November 9th, 2011
So. Who wants to give me $3.75 million dollars? It’s for a good cause! The Krissy-needs-to-own-this-townhouse cause. This townhouse (belonging to the one and only Jenna Lyons, creative director and president of J.Crew) is up for sale. And I kind of want it x a lot because I’ve been on the envy train for aaaaages. It’s been in my folder called “Dream Houses… swoon!” for as long as I can remember. (No lies, I actually have a folder on my computer called that. It’s the best folder known to man-kind.)
It’s just such a gorgeous townhouse inside and out, it’s almost mind-bogglingly perfect. From that architecturally gorgeous (white, bonus!) exterior and the beautiful blossom filled backyard (with concrete paving stones which are my FAVOURITE thing in the entire world when it comes to outdoor spaces)…
… check out that stunning minimal industrial-feel kitchen (mmm, concrete counter tops)…
… the delicious black coated bedroom and enjoining master bath…
… the entire-room-is-a-closet room! (Do the shoes come with the purchase of the home? Pleasepretty?)…
… and, of course, my FAVOURITE room in the entire house, the living room! That chandelier! That couch! That rug! The moldings! The fireplace! Everything!!
Wistful sigh. Yeah, I just really love this place. It’s perfect. And I’m jealous of whoever gets to live in it post-Lyons.
Most of the images in this post via Fashionologie. Some are from my own archives from aaaaages ago back before I even started my blog, so unfortunately, no source. I want to say they’re from Domino though.
November 5th, 2011
Barbie was my favourite toy growing up. I liked picking out her snappy outfits as much as the next person, but it was setting up elaborate houses for her from boxes and pillows and my nightstand drawers that tickled my fancy. Now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever really playing with my Barbies (aside from one or two or twenty Ninja Turtle invasions from my brother), but I do remember spending hours painstakingly setting up the perfect home for Barbie, Ken, Skipper and Kelly. That was my idea of fun. I hope that makes it acceptable for me to be madly in love with these darling dollhouses designed by Miniio. Not only are these houses aesthetically pleasing, decked out in their stylin’ mid-century modern furnishings, but they’re also eco-friendly using locally sourced materials and sustainable resources. Now that’s what I call a dream house. Barbie never had it so good!
The raw natural textures, liberal use of white, and modern architecture have me seriously envying Barbie’s new digs. She even has a Pantone chair! So jealous. Hey, Christmas (and my birthday) is around the corner… Santa, if you’re listening, my inner 8-year-old would be bouncing off the walls if I woke up to one of these in my stocking.
Images via The Huffington Post & Miniio.
October 29th, 2011
I’m working on all residential projects for this semester at university. And while they’re re-reminding me of just why I got into interior design to begin with, I miss my beloved commercial/retail spaces. They have so much room to go big and bold with design ideas. But they can also incorporate a lot of elements of residential design as well, and that’s why I find my heart completely set on commercial design – it’s like the best of both worlds!
Take the design of Mazzo Restaurant (by Concrete Architectural Associates) for example. There’s the powerful design statements that larger commercial projects allow – see: giant light up lettering of the restaurant’s name – but it also mixes in lots casual and homier elements through its use of materials & finishes. Best of both worlds.
My absolute favourite part of this entire design is all of those raw, natural textures. It has such substance and authenticity! I love that like woah. (Sidebar: Was that a song? That sounds familiar and I feel like I should be singing it and busting a move and now it’s driving me bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Gwen Stefani knows her shit.)
Anywhooo! (That was such a great segue from my lame song jokes, wasn’t it?) You all know I’m a huge obsessee of white+black+neutral textures so you know I’m not kidding around when I say I want to live in this restaurant. I’d be good, I promise!
P.S. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately, so you’ll have to excuse the slow down in quantity of posts, and the shorter in length posts.
Images via The Contemporist.
