Interior Design: Rustic and Modern Swedish Apartment

If anyone knows how to style a living space, it's the Swedes. It's not a secret, I'm sure, but when it come to interior design the Swedish always have their finger right on the pulse There is a reason that people flock to IKEA every weekend, right? This apartment in Gothenburg is no exception, but usually when I think of Swedish design I think of a very modern look. This apartment has a beautiful combination of modern and rustic, just like I love!

Interior Design: A European Style, New York Castle

Holy opulence, Batman. This triplex in the meat packing district of New York is mind blowing. It's a picture of antique grandeur. The building was originally built in 1847 as a townhouse and converted into a general store in the late 1800s. From there it became a sausage factory until 1992, then a mother and daughter fell in love with the abandoned space and bought it to turn into their dream home. They tried to preserve the original, vintage elements wherever possible. Old floorboards were cleaned, treated, and reused and they even rubbed coloring into the re-done fireplace to make it look time-worn. And what a project of love, huh?

Interior Design: Modern Luxury in Glass and Cement

As is evidenced by most of the interior design posts on this blog, I am not a big fan of modern or simple or clean. Generally, the more cluttered...er...cozy, the better. I just always seem to gravitate towards bay windows and decorative crown molding. I can't help it. It's a disease. This home in São Paulo, however, may have just converted me.

Interior Design: Living in a Library

How is it November already? I think I blinked and missed all of summer this year. It's strange how much faster time flies the older you get. With every immaculately designed house I find, I think about the bits and pieces I'd like to incorporate into my own home one day and with every day that goes by, that becomes more of a reality. How weird is that? To think that one day I could own a living space that's not the size of a shoebox is crazy. 

Anyway, the point of all that babble was this home design. Ever since I was little and I saw my first high shelves with a rolling ladder, I decided that one day I was going to have the same thing in my house. Mostly because it reminded me of that magical library in Beauty in the Beast and that's what every little girl who reads wants to see (amirite?). The dream has not died for me and when I saw this home design it screamed my name.

Monday Design: Holy Skylights, Batman!

I've been kicking myself for not writing more lately and nothing keeps me motivated like a challenge, so thank you to everyone that's doubted me. This post is for you. Without further ado, I bring you this week's edition of Monday Design: Holy Skylights, Batman!

Let's talk about how much I love light for a little bit, shall we? I LOVE light. Like, a LOT. I lived in a basement for about 4 years, so nothing is more precious to me now than daylight. It's the main reason I have a tough time deciding to leave my current apartment because I have windows in every room and a skylight in the bathroom! Can I just tell you that going to pee with the morning sun filtering in through the ceiling is a magical experience. It's really brought on a new love of skylights, which is why this property caught my eye.

Monday Design: Barn Renovation

Phew. It's been a long time since I've been sitting here typing on this blog. Life likes to take your plans and spin them out of control, huh? I'm settling into a new job and summer is winding down, so I think now is a good time to come back to blogging.

With life spinning faster and faster, I often want to take the time to step back for a little bit and enjoy the simple things. Not that I actually get to do that often, but thinking about it is nice. That's why I think this renovated barn house caught my eye.

Monday Design: Geometric and Modern

I am normally not a fan of modern or geometric architecture. I like my buildings classic and curvy with a rustic touch. However, this Spanish home made by architect Daniel Isern pulls so much from nature and blends so easily into the surrounding areas that I can't help but admire. The structure itself looks like stacked wood blocks, but it's made entirely out of concrete.

Monday Design: OMG That Courtyard!

I adore spaces that have were once created from something else turned into homes like church renovations and warehouse renovations, so this home would have caught my eye either way. BUT, what totally stood out to me was that courtyard. I mean holy entrance!

Monday Design: Grand Simplicity

Rose Uniacke's home is a dream. That's all I can really say about it. Although, I guess if I worked as an established interior designer, I'd make sure my home was a dream too.

Monday Design: Chic New York

If you love style and design and live on the internet like I do, you've probably already seen Athena Calderon's absolutely gorgeous New York apartment. And I do not feel bad about sharing it even though it's already been all over the internet because it really is an amazing work of interior design so seeing it again is a treat.

Monday Design: Downton Abbey Style

The design details in this home immediately made me think of Downton Abbey and I didn't realize why, at first. The design in the interior of the home is classic, but modern. It wasn't until I realized that the home itself is a Victorian era home in Scotland that it made sense. And it is gorgeous.

Monday Design: Castle Living

Be still my beating heart. As you should know by now, I have an odd obsession with France. Especially the southern parts. And it's no secret that I love rustic and rural interior designs. Mash those two things together into a castle and what do you get? Le Château Marteret and a mini heart attack on my end.

Monday Design: Living in an Art Museum

Ever wonder what it would feel like to live in an art museum? No? Just me? Okay then. But I'd imagine that Luis Bustamante had the same thought when planning the design of this voluptuous Spanish apartment and in all of his work. The volume and shape of the furniture is balanced beautifully against the classic sculptural pieces. But what really caught my eye right off the bat was the perfect drama of interior design in all of Bustamante's designs.

Monday Design: Industrial Mood

As you can probably tell by all the other interior design post on this blog, I'm an exposed brick, rustic farm elements kind of gal. However, this doesn't mean that I can't appreciate or enjoy clean modern lines. The inner hoarder in me just happens to prefer a more cluttered design scheme. Finding this industrial inspired home was one of those moments that pulled my out of my usual design aesthetic.

Monday Design: Free Form Castle

Have you ever wished you lived in a castle? I think a lot of children always imagine what it would be like to live in a castle, I know I did. But a lot of times, even now, I think of castels as big stone buildings with large tapestries on the walls and fireplaces in every room because they don't have any other systems of heating installed. In most cases, every time I've been to visit a "castle" it have been like this because they've all be the ancient leftovers of some royal family that hasn't existed in hundreds of years. So when I saw this home of Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia I realized that it was the perfect modern day castle.

Monday Design: Living on LSD

This house holds a special place in my heart because it's right here in Chicago and I walk / drive/ ride by it frequently. And yes, you can too! It's very interesting looking from the outside. The exterior is entirely modern with clean lines, large windows, and protruding levels. The architecture is really something to take in, but it's also surrounded by greenery with a park right across the street. The modern facade is masked by large trees making this pretty imposing building something that you could easily pass by without a second glance. Luckily, I glance at all buildings.

Monday Design: Dreamy Tree Houses

Don't hate me for saying it, but summer is coming to an end. Yup, it's inevitable, especially here in the the great Midwest. I've already even caught hints of orange in the leaves around some of the trees here. I have mixed emotions about this because fall quickly brings winter and I hate winter with all my being.  However, fall brings with it cozy sweaters, hot chocolate, and cool evenings watching movies under warm blankets - all things that I am a fan of.

For now, I'm feeling a little nostalgic about summer. It seems to go by faster and faster every year. Don't you remember summer really feeling three months long in grade school? You were sure you'd forget everything you learned the year before by the time you got back to school. Thinking about it also got me thinking about all those fun summer activities as a kid - camping, swimming, climbing trees. Maybe it was more of a tomboy thing, but I always wanted my own treehouse. Did you too? I could never convince my dad to build one for me though and I thought it was mean of him not to at the time. Now I realize that we never really had a tree that could support the weight of my scrawny 10 year old self, let alone a whole tree house. So today, to satisfy my childhood dream, I've pulled some of the coolest looking tree houses around. Enjoy!

source

Monday Design: No Straight Lines Here

First things first, who else got the new Ikea catalogue over the weekend? Although I'm sometimes skeptical of Ikea furniture, I do love browsing it for inspiration because they are fantastic at organizing tiny spaces like mine. Oh, and inspiration I found. My next big splurge is going to be a trip to Ikea so I'm going to start saving my pennies. Besides, I think a little re-design after the roommate moved out is just what this place needs to get me back on my feet and feeling comfortable again.

Anyway, daydreaming about re-decorating sent my imagination flying and I was in kind of a silly mood today when real estate stalking, so what better to satisfy a silly mood than a silly house?

Monday Design: Honore Loft Chicago

I have gushed before about how much I adore exposed brick walls. I've always wanted to live in an apartment that had at least one exposed brick wall and when I was little growing up in Chicago, my dream apartment was a loft with high wood beam ceilings and exposed brick walls (yes, I dreamed about apartments at 11, believe it). When I saw this pretty Wicker Park loft, it was like it had been pulled from my fantasies. It's cozy and intimate, yet raw and exposed at the same time. I just adore juxtapositions like that. Probably because my sense of style is pretty eclectic all the time too. This loft is definitely laid out and designed how I always dreamed all lofts should look. The wood beams and vintage frosted glass doors are a perfect touch too. The designer took reclaimed and found pieces to build the aesthetic in this place, which fits perfectly with the design elements of the space itself. There are also some absolutely breathtaking details, like the hand painted headboard below. But I could stop blabbering and you could see it for yourself! First seen on More Design Please.

Photo Friday: Archways and Hallways

Like most girls my age who share similar interests, I am what is commonly referred to as a Francophile. Yup, you heard it here first, I love all things French. But what's not to love? The historic buildings, gilded bridges, and winding streets of Paris drew me to France since before I even really knew where it was on the globe. In college I was lucky enough to study abroad for a semester in the south and have been plotting ways to get back there ever since. As you might suspect, I haven't had any luck so far. Anyway, all this probably played a huge role in my falling in love with photographer Franck Bohbot.

Born in the suburbs outside of Paris, Bohbot began documenting cities and urban spaces in 2008. I'm particularly fond of his architectural studies, especially since I have been to some of the places he depicts in his photographs. They make me feel nostalgic and happy. But I also love the composition of these photos. The angle and lack of people in each shot make the pictures seem like geometric works of art, not photographs of hallways. He has a fantastic eye for capturing the gorgeous details of architecture and their repetitions.                     

I am definitely a fan of wide open spaces and geometric shapes, so obviously I adore all of these photographs, but what about you? Too bland or just gorgeous?