nursery inspirations

So we're finally in our new house (woot! I'll blog about that later). But what it means is that baby now has a room, and we can begin setting up. So i thought i'd paste some of my inspirations here.
We're going with grey and white - specifically grey walls and cot, with white cloud motif and curtains - up in the cloudy sky.

The grey and white will be offset by some of the crazy colours we already have in toys, books and decals. So baby's sleeping area will be calm, and play area will be wild :)

rock around the clock

The triple-story Brooklyn Clocktower is for sale. To live in. At a cool price of $25million.
It's a truly spectatcular residence and i envy the SOB who bags it - check out the beautiful clock-face shadows that are cast in the large, modern, fully equipped apartment:

More pics and full features of the apartment here.

a new room

A little while ago we started the process of building a library. It's so exciting! A place to store books, sip good wine, relax, and, well... whatever. It has so far acquired a carpet (from a really random auction we stumbled across), and a couple of Zodiac chairs - love those!


And right now, I'm sitting here waiting for them to arrive and install the shelves - a crucial part to any library! Updates will follow...

hotel never everland

A while back I blogged about the extraordinary Hotel Everland - a designer trailer perched on top of the Palais de Tokyo where patrons were able to spend one night in uber designer surroundings overlooking the Eiffel Tower. What bliss!

Well, I got to see the hotel while in Paris in May - colour me excited! You can't actually go in to the room (that much foot traffic would undoubtably ruin it), but it's a spectacular thing to see - and to imagine staying in.

It's supposed to be traveling the world from one exotic location to the next, so keep an eye out - you may just get lucky and find yourself in a trailer for two with a glass of bubbles! (oh I wish I may I wish I might)

The walkway leading to the trailer.

The bed, with bathroom just behind.

The lounge.

The view out of the main window.

Edit: nadja sent me this link of the grand daddy airstreams in cape town - fabulous sleeping

let there be light

Another piece of the study puzzle: my light from Thailand - which I dragged all the way back in it's awkward shaped box!

virtual garden

Late last year I started redecorating my study, trying to make it a functional, cozy place to twitter from :) No, to work from, but still.
It started with a new coat of paint, and a couple pieces of furniture.

This past weekend it got a new touch to make it that little bit more lived in. This sticker tree I carried around London for a few days trying to get it home - over a year ago. I've finally put it up after getting over my but-once-I've-put-it-up-it'll-be-gone-and-I-can't-change-my-mind jitters, and I love it! Stickers are a great way to create a quick and easy decoration, and with more and more of them becoming available, don't be scared to use 'em! You can easily replace it when you get bored. (can you tell permanence scares me?)

shelf life

After much deliberation and back and forwarding on what to do with the odd "cottage" area, we've decided to turn it in to a library. I'm going to cover the two main walls with book shelves, floor to ceiling. Great! Idea in the bag, but now what?
Having shelves put in is not nearly as easy as it seems. For one thing, you can't simply google "shelf people" or "shelf installation". What you'll get is a myriad of companies who specialize in shelving for large warehouses and storerooms etc. Yuk.
And for another, the options on styling and design are almost endless!

What I have googled though, are a range of images of other people's shelves that I like. And I'm not just talking shelves here - I'm talking *library* - I want the whole schkaboodle, rolling ladder included (just because I'm going to relegate the cr*ppy books to the top shelf doesn't mean I'll never want to reach them again). Through my search I've managed to narrow down what I want - simple, elegant, light, asymmetrical, but not crazy-go-out-and-join-the-circus shelving. Simple, yes?

On Tuesday last week I met with a woman from a kitchen installation company - they do shelves of course - hoping that she'd be able to solve all my problems with a magical wand swish and a sexy design. Boy was I mistaken. I hesitate to even post her "design" it was such a cacophony of angles, wood and boxes. Added to which she missed the brief completely. So tomorrow is round two, with the people who made up my study desk for me. I'm infinitely more optimistic, but we shall see.

What I found on my searches...

Be asymmetrical with your verticals, but try to keep your horizontals uniform. Your books can then afford to be a bit messy, but it won't end up looking like your old school library.



Use all the space you never thought you had (these are built in to the ceiling). Above and behind doors is always sneaky for those pressed with space.



Aspire to owning the ultimate library ever, even if you don't yet have the space, finances or books :)



And this one is just a fantastic way of filing your books, so that they create a feature in the room too. Maybe unpractical, but very pretty.


Now what furniture to put in...

creation of a room

Some time back I ordered new furniture for my study at home - up until now I've been using an old chipboard desk of R's being held together with just one screw. It's precarious. I haven't had a chair at all.

I was quite excited about my new furniture, but because I was ordering it custom, I've had to wait about 16 weeks for it. It finally arrived a couple of weeks ago, and with new furniture come a whole new room! It's amazing what a simple coat of paint can do.

My new desk is a big piece of painted glass on two large blocks of wood which have been "engraved" with a bamboo motif. The chair is pretty and white. Add a few elements, like a new lamp from Thailand, one or two of my favourite vinyl toys, and you have a theme to work with. It still has a few things missing, like a cupboard for filing, and a big fluffy rug, but its a good start. I'll keep posting it's progress...