ups and downs...

Remember me talking about the house in Australia that we own? The one we bought, moved into, gutted and renovated and then left – never to return – all in a matter of 6 months? We sold it. Last month. I’m a bit sad to say goodbye. But I’m more sad that we never got to finish the renovations. That little house had a soul of its own, and I felt I owed it the decency of being completely restored. I guess it was just not meant to be. Such is life, hey?

So this post is a tribute to the house that was to be my first real estate purchase, my first home as a married woman, and where I had hoped to raise my children. It may have been the first, but it won’t be the last.

Looking down the hallway into the house from the front door. Lovely paint job, and what we later discovered was 3 layers of linoleum flooring...with newspapers dating back to the 50's underneath.

Looking down the hallway in the opposite direction, facing the front door. A complete transformation, no? We completely gutted the place, so all plasterwork, architectural trimmings were replaced...the leadlight above the front door is however, original.

The front room of the house which, originally as a Victorian would have been a sitting room of some sort, was our master bedroom.

The original skirtings and doors had been taken out, so we replaced them with with more historically correct features, and replaced the ceiling rose. We also replaced the front window - which was rotting - with a historically correct replica, although one that was higher allowing more natural light into the front of the house.

The second front room...which we had planned to use as a nursery eventually....

also had a new window frame and ended up as someone else's sitting room.

The original fireplace had been taken out by the previous owners, as well as all of the original mouldings and architectural features...

so these were also replaced. This room became one of my favorites - during the one and only time I saw it!

These pics were taken by our Real Estate Agent for the sale of the property, so while I can claim credit for the design of the renovations, I cannot however claim any of the decoration inside. All of the furniture belonged to our tennant.

Thanks for letting me give you a tour. I hope it won't be too long until I'll get to give you another...

David Collins at home

For fans of designer David Collins - here is a sneak peek of his own London home!

If you haven't checked out the site "Luxury Culture" - do so now. It's full of great articles about design, art, travel, fashion (including an article about Mr Collins himself) and much, much more.

I'm totally loving these images of his own home, such beautiful colours! I wish a magazine would snap up these pics...I want to see the rest of it now!

Javier Castilla

I found some more talent from España! Madrid based Javier Castilla has some drool worthy pics on his website...here are a few of my faves:

Manks

If you live in Hong Kong, get down to the Manks sale this weekend. They have a lovely showroom full of wonderful treasures that are rare in Hong Kong. I'll definitely be there!

Modern Americana

My copy of the new release "Modern Americana" arrived just in time for the weekend! Co-authored by respected NY dealer Todd Merrill, this is a fantastic, and surely long awaited book on an amazing era of design. Including biographies on designers that I myself only discovered in the past year (partly thanks to the blogging community, and the educational benefits of 1st Dibs), the likes of Karl Springer, Tommi Parzinger, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, James Mont, Samuel Marx, William (Billy) Haines, Vladimir Kagan, Edward Wormley and Paul Laszlo - as well as a few that I had not heard of and others whose work I was only vaguely familiar with: Charles Hollis Jones, John Dickinson and Arthur Elrod to name just a few. This book is a great read, and I'm guessing a book that will be one that I will refer to time and time again. I think one of it's greatest strengths is highlighting the need for further investigation into the lives and work of some of these artists/designers. I for one would love to see a monograph on Tommi Parzinger, so publishers out there, take note!

J'aime Hong Kong!

Hong Kong's cognoscenti was out in force last night at the Lane Crawford home store to catch a glimpse of the multi-talented Spanish designer Jaime Hayon, where he made a guest appearance. It seemed like the crowd just couldn't get enough of the charming young Spaniard, and he seemed to be equally enjoying working the crowd.

A man whose style is difficult to define - although if pressed to do so, "Neo-Baroque" might partly fit the bill - Hayon seems to channel the past through his own unique filter system, to create new to the world products that are somewhat familiar to us in an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ kind of way.

Hayan’s brand of futurism is appealing on many levels, and is as elegant as it is whimsical. His unique stamp has graced products as varied as shoes, lighting, toys, furniture, textiles and interiors. It’s his bathware range entitled “Artquitect" that I’m most enamoured with though. High gloss, curvaceous legs and generous proportions are definitely a winning combination in a bath, as I’m sure the photos below will attest.

A few more of my favorite designs from Studio Hayon.

And yes, that first image is from my signed copy of his book...but you weren't surprised were you? I already admitted I was a design groupie!

Charles & Ray Eames

Charles & Ray Eames are two names which have permeated the consciousness of many people around the world. They are known to those that are not even aware of the importance of their contribution to the world of design. I myself was not aware of just how varied their pursuits were until recently. Among the many interests of Charles, in particular, was photography. And what a great photographer he was. Not surprising talent to have, I guess, for someone who has an incredible eye. If you are living in or visiting Hong Kong, make your way over to the Lane Crawford home store at Pacific Place and check out the Charles & Ray Eames retrospective, which includes - amongst many of their iconic pieces for sale - an exhibition of photos taken by Charles himself, some of which include photos he took while in Hong Kong.

Eames plywood chairs by Herman Miller, available in Hong Kong from Lane Crawford.

Chen Mi Ji

I'm excited. I'm REALLY excited. Those of you who read my blog on a semi-regular basis will be familiar with me lamenting the fact that there are no vintage furniture stores here. Well, there is now. I discovered Chen Mi Ji during the week, so there will be no prizes for guessing where I'm heading to today. Here are a few pieces I'm keen to see in person -










For my Hong Kong readers, Chen Mi Ji has just relocated from their Central district location to the Start Street Precinct. They are now at 4 Sun Street, Wan Chai, so go check them out. I'm off to do that right now...

Feather your nest!

We received a new wall covering sample book today at my work, and I could not be more excited. The new "Nest" collection from Schumacher is made up of 12 designs, each hand crafted from natural bird feathers. They are so stunning that I'm a little lost for words. They are definitely the most beautiful new samples we've received for a while. My favorite would have to be the design "Waldon", made from quail feathers (below). It has almost a tortoiseshell appearance to it. I'm dying to use it in a project now, especially in something like a library...what do you think folks?

My latest purchase...

is this lovely brass lamp by Hans-Agne Jacobsson. Finally, something other than a chair to add to the collection!

a Francophilicbibliophile...?

or should that be Bibliophilicfrancophile...? Not sure if either of those are actually words, but if they are either would be a fair description of myself.

Speaking of such things, a new book has just been released about Ruhlmann collaborator Lucien Rollin. Written by the late French moderne master's grandson Vincent Bonneyrat-Rollin, the limited edition publication will mark the 10 year anniversary of Rollin's designs being produced by Vancouver based William Switzer & Assoc. The book will be distributed by Potterton Books, and if you are lucky enough to be in New York on October 16th you can head over to the William Switzer showroom to get yourself a personally signed copy!

A signed and dated (1935) oak sideboard by Lucien Rollin now available through 1st Dibs.

More than a crush...

I am so in love with the images I've just discovered on Pierre Yovanovitch's site!...it must have been updated sometime after I did my last post because I didn't notice them last time...

If you liked the last ones, then you should love these. Check out his updated website for more scrumptious images.


Have a great weekend everyone!