Translucid Kitchen

I think it is possible to tone down the kitchen clutter without making it look like a boring kitchen catalogue.I like these kitchen cabinets and believe they are from Ikea. It seems they just attached 4 of them on top. The floor cabinet though, I'm not sure, because it seems part of the same kitchen line, but I never saw one with those dimensions.
I think this is the cabinet and these are the drawers. Both from Ikea, (ATTITYD):

Would you use these on your kitchen?

(Photos via Marie Claire Maison and Ikea)

BoligLiv magazine

What comes to my mind when I look at these images: bright, relaxed and fun.


(Photos via BoligLiv)

Photographer: Mark Burstyn

Mark Burstyn is a Canadian photographer known for his attention to detail (that's what is written on his website and there's no reason to for me to doubt it:P).White and bright kitchens are my thing:P I also think the metal ladder and the painting with the written message behind it are two interesting pieces of this room. Oh but do not forget the ceiling window:DDon't you feel the urge to organize your closet after seeing this photo? The glass shelves add a touch of class and glamour I believe.Wooden stairs. Do I need to say more?These last two images above are the proof of how pink and flowers, or pink flowers if you want add something to a more blah/neutral space. (don't you love glass objects?:D)

(Photos via Mark Burstyn site)

Nordic vibe

Let me start this post by saying that I normally open all my "interior design" pages of my favourites at once. It helps me not to forget interesting content I find but it also makes me aware of the amount of things I should look with more attention (It's easy to get lost).

I told you this because there's one page I always catches my attention. Its a catalogue of a Norwegian store: Tine K Home. Check the website and read the owner's story behind the beginning of the store which I find very interesting and revealing of how little things in life start to define our life path.
You can find the catalogue right here.

"The unique Tine K Home style is an adventurous mix of Asian, French, Scandinavian and Moroccan colours, shapes and surfaces which, despite the big cultural differences, are lifted to the higher level of a remarkably clean and simple style."

(Photos via Tine K Home catalogue)

Do you like it?:)

"I dream of..."

I believe almost every single person has an idea of what a dream house should be. For some the size would be important, for others the location. Aspects like the colours, light, style would probably fall into a second though, like details normally do.

Personally I do dream about houses. Not just my "dream house", but houses in general. I like buildings, apartments, farms... you name it. And all very different from each other. What excites me about creating a house inside my head it's the concept of a life inside of it. (That's one of the reasons I get uneasy when things are just meant to look good and do not work at all:P).
The true inspiration really comes from the details like some flowers in a jar or some kind of windows that transports me to a remodelled (in my head) house where for example, a writer works near that window with a cork board on the wall full of inspirational and colourful paper cuts. Or even a children room, where there's a big rug on the floor with toys and some sparkling silver stars attached to the curtains that produces magical reflections around the room.
In the end it's all about the details. That's what engages me into creating a house from inside out inside my head. That's why I want to be an interior designer I guess. I'm also interested into the construction part of it (breaking walls, plumbing, carpentry) and truly believe that helps because it's not all about beautiful spaces... There's chaos in this process of changing a space which can be very unpleasant.And this "thing" for houses is reinforced by the fact that I like different kinds of styles which together couldn't work. And since it's hard to compromise with one or two, having different houses to test and apply the styles can be really interesting.

What about you? Do you have a dream house or style? Where it should be located?

(Photos via Airspaces)

Cool magazine

Some houses can really make me drool. White and splashes of colour are my dream interior design combination.
Trough Made By Girl I've discovered a magazine with amazing photos from interesting houses.
I think the magazine is Swedish. Feel free to look at it : Hus&Hum here.

(Photos via MadeByGirl)

Laugh

Yesterday night I was really down and needed something to light me up.
That's why I started to look for videos of Dane Cook's stand up comedy. I saw a little bit on TV last week and it really made laugh (not just smile, but laugh with noise:P). So, yesterday I even did some research about him and found the right videos to make me forget about what was making me feel blah

And it worked:D
That's why I though it was a good idea to share it with you. There are many videos with just one joke and not many with a complete show, but I found one and that's what I'll share here.

The show has 3 parts: 1, 2, 3

If you don't like it don't hit me please:P

(videos from danecook.com)

Feminine spaces

"Making your home more roomy needn't mean extending the house (or mortgage). We meet three women who have gained an additional space of their own by being a little creative."

The article here on dailymail (more images there)

Frustration

How to talk with someone who just doesn't listen? What can you do when you say "x" and the person hears "z"?

Let me know if you have the answer.

Rainy dance

As I posted yesterday I was going to dance with friends. There was no alcohol but no need either. Reality was enough:P10 moments of Friday night:

1. Rain through the middle 'till the end of the concert (we left before the end of it)
2. We did lots of trains (dancing in a line, person behind another person, like a train:P / have no idea if this concept exists in English)
3. Dancing while raining (quite cool actually, it felt like we were in a tropical place because it was warm)
4. I have a new personal record: 7 persons inside my attic and you should know that the boys are not small (tendency to headaches - ouch!:P)5. H. found my old CD of "Savage Garden" and suddenly we were all singing with great conviction... yep, we knew the lyrics... Oh shame and nostalgia...
6. We went to a bakery and brought home chocolate croissants:D (that's kind of a ritual)
7. I only have six glasses and used all of them, some for the first time (hey this is important!:P)
8. We had a hot discussion about Cristiano Ronaldo.
9. We had a hot discussion about facebook.
10. H. read us a story about a little duck (I had it on my bookshelf) and we listened like little kids.

It's amazing the things we do when we are in good company. And no, they won't read this:P (In case you do please be nice and polite:D)

PS: Me and A. kept awake until 6am while listening to the thunderstorm:D

Something about you

I love this image found at Cartoon Styles.
It's sexy and revealing without being to much revealing. And not seeing her face gives this sense of mystery about the picture.

Don't resent getting older

Growing Up from Jr.canest on Vimeo.

How sweet is this?:)

(From Jr. canest)

Another unpretentious house

Look at this amazing and original kitchen. Detail: the subtle extractor fan:D

Books play such an important role in this loft. Divide the areas in an organized and interesting way. This is great design I think. It really gives a solution to a problem: how to divide areas in loft spaces.


(Photos via Office for Word and Image)

Yellow Kitchen

How fresh is this kitchen? And the painting with the purples's totally lovable:D

(Photo via Design*Sponge - click to see more images)

So true

(Image via The Things we Forget - click and look, because it's a really cool idea:)

To dance or not to dance

Tonight it seems I'll have a concert. It's from a popular Portuguese musician. Do you know those parties when people are all dancing together even when don't know who they're dancing with? Well beer and sangria (don't know the word in English, but it's red wine with juice and fruit) always help the shy ones:P

Maybe I'll post a picture of two of the concert.

Do you like to dance? I mean really dance, shaking every single part of the body, not just moving your head:P

I believe there four types of dance:

1. The goofy one (like I'll probably do tonight), where you're not supposed to look good or be specially sexy doing it. It's truly for the sake of doing it.

2. Funny/popular music where you may be singing and acting. Like singing "I will survive". When this happens it seems you're really meaning it, or even doing some kind of choreography.

3. The introspective one. With this I mean you don't really care about what's happening around you. You're just feeling the beat and you're body is moving accordingly. Like there's no one else.

This cateogory have two subtypes:
3.1 The normal dance: move your body normally with eyes closed and you're really into it.

3.2 Similar to the first one but with sluty/sexy moves. In this one you can find a male or a female and insinuate a lot, but I believe it's kind of dancing for yourself and if you catch someone's attention that's just a bonus. (This type have the good taste and the bad taste one version. It's really sad and depressing to see the second one)

Do you agree with me? Do you know more versions of this? Do you dance?:D

(Photo of me, taken by me propably 4 years ago when I had a photoblog)

Summer dilemma

Through Cup of Jo I read an article in glamour.com about the dilemma between getting the tan look or assuming the white pale tone. And this is a good example of a good looking white lady: Cate Blanchett.I live in a sunny country and until my 12 years old I would spend 2 months of my summer vacations at the beach. Can't complain about that, oh no. Right now I don't see any damages. (I do wear good sunscreen) But I'm not white-almost-blue, just white with brown hair and green eyes. My mother's quite white but my dad has a darker skin, so I guess I have some of my dad's pigmentation (which means I never look like a lobster:P).

I believe that one of the causes of sunburns is that generally people look more attractive when with a little bit of colour and also because they don't have enough beach time to get a balanced tan, so, in result, if they have five days on the beach they want to absorb the maximum of sun possible. THAT DOES NOT WORK.

In my country there's kind of a competition of "who's the more tanned one" which is quite stupid but it's easy to get caught in that. The pale one seems quite outside of the earth:P

Personally I like the moderate tan specially on my face. (I know, the wrinkles issue) But since I don't wear makeup, I do have dark circles under my eyes and with the sun they just disappear. You get such a healthy look and the eyes suddenly seem to stand out.

In the end it's a cultural thing. But it's quite hideous to see the fake tan. That I just don't get because people just look orange. And for the stars who do it: "Hey girls (and boys... oh god) can't you just spend a few days in a tropical, warm and sunny place and do it the right way?"

What do you think? Love it or hate it?

(Photo via glamour)

Hooked on Houses?

I thought I was addicted to houses, now I'm SURE of it:P
Taken from the Hooked On Houses website.


Are you Hooked on Houses? Give yourself a point for each of the following statements that you agree with:

1. If there’s a “For Sale” sign in my neighbour's yard, I can tell you how much they’re asking for their house–and whether it’s worth it. (lalala guilty) - 1

2. I know who Clive Pearse is and love to watch home-improvement television. (bahh no idea) - 0

3. I’ve been known to visit Open Houses and model homes, just for fun. (I go to realstate websites regularly, does that counts?) - 0,5:P

4. When I visit someone’s home, I immediately start looking around to see what changes they’ve made since the last time I was there. (Everybody does that, right?...) - 1

5. I get upset when I see a beautiful old home that looks neglected and unloved, and I fantasize about “rescuing” it. (This is like a disease, just can't help it) - 1

6. If I won the lottery, the first thing I’d do is buy or build my dream home. (Not the 2st thing but it would be on my top 5 for sure) - 1

7. I’ve been known to check out the local house listings when I’m on vacation to see how much it would cost to live there. (that's part of my realstate ritual:P) - 1

8. If I drive through a pretty neighbourhood, I slow to a crawl so I don’t miss anything. (Well if there's beauty around it would be a sin not look attentively at it I guess) - 1

9. I’m always redecorating my house. It’s never “finished.” (Quite frustrating sometimes) - 1

If you agree with 3 or more of these, then you are definitely hooked on houses.

I had 7,5/9 and you? And you? Share your results:)

(Photos via Zara Home Catalogues I've scanned)

The story of my life

"Procrastination Tales Of Mere Existence"


I love this video. And oh so true.

Colour

I do love the colours, but the masonry shelves are absolutely original. Great to exhibit collections.

(Photo via El-Beso - click to see the more images from this Buenos Aires house)

Peony time-lapse

How visually interesting this is!

Peony time-lapse from munich time-lapse on Vimeo.

(Image via munich)

"Hooooooke me up"

When I like something I can be quite possessive and obsessive. It can be music, food, a dress, a game, a book... Or my blog hahaha:)

Today's addiction:

My new obsession is The Veronicas. It just makes me want to go to the dance floor, or my own living room (details).

Did you know they are Australian? I swear it was not on purpose, it's just the destiny pushing me down under. Oh this didn't sound that well.
They are twins and no, they are not both called Veronica, but Jessica and Lisa.

Check it out the music videos: Untouched and Hook Me Up

Have a nice day:)
Oh thank for the first comments ladies:P

I love math

(Image via More New Math - click to view more of these)

It's official:

The blogs with "look what I've dressed today" really get on my nerves.

I think I need some Barry White now.

Unpretentious

In this Melbourne home you find the opposite of pretentious decoration. Keep it simple can be the right way to do it. Well, that's no right or wrong in my opinion but if you just can't manage a more posh look this is a good example to follow. This hallway has clutter but it's still fresh or just ENOUGH (this word is kind of ugly on caps).

The vintage vibe and the little collections make me think this is a house where visitors must feel comfortable and welcome. It's genuine and easy-going (I know this could be staged but it isn't and if it was that would be a great example of stage decoration) and probably truly reflect the owners personalities and life.

(Photos via The Design Files)

Just don't, please

I HATE websites with music. Specially when I open many pages at once and have to look for the guilty one. Just feel like hitting them through a wall.

Real houses

Sometimes I wish I could control myself not to visit some sites, so I would have tons of things to see for a day:P
The Apartment Therapy Home Tours is a great example of that, but somehow I manage to "forget" it and now... LOTS of inspiring interiors. Yeah baby, that's the way I like it. And somehow Barry White came to my mind ("We got it together didn't we?" is playing on my head right now)... I really need to take the pills on time:P

On the houses again. I just chose some of my favourites, but if you click on each image you'll see the whole tour to each house.
All of them are American houses from California, except the last one which is from New York.

"We got it together didn't we,
We definitely got our thing together don't we baby,
Isn't that nice"...

Oh dear:P

Deco Dust

Today, while going trough my daily blogs I felt inspired to share one of my life questions. Ok, not quite that but you get the idea. Please meditate on this:

The role of dust into the decoration of our houses.

This post in particular (The English Muse) shows a Paris apartment full of cool details: cushions, chandeliers, lots of little decorative objects, mirrors, books, sculptures... And while enjoying what I was looking at, the dust problem came to my mind.


Well, you should know that my house is an attic with ceiling windows, which means DUST. I have a trauma probably, but again, everybody worries about having a clean house, right?... I though so:P And in case you're wondering, I'm not a cleaning freak, far from that lalalala

It's not easy to compromise between the style/image/concept and the real life necessities. Because you can have all the knick knacks you want and spend years of your life cleaning the dust or... Living with it (allergic readers, this is not an option for you... I guess).

I also read here, on Four Walls and a Roof about photogenic houses and stage shoots. Like I wrote in my comment over there, interior decoration is quite similar to fashion: we see "perfection" in magazines, but to attain that in our real life houses can be quite a challenge:P From now on you'll see expressions like "anorexic bedroom" or "that sofa went under the knife"... Or maybe not:P

And to end this serious meditation I'll leave you with the suggestion of looking at dust as "Deco Dust"! It sounds quite good actually.

What do you think about all this?... Anyone?:P

Cupcakes to everyone:)*

(Photo via English Muse and from Marie Claire Maison)

Singing laptop

Laptop:"It's getting hot in here, I think I will explode"

Playing Sims 2 or Sims 3 can really bring the heat.

(Melody of Nelly's "Hot in Here")

Emotional desktop

Its seems to me that my desktop chaos is related to my state of mind: desktop mess=emotional turbulence (or something like that). It's quite proportional actually because the more unsatisfied and anxious I am, bigger is the mess.

It could be worse, though:)

Just a thought

Laughing and crying are very close emotions.

One, Two, Three...

Shelves full of books: this is how you do it:)

(Photo via The Selby)

Why Australia II

The way they say "newspeipáh":D

Why Australia I here

Cool garbage

"Cool garbage" it's not a title I would normally thought of until this image.

Soho, New York

(Photo via The Design Files)

I want

(Photo via Le Love from it's her minutiae)