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Sunday, April 10, 2011
Deb Taylor, a Sydney ceramicist uses Limoges porcelain to create fabulous pieces for her company Little White Dish. Deb says this material is the finest & smoothest of all & allows her to create beautifully defined lines in her pieces, with a fabulous translucency.
Functional pieces like this cream dish. 
And this customized bowl with a touch of the quirky. 
A sugar & creamer with a paper-thin relief design. 
Pass the butter please! 
Drinking from the Cherished cup. 
Fabulous, functional colanders. 
Pendants with attitude. 
Pendants for the one you love. 
The surprise element! 
And now Deb's making these simple & quite beautiful memorial urns. Inside each one is a handmade silk drawstring bag to hold the ashes & the client who commissions the piece, chooses the words or quotation for the inscription. All images are from Deb's site littlewhitedish .
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
As well documented, MOTH's been trapped inside the house every weekend for the past 18 mths 'attending' to bathroom matters. This has meant that our jungle garden has been incredibly neglected, so he's been given permission to work outside on weekends for the next couple of months while the weather is warm. 'Inside can wait' I told him (I actually still can't believe I said that!).
He took me at my word & last Sunday attacked a huge area in the front yard, ripping out a whole heap of old woody trees & self-sown rubbish. It's already looking much better, so we can start to put into action what we have planned for that space. I do love the work of Holt Jordan & Joan Honeyman @ Jordan Honeyman in Washington DC. They have done wonders with this property in historic Delaware, especially the use of an old relocated train depot in the above 2 images as a garden guest house.
And I reckon this reworking of a rather neglected outdoor terrace space by Donald Lococo is fabulous.
Yum!Monday, November 8, 2010
I'm thoroughly enjoying Jane Stanton Hitchcock's latest crime thriller Mortal Friends, because it's set in one of my favourite places - the historic Georgetown area of Washington DC. Over the years of travelling to DC for work, I head to Georgetown for 2 very important reasons - Cote Jardin on O Street & Georgetown Cupcake on M Street. Cue much nodding of head by the lovely Cote Provence, who blogs from her home town of Washington.
This historic three-story brick Colonial Revival house is one of the earliest examples of this style in Washington, DC. Located in the Georgetown Historic District, the residence has undergone many dramatic transformations since its construction in 1893. A 1961 modification removed the front porch and widow’s walk (oh Lord!) and relocated the front door, replacing the original entry with a window.
The renovation has reinstated the house’s original presence by restoring the porch & widow's walk & re-situating the front door, while adding a rear modern garden pavilion.
A glass connector lightly joins the two structures.
The new pavilion incorporates the stunning kitchen, dining & informal living areas on the ground floor.
And a new master suite on the floor above.
Contemporary styling in the formal Living Room at the front of the house.
Light filled, slick, spacious & eminently liveable interiors make this is a very special home.Images: Cunningham Quill Architects
Sunday, September 26, 2010
....a Spanish Mission to be exact! The Architect's brief was to create an 'urban-beach feel, not so much beach-house or urban chic, but somewhere in between. A place to live, work, entertain & enjoy the beach-side living.' The client owned both upper & lower apartments of this Duplex, so one large space was created in the refurbishment. The internal redesign features clean, modern lines, while externally, the house was freshened up, while still retaining the original period features. The above view is from the front street entrance, with fabulous Sydney water views seen in the distance.
An original arched window in the entrance has been retained & highlighted. The Spanish Mission style of houses emerged in California during the period between the 2 World Wars & here in Austalia, we followed on very closely from the U.S. example. The style particularly suited our Mediterranean climate. Typically houses of this style often feature terracotta tiled roofs, stuccoed external surfaces, external spiral columns, parapets, loggias, timber window shutters, arched doorways & windows, ornamental metalwork & balconettes.This property has all those features in abundance. 
The Living Room looking out to those captivating water vistas.
The Dining space & balcony with the same fabulous views.
Clean, simple lines in the Living Room.
Polished boards & simple cabinetry in the kitchen.
Love the bathroom!
And the curvy wall!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
After years on the look-out for an old barn to restore in the French countryside, the Henaut family stumbled across 3,000 sq. metres of vacant land just outside the pretty village of Orgeval. Wanting to build a house with soul & one that remained sympathetic to the region, they found Orleans-Eurobat, a Company that specializes in the design & building of regional architecture.
After two years of work building the house & completing the interiors, the Owners were very happy with the result.
The Great Room has oak beams which have been left raw & a nineteenth century mantlepiece. Neutral furnishings give the room a relaxed, informal feel.
Chouquette, the guardian of the house chills out in the Great Room.
A custom-made cabinet, with mesh door inserts, houses books & also doubles as a cocktail cupboard.
The farmhouse is spread over two levels - the Great Room, dining area and kitchen are downstairs & upstairs are the bedrooms and bathrooms.
In the kitchen, the Henry II buffet, a family inheritance, has been covered by a thick oak top & is used as the centre island, surrounded by designer chairs. Raw oak beams have been used again, but this time are white-washed. From the kitchen French doors lead out onto the terrace which is lined with old cobblestones. Herbs, roses, lavender, hydrangeas and boxwood all in large planter boxes, thrive in the sunlight. Then beyond, lies the large garden.
The Master bedroom is nestled in an alcove upstairs & the bed is covered with crips cottons & a sumptious velvet throw.
Two old mirrors & a linen covered storage cupboard complete the pretty upstairs bathroom.
An ancient & somewhat battered oak door has been converted into a closet, complete with fine wire mesh inserts & a delicate half-curtain. The Owners have combined their love of Flemish & Gustavian interiors to create a beautiful home, with all the advantages of a new building, that still reflects the past. This is one of the loveliest new builds I've seen in a long, long time. Do you agree?Monday, May 31, 2010
Ever since I was little I've been a wriggle-bum. Squirmy is my middle name. So finding the right chair on any given occasion is of paramount importance to me. Some days I'm fine to stretch out on our long sofa. Other days, I'm happy in our single tub chairs. Then on those times where the infamous Nurse's Back complaint rules my day, I'll drag one of the dining room chairs into the Living Room, as all I want is to be forced to sit bolt upright to read or watch the telly. All of these wonderful room settings please my back, 'cos there's a real variety of chairs to choose from. I'd be a bit like Goldilocks, flitting from chair to chair until I'm able to say 'And this one is just right!'
Images: 1. Tripod 2. Centrebrook 3. Ken Jacobs 4. Maxine Brady 5. Marc Gerritsen 6. Tom McWilliam 7. Skona Hem 8. Mark Darley 9. KAA 10. Danielle Trippet 11. Barry Halkin 12. Homes & Garden 13. Keller + Keller
