because

because sometimes dark works wonders. {and oh my goodness, that typewriter. And that chest.}

{original source from: the style files}

Architectural Spotlight: Zaha Hadid

 I served this woman while I was working for a catering company throughout university.

I served her a diet coke with my mouth wide open. She had to ask me twice.

How could I not stare at her?
 It was Zaha Hadid standing in front of me, in all her gloriousness,

 tapping me on the shoulder while demanding for her drink; and quite rudely if you ask me. 

But it was Zaha, so her demands were met quite swiftly without any complaints.

This woman whose work ethic baffles me, but yet people queue to work at a desk in the firm,
literally. Should you fall short of a work space on the start of your day, you head back home
 and work from there. The same woman who you would spend time queuing up for just to be a
 part of her team, a part of her architectural world, a part of her process that allows her to be
heard, and most definitely seen, in a completely male dominant career and in fact the first
 woman to win the Pritzker prize for Architecture in its twenty six year history. She has done
 this with grace, and with no care in the world of what people think. And in saying this,
 her architecture speaks for itself. Edgy but fluid. Soft but sophisticatedly elaborate.
 Feminine yet powerful and dominant.

So no. No complaints from the the little wide-mouthed design student standing in
front of personally one of the most successful woman architects in this century.

Click below for photos of some of my favourite projects.

Inside Their Home: Parisian Chic

Situated in Boulevard Malesherbes in Paris, France,  this 19th century refurbished apartment 

is owned by well renowned architectural and design duo Patrick Gilles + Dorothée Boissier 

of Gilles & Boissier, who are mainly involved in high end design projects.

Click for more photos.

Inside His Home: Hitoshi Uchida-San

Seeing that two thousand and thirteen is about change and with wanting to keep up with this 

space, we want to start a new series starting today, Inside His/Her Home, to get the ball rolling.

Its always something I do when I walk past homes, curious and interested in how people 

do up their spaces. Quickly glancing at their open windows, without seeming to stalker-ish,

I find elements of their personal style that speak their own language. It's not snooping, 

it's just curiosity! 

We are loving the details inside Hitoshi Uchida-San's home in Kamakura, Japan. 

We love the space even more. His little vintage pieces are presumably from his shop, 

J'Antinques Tokyo, which is noted as one of the best in Tokyo. His gorgeous textures in the 

walls and ceiling, unfinished architectural details, his gorgeous rugs and his cleverly put 

together vignettes that sit within his 'undecorated' style are what make this home. 

Click for more photos after the jump.

that shade called emerald green

So many choices of how to use emerald green. Fashion houses are going nuts with

 broadcasting this colour on every dress, top, bag and whatever else you can possibly think of. 

 If you have seen the minimal posts on this blog, it's quite obvious that my interior design choices

veer towards the rustic neutrals so playing around with colour as bright as emerald green is

 uncharted territory for me but one that may be considered. 

You'd have to be a serious lover of this tone to have it plastered on your walls. If you are as weary

 as I am about having emerald green as a feature wall or door but really think it would 

work, you can always tone down your background by decorating your space with neutral 

shades. Whites, beiges, natural materials,wood and glass all work wonderfully with

 bright backgrounds. All of a sudden the green isn't so bad after all. 

Would you have a piece of furniture as an accent piece in your home? Perhaps you're not too

 keen on having your walls scream at you but you really fancy having this shade trace parts of 

your living space. Accent pieces are always a way to work out that indecisiveness. You can 

always move it around if you feel it doesn't work. And you can always refinish it when

 you decide green isn't really your favourite colour anymore. 

{via martha stewart}

I believe less is more. So if you think the way I do, decorating your home with traces of 

emerald green accessories is probably the way of trending with Pantone's colour of the year. 

My favourite, of course, had to be saved for last. Textured fabric, natural weaves, soft wool,

 greys, whites and wood. And then all of a sudden, there's that pop of emerald. 

Love it.

How would you use it? 

{images via Pinterest unless specified}

a room for the little miss

Perhaps I can start explaining to you why we've been off the blog radar 

since March two thousand and twelve.

Perhaps these pictures will explain just a little bit.

My pregnancy took all my creative juices and stuffed them out them 

window. I stopped painting, drawing, blogging, writing and 

everything else that involved having to think.

 I seemed to just want to be pregnant.

But here... here is a little project that I gave myself to work on. My son never had a 

nursery so I made it a mission to make sure I could work on one for my 

daughter. My guest room/storage area slowly became a space I knew I would

 want to spend with my daughter, not only because of the new things I had bought 

or made, but because of the old furniture that I incorporated in

 the design of the room.

Her cot was recycled from my sons. We stripped the old horrible yellow/ orange 

paint off to its natural pine. I wanted a walnut antique looking cot with white sheets 

so I used Sadolin's African Walnut extra durable wood stain which is an

 oil based stain. Worked wonderfully to get the effect that I was aiming for.

 It now look like a vintage cot that has been passed down from generations. 

This bed holds a special place in my heart. And I love that it sits in the nursery now. 

This is one that hasn't been made to look antique, it actually is antique. 

So antique that my grandfather was born on it. It is made of carved narra wood 

with a solihiya base that a thin but comfortable mattress sits on covered

 with a ethinic Ilocano woven blanket.

Aimed for a bird theme nursery with owl figurines spread out in the room,

 birdcages on the shelves and vintage bird illustrations from Vintage Printable, 

which have thousands of vintage prints to choose from  no matter what the nursery 

theme is or for any wall space you choose. Bought cheap picture frames, nailed on

 some picture hooks behind it and she now she has her own beautiful bird gallery 

hanging above her cot!

The side table, kilim rug and bed were all in my bedroom as I grew up. So seeing it 

in her room makes me a little nostalgic. The afternoon light that shines in

 is wonderful, leaving shadows and reflections for her to watch as she 

lays in her cot. Natural light is such an important factor, it changes a

 room and it's colour palette in an instant.

Old and new books sit in her growing library. The books on her side table have also

 sat on my shelves as a little girl, with its sleeves showing it's age. The new books 

were given at my baby shower from every guest, each one with an inscription 

for her to read when she is older. 

Project nursery still in the works however! 

Just a little more tweaking to do. Watch this space for updates!