Happy Easter!

Happy Easter all and enjoy the break.
For part of the long weekend, I will be at 292 painting the exterior. We'll be priming all the new cladding and hopefully, if all going to plan, the first coat of the final colour. I will let you know how we go.
Photograph from Martha Stewart.

Inspiration - NYC Apartment

I came across this simple NYC Apartment by Manifold Architecture Studio (MAS) on Remodelista the other day. It is a small one bedroom apartment, however it seems spacious and has a nice flow. The simple colour and material palette helps and so does the well designed joinery.

It always a buzz when you see good design solutions that is seamless and effortless. Nice.

Photographs by Alan Tansey via Remodelista.

Aluminio reciclado | superficies resistentes

El aluminio es uno de los materiales más reciclados en los Estados Unidos, con un promedio de 80.000 millones de toneladas de latas cada año. Reciclar este material insume un 95% menos de energía que la utilizada al crear un un producto con materiales vírgenes; y eso sin contar el alto de nivel de contaminación que ello produce.

Alkemi es una compañía con certificación LEED que se dedica a el reciclaje de estos materiales sacados de residuos industriales. De su producción salen unas finas láminas de aluminio que de otra forma terminarían en un horno para su quemado, con el consecuente humo pesado que iría hacia la atmósfera.

Sus láminas son durables y con un estilo poco común a la vista, y resulta ser una alternativa totalmente “verde” a los laminados plásticos, piedra o vidrio. Cuentan con una tres tipos de colores y acabados; brillante, clásico y con textura, que recuerdan al mármol veteado, bien al estilo del siglo 21.

Moquetas para suelos de Tandus

Tandus es una compañía que fabrica moquetas que ha recibido varios premios por sus diseños innovadores desde el 2008. Ofrece una línea denominada “Powerbond“, con seis texturas diferentes, que combinados pueden formar un estilo único en tus suelos. Además tienen la durabilidad de una superficie dura pero con la comodidad que ofrece la apariencia y el estilo de una superficie blanda.


Si tienes dudas de su durabilidad, quizá te interese saber que el 80% del Instituto Westminster, en Colorado-EEUU, cuentan con estas moquetas desde hace 35 años. Y estamos hablando de más de 34 kilómetros cuadrados. Por otra parte, vale mencionar que Tandus recibió por quinta vez consecutiva el premio Antron, como mejor suelo sostenible del año (2009).

Sus diseños únicos pueden perfectamente adaptarse a tus necesidades, con modelos tanto sobrios como divertidos, ideal para decorar el entorno de cualquier integrante de la familia.

Inspiration - Exterior Doors in Colour

I've been thinking because my exterior colour scheme for 292 is going to be fairly neutral, I should take advantage of putting an interesting colour on the exterior doors. Here are some of the images that I had stored away for inspiration - I'm clearly attracted to turquoises, duck egg blues and citrus greens.

Creative DIY Lighting and Lampshades

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Apartment Therapy

There are a lot of great lamps/shades/lights out there these days and many that are fairly inexpensive, but sometimes you just want to modify what you have or create something totally unique. If that's your goal, hopefully you'll find some ideas in this post to spark your creativity.

I love the creativity involved in this lighting transformation by Dwellings by Devore. She transformed these

BEFORE

into these! Wow! For details on how she did it, click here.

AFTER

Kate at Design Sponge created this unique night light out of canvas. Complete tutorial here.

Crafty Nest made these adorable paper lanterns. Tutorial here.

One of the elements that Britt at A Penny Saved used to make this $9 DIY Schoolhouse light fixture was a pot lid! For her tutorial, click here.

Michelle from Cicada Daydream shows you how to make these "lamp sleeves". I think this idea could also be modified to make a sleeve/slipcover for a lamp shade too. Tutorial here.

Pendant lights from ceramic bowls at Country Living. Tutorial here. (photo credit: Dane Holwager)

Michael Penney at Canadian House and Home suggests making a lamp from a unique jar to get the look of this one like Tom Scheerer's. He gives you some ideas for doing it here. (photo William Waldron)

Kate at Design Sponge used felt to make these fun pendant lights. Tutorial here.

I linked to these back in August, but I'm not sure how many people have actually seen them since a lot of you are new to the blog since then. Jill at Forever Cottage created these pretty pendant lights out of baskets! For more on how she did it, click here.

Make a geometric design on your lampshade with a running stitch like this one at marthastewart.com

BHG.com has some fun ideas in their Quick Change Lamps slide show. The lamp shade below was embellished with a dish towel.

You've probably seen those great lampshades that show a pretty pattern when the light is on? Marthastewart.com shows you how to make a lampshade liner to get that same effect here.

BHG.com "Make a Fabric Covered Lampshade"

diyideas.com shows this idea for adding a little bling to your lampshade using a metal link belt. Full details on their site.
Transform a plain lampshade using layers of vellum. Tutorial at marthastewart.com


A large scale DIY chandelier shade from BHG.com. Tutorial here.

I think this button covered lampshade from BHG.com would be cute for a kid's room

And a cute lamp for the nursery from marthastewart.com. Tutorial here.

How to Build A Lamp at howstuffworks.com
Have an awesome day!

Ruby Wedding Anniversary

Today is my parent's Ruby Wedding Anniversary. They have been together for 40 years - phew! That is quite something. Congratulations Mum and Dad!
Photograph from Martha Stewart.

New Work - Library

Shelving finished and ladder tucked in.

Shelving continues over the door.

Ladder out and ready to use.

Sliding ladder detail.

The great book collection.

Before the new shelving.

After.

Finally - here are the photos of the 'library' that I have previously mentioned on this blog. My clients have been among house renovation madness, however, they managed to un-pack their book collection (and give away 18 boxes of books!) and fill their new shelves. It looks great and already a part of the room. The clients have located the comfy armchair on this level for future reading and have asked me to design a desk for their computer and toy (lego) storage. This will complete the picture.

Photographs by Charlotte Minty.

Decoración simple para el cuarto del bebe

Crear el ambiente adecuado para recibir un bebé en casa es una hermosa tarea, que no requiere de decoraciones complicadas. La simplicidad y la funcionalidad son objetivos prioritarios que debemos plantearnos a la hora de equipar el dormitorio del bebé. Decorar una pared con vinilos adhesivos o simplemente pintando un diseño sencillo como este árbol, es un recurso muy económico y fácil de hacer uno mismo.

Escoger los muebles adecuados y de buena calidad es otra de las consignas prioritarias. Un cambiador cómodo con espacio de almacenaje, donde tener a mano todo lo necesario, una silla cómoda para amamantar y una cuna con barandas seguras (y si lo consideras necesario con un mosquitero como este) son los elementos fundamentales.