Interiors Archives - Page 18 of 21

Alexander McQueen’s (Ex) East London Home

August 7, 2009 By Paola 4 Comments

As you know around here we’re rather partial to a peek at fashion designers’ houses (we’re looking at you Matthew Williamson, Betsey Johnson and Vanessa Bruno), so here for your delectation and delight are pictures of Alexander McQueen’s East London townhouse. {From the Real Estalker via the HolyMoly mailout – yes I do read it}

I don’t think it’s fair to make this a ‘Go Fug Your Room’ candidate as these photos are only estate agent’s photos and don’t fully reflect McQueen’s personal style, but it’s still interesting to snoop.

Personally I’m finding this rather boring. As you may have guessed I’m not hugely into minimalism at the best of times, but this strikes me as rather boring minimalism. My main gripe is with all the square and boxy built-ins – I prefer a few elegant curves in my rooms. And that house looks as if it dates from the 1850s? so it probably had quite a few nice original features – ceiling mouldings, fireplaces etc - which have all been summarily destroyed.

I also have to say that this house could benefit hugely from a bit of American-style home staging – some pictures, maybe a rug and a funky chair here and there would make all the difference.

I am loving the roof deck (though for me the glass skylight directly above the bed is not exactly a selling point), the pond thingy (pool?) and what we can see of the outside spaces though. Here the minimalist lines are softened by the plants, though a few flowers wouldn’t go amiss.

Anyway, if this house is for you it will only set you back 1.7 million pounds (I’ve just got a new computer and now have no idea how to find a pound sign) or around $2.8 million. Please bear in mind though, that this house is in Hackney, one of the, shall we say, edgiest areas of inner London.

So(fa) Exciting!

August 6, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

This is apparently what our new sofa looked like before it left the manufacturer. So fabulous to see it with the cone legs at last. It looks even better than I thought it would. Ameer and his team have done an incredible job.

It should be delivered next week, so then we get to see it in situ and sit in it. Can’t wait!

Paris Hilton’s Doghouse

August 5, 2009 By Paola 9 Comments

Fun whimsy or a little bit sick?

Apparently Paris Hilton has been Tweeting about the house she’s had built for her enormous collection of chihuahuas.

The house is 300 sq. ft and two storeys, and features a clay-tile roof with copper gutters, intricate ceiling mouldings and a black crystal chandelier hanging in the bedroom complete with a closet and central air conditioning. It was designed by Paris’s interior designer Faye Resnick and is apparently furnished with faux designer doggie products from such design world luminaries as Jimmy Chew, Pawda, Sniffany & Co. and Chewy Vuitton. Oh and it has a price tag of $350,000.

Am I alone in thinking that in this day and age, this is just a tad inappropriate? I just hope those dogs like candyfloss pink.

Lampshade Couture – It’s Competition Time!

August 4, 2009 By Paola Leave a Comment

Dawn Bassett of Seattle-based LiT Shades makes bespoke lampshades for any room in the house, using designer fabrics such as Marimekko, or custom letterpress printing.

Until 7th August Dawn is running a competition on her blog where you can win your very own custom couture lampshade. All you need to do is send in a picture of a lamp in need of a revamp and Dawn will pick one to crown with its own special bespoke shade.

I mention this by way of a public service announcement because I love my readers, though I don’t particularly want any of you to enter as I’ve just entered my own sadly neglected Ebay lucite lamp. Anyway, if you must, full details of how to enter are here.

A lamp in need of a vamp.

Sofa, So Very Not Good

June 15, 2009 By Paola 15 Comments

The inlaws have booked their flights out to visit us this August and we are now panicking because our crummy thirteen-year-old sofa is in a state of severe delapidation and is hugely uncomfortable. I suspect rather too much of this is to blame.

So, a new sofa must be procured.

This Saturday we went along to Couch in Seattle, whose owner Ameer was really helpful and incredibly passionate about sofas (see also this write-up on Apartment Therapy ). He has a range of sofas which are eco-friendly, completely customisable and competitively priced, plus he can get sofas made ‘inspired’ by those at the big box stores, but again customised to your own requirements.

So here are some sofas I like. I find that I’m drawn to a sort of mid-century vibe (definitely want feet) but it needs to be incredibly comfortable and relaxing and not the sort of sofa that makes you sit bolt upright. Any other ideas? Are there any other aspects I should be taking into consideration? Anyone got any experience sitting on any of the below? I’m thinking of shapes at the moment rather than upholstery colours/fabrics/prices, though if anyone knows of any mid-century styled slipcover sofas I’d be all ears.

Jasper at Room & Board, $1,299

Movie Sofa at CB2, $999

Byward at Velocity, $1,800

Petrie at Crate & Barrel, $1.499

Rae at Chiasso $1,598

Nina at Maine Cottage, $1,700 – $2,590

Danner, at Jonathan Adler, $3,800

Finally, here are a couple of ideas they had a Couch, both of which can be made up in a gorgeous buttery soft ivory leather, which I’m very drawn too due to the practicality aspect. (Excuse the quality of these, they’re scans of scans). I’d get the feet changed on both of these though.

Oh and here’s reminder of the room it’s going in. An no, we still haven’t painted the walls.

Dressed Up To The Nines

April 16, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

Photos by Paola Thomas

I have SUCH a weakness for gorgeous hotels. This weekend we managed to get a deal on the recently-opened the Nines in Portland. Great location and a fabulous boutique-y feel for a largeish hotel.

There were some great decor touches. I liked the taupe colour scheme with accents of aqua, lilac, purple and amber in the pillows, sheer drapes, and Murano glass light installations; the subtle taupe on taupe patterning in the wallpapers; and the lovely bespoke carpets which reflected the accent colours and the patterns in the papers and drapes. The Minx adored the sparkly chandeliers and a somewhat strange sculpture of an enormous jewelled necklace in the lobby (I didn’t get a good picture of this though).

The lounge and bar area in the enormous central atrium was fabulous – divided up into a number of different ‘rooms’ each with their own decor, lighting and seating, but working together harmoniously as a whole. And we were quite memerised by Matt McCormick’s art installation comprising four enormous LCD panels showing silhouettes of cars crossing Portland’s Fremont Bridge at sunset in the restaurant. Here’s an article with more about the hotel’s art collection.

All-in-all highly recommended next time you’re staying in Portland.

The Dilemma of the Sh*t Brown Stairs

March 23, 2009 By Paola 21 Comments

Slowly but surely, the colours for the main room are coming together (yes, I know it’s been ages but I’m still searching, vainly so far, for the right pink- and yes, I know you told me to paint it green).

One question on my mind at the moment is what to do with the stairs, which face directly into the main living room and are currently painted the most revolting shade of diarrhoea brown.

I’ve posted up a couple of ideas here and here with other staircase inspiration, but was flicking through an old Livingetc yesterday and came across this picture of Orla Kiely’s staircase in London which I rather like (though it is intrinsically a much more beautiful staircase than ours). Though not in red.

What do you think? Have you seen any other good painted staircase ideas anywhere? I’m worried that painting a stripe will add an extra layer of complexity that the room doesn’t need, but it IS much more fun than just painting the stairs white. The other option of course is just to find a door to replace the one which is currently missing, which we may still do whatever we end up doing with the stairs.

Light Up My Life

March 11, 2009 By Paola 5 Comments

Jona Hoad is a UK-based lighting designer, who specialises in wallpaper-like lighting panels and lighting installations for hotel bars, restaurants and your house if you’ve got enough money.

Here are some pictures from the DeVigne Bar in Marylebone and the Vanilla Bar in Soho. Sometimes I do like a bit of spangly overthetopness.

I also liked these pictures from his website, which reveal that things are not always as they seem in the world of interiors photoshoots.

Go Love Your Room – Victorian House in London

March 3, 2009 By Paola 10 Comments

I was awash with nostalgia after seeing these pictures on Crooked Shmooked of the quintessential London Victorian house. Most of our friends with kids in London live in houses like this and if we had stayed in London I’m sure it’s the sort of family house we would have ended up buying. (This particular house is not far from where we lived in Notting Hill in London and in an area we were definitely considering moving to).

Vast swathes of houses like these were put up in the 19th century all over London, and while this is certainly not on the cutting edge decor-wise it’s a very well done example of the genre, is quintessentially London and the sort of decor I love. If you want to use it for a photoshoot all details are here.

Come in! The encaustic tiiles inside and out are very Victorian and very typical, but the colour of the front door is fresh and modern and the beautiful stained glass is again a very Victorian idea, though I’m not sure if the glass in this particular door has been restored and modernised.

I’ve sat in so many rooms like this, with beautifully ornate fireplaces, a large bay window and an ugly telly tucked in the corner, because no one knows quite where to put it. Not sure about the sofa though.

Got to love the that Paul Smith ‘Love’ needlepoint from the Rug Company. It’s the companion piece to the one hanging in Carrie Bradshaw’s redecorated apartment and something I’d love to have here in Seattle, if only George Bush and Gordon Brown hadn’t stolen all our money.

I wish twinkly interior light strings were more prevalent in the US. We had them all over the flat in London and you can generally find good examples at Habitat and Graham & Green. Unfortunately the voltage is all wrong for the States (which we forgot about when we shipped some twinkly lights back for the Minx’s room last year).

Pretty much everyone in London has extended into the loft to get a bit more space.

Go Love Your Room – Seattle Craftsman

February 25, 2009 By Paola 4 Comments

I was flicking through last month’s Sunset (which just gets better and better), when what did I see? A Seattle Craftsman house very much like ours, even down to the need for kid-friendliness.

Loving the furniture placement here. Unfortunately we can’t emulate it because of our built in bookcases.

They’ve even got a Tripp Trapp! And I like the way they’ve done the lighting over the table. I’ve been contemplating doing something like this, but am wondering about maintaining the symmetry in the room. Need to think about this.

Nice kitchen, for when we ever have the money to do ours. I like how the cabinets and shelves look modern, but completely fit in with the look of the house.

I ADORE this lamp. The house is owned by an architect couple, and from their website it seems that they’ve done some very sympathetic renovations of Craftsman properties in Seattle. I’m keeping them on file just in case we ever win the lottery and can afford to remodel our basement and downstairs kitchen.

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