Bella!

If you don't already have yourself a copy of the Australian Belle magazine, run out and get one! I've been drooling over this gorgeous room from the front cover spread...and I just had to share.

Love too!

Stunning leather desk set from the italian luggage makers Giorgio Fedon. It's the perfect shade of orange, and has so many accessories with it I wouldn't even know what to use them for.

Expect a few more of these desk accessory related posts...I'm thinking about how to re-configure our spare room to fit 2 desks for both my husband and I to work from...at the moment I'm working from our dining table and it ain't workin!

Love!

This chic desk set from Japanese stationary maker Craft Design Technology. I want! Off to find a stockist in Hong Kong...otherwise it might have to wait til my next trip to Tokyo!

Did someone say Bill Sofield for Kallista?

Because if they did I only just heard you...

Am I the last one on the planet to know about this? Quick, I need a bathroom to renovate!

(Oh, and P.S. Kallista, would LOVE to see images of the black nickel!)

I want!

It's a bit too early to be thinking about Xmas presents...and a bit too late to be thinking about birthday presents. But man how I want this house. Forget that I don't actually live in London...

Tom Ford's London digs are up for grabs at a mere £8,500,000. Semi-detached gloriousness in a seemingly fancy neighbourhood...and those walls. All of them. I must know whose work it is. I read somewhere that David Collins did a London residence for Tom Ford, but this looks more like the work of Bill Sofield to me...but who knows. It almost makes me want to be a man and take up cigar smoking and drinking whisky.

More pics here.

Singapore II

This grand old dame looks quite like the one we ate breakfast in last Sunday. So beautiful...

The owners of this home collect asian art, and as you will see in the following pictures, this house is the perfect backdrop. They've managed to keep it looking like a home, rather than a museum which is not an easy feat considering all of the amazing art they have. I'm not sure I could live in it, but I certainly wouldn't mind it as a holiday house!

So tell me, which one do you prefer - the modern version, or this one?

Originally published in Architectural Digest (US) in January 2007, for more pictures click here. Photography by Russell MacMasters.

Singapore

I had a great long weekend in Singapore - perfect weather, delicious food and wine, great shopping and even better company. One of the many things I love about Singapore is the blend of architectural styles. The city has done a great job of retaining and using its colonial architecture and mixing it with the new and modern. Something that Hong Kong sadly lacks. Amongst the lovely places we wined and dined over the weekend, our breakfast venue on our last morning was the most memorable. Set in the lush Rochester Park area in an old "Black and White" (the term for the colonial homes painted in, funnily enough, black and white), amongst what felt like a tropical paradise.

I found a few examples of colonial buildings that have been renovated and refurbed...this one is by a Singaporean architectural firm called Ong & Ong. It looks to me like a typical shop house on the outside, but the inside is a totally different story. Its been opened up and modernised in a way that is still sympathetic to the original design. Furnished with modern asian style furniture and accessories, this is definitely not what you would be expecting from the exterior.



If I have time tomorrow I'll post another colonial home I found and you can vote for your favorite!

Albano Daminato

It's been another busy week. But then, is there ever any other kind for me lately? Thankfully I have a long weekend planned in Singapore to visit some good friends. Yay! Speaking of Singapore, I thought I'd share some photos of work by Interior Architect Albano Daminato who is based there. He's done some incredible residential work, as well as the Aman resort in Bhutan, Amankora. More great pics to be found on his website...

One more Gambrel post

I'm in love with this kitchen. And I promise that'll be the last Gambrel post for at least a little while....

a resolution

So I lost a lot of sleep last night thinking how on earth I could combine rich, dark lacquered walls with my love of early-mid 20th Century design in my fictional apartment. And then it hit me.

But Steven Gambrel has already done it (and has updated his website, for all the other Gambrel stalkers out there!).

I'll sleep better tonight...

Starting all over again...

I admit it - I spend a little bit too much time day dreaming about how I would decorate my next apartment (haven't bought one, and have no plans to move, but one can dream, right?). My problem is that I like so many different styles, the challenge is to put it all together in a way that both my husband and I are comfortable with, and something I won't bore of easily (actually, truth be told, I'm not even sure that is possible). And you know what, just when I think I've figured it out, I see something that makes me want to throw away everything I own and start all over again. Like this fabulous apartment done by Spanish designer Pascua Ortega.


And so I reconcile this in my head, dream up my own fabulous apartment full of an amazing mix of vintage and contemporary pieces...and then Miles Redd goes and does this...

and I'm back to square one again...

Pascua Ortega designed apartment in AD España June 2009, Miles Redd designed apartment in House Beautiful July 2009. *sigh*

Books, books, books and more books

My darling husband hacked into my Amazon wishlist and purchased these two treasures for my birthday. I haven't read them through yet, but based on the quick flick I've had I think I can safely recommend them both. Happy reading!