUN!

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Living large in a small space

A couple of weeks ago I blogged this awesome apartment in Moscow. I've got another one for you from The Village, this time located in Kiev, Ukraine. It's a small, 2 room apartment that looks so much larger (camera lens might have helped a bit too). This pad is a perfect example of how to place furniture in a small space and how to use furniture to delineate zones. The sectional sofa in this case is just what the living room needed to separate it from the dining space. The bookcases offer tons of storage and creates more of a hallway (while blocking a couple of not-so-exciting doors). I LOVE the grey colour palette (my favourite colour, always) and everything else in this apartment - but I'd lose the fish tank in the kitchen. Strange...but I won't judge. The adorable succulent-in-a-book planter idea makes up for that oddity. (And I had to use that photo first so you all didn't miss it).

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