Fancy footwork

Love a bit of detail or a point of difference in an interior. I have zoomed in on the object of my interest here - the little leg and detailing on the big kitchen bench. The little turned foot on this island bench lets it touch the floor lightly which offsets its massive proportion in the room. Like the wooden floor and the lights also.

Image: Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles via Greige

Not such a parfait day

I smashed one of my large Le Parfait storage jars today - I have had it for years and stored coffee in it which ended up all over me. My tights are now infused with espresso. Tiled floors are so unforgiving. Keeping perspective, it was only a jar, but real Le Parfait jars are quite hard to come by in Sydney. I thought this pantry was inspiring. It is in the home of Emerson of US based emersonmade - a lovely cheery shop for fashion, flowers and homewares.

Image: Emersonmade

Chameleon

Power points and light switches are mostly pretty unexciting until HPM Legrand come along and present you with 15 different coloured cover plates to click on and change to your hearts content. I received a sample in 5 O'Clock Olive from the Earths colour set which is very tactile and restful. The full Linea colour range is below.

Although you probably wouldn't pick it from the swatches below Gun Metal looks great with the stainless steel appliances in my kitchen - stainless is darker than you think.

Images: HPM Legrand, Emma Mitchell

Repeating (myself)

I am really hoping not to drop the ball completely on my blog this year. I started my diploma in Colour Design three weeks ago and since then have delivered a paltry total of four posts - none of them with very much text - hmm not looking good. And my pile of inspiring things to post about is growing by the day. So please excuse the sporadic nature of things at present.

I nabbed this kitchen shot from Desire to Inspire as I love a little repetition in an interior. Sets of three windows and lights and the cupboard drawers almost line up as well.

Image: Stuart McIntyre via Desire to Inspire

Kitchen benches

These kitchens both have cleverly thought through seating. Simple tables with statement chairs are arranged for the usual number of family members but the side benches mean that when a crowd needs to be accommodated you can turn the table and seat everybody comfortably. The first kitchen is by Melbourne based interior design team Doherty Lynch whose broader portfolio here is well worth browsing through. In the bottom kitchen I also really like the cook book shelf over the bench seating. I love the colour and interest a line of good books adds to a kitchen.

Images: Doherty Lynch, not known

More is more

Personally I am much more minimal in the kitchen that this one which belongs to artist and director Mike Meire and his family. I kept these because the generosity of the whole room really appealed to me - the huge island and flower arrangement, the massive collection of kitchen utensils and copper pans. It is unconventional - with the three free standing drawer units each supporting a different appliance - but the huge windows and grand scale draw me in.

Images: via Desire to Inspire

Susann's kitchen

Things have been pretty busy for me lately hence the sporadic posting but with renewed energy I am committed to clearing out my inspiration folders and posting all the photos that have been hanging around all year waiting for the right mood to take me. So on some dasy there might not be alot of text - but hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves.

First off - kitchens. I have two favourite styles - soft modern (not too slick or shiny) and traditional - as I live in an old house. This kitchen belongs to Susann Larsson of Purple Area fame - I like it a lot, the doors and windows letting in light and air, especially the door by the fridge and the change in levels for the eating area - adding a bit of interest to the open plan space.

Actually Susann's whole house is amazing - see more photos here. Till tomorrow ...

Images: Purple Area

Kitchen classics - painted Ercol

As if I needed more classic chairs to consider for my kitchen area along comes the revival of Ercol style high backed chairs and armchairs to add to the mix. I already have Wishbones, Thonet and Eames on my list of possibilities. Although some people really hate seeing wooden furniture painted I am open minded on this topic and - if it means that fewer old chairs end up on the scrap heap, all the better. I think what I need to do is a comfort test for all my options as, after all, looks are not everything.

Images: Trent Bell via Desire to Inspire, Brown and Orange, Elephant & Monkey

Storing cookbooks

I get so many fantastic ideas by browsing design blogs and this is one of them. I already own cookbooks that extend to well over a metre and a half on book shelves and the other thing about my books is that they are very heavy when you put them all together. While I do like shelves set into kitchen benches for books I thought this idea of using a vertical shelf in a pantry is genius. Whoever owns this pantry even has some cookbook series grouped together - very organised.

Images: via Fric and Frac, Aero Designs

The China Syndrome

I can't really explain it but I get a great kick out of all the recent projects reusing china and plates like the immense wall of plates at Milan Design Week and the 're-purposed' plates and cutlery at Eat Green Design. The recycled old saucer butterflies by Lightly are so more-ish I just want to buy them all whenever I see them.

So this photo caught my eye as I am a committed utensil rail person and what better way to get with the trend than to hang some pretty china from my existing rails ? I could actually do with a nice sauce boat as last weekend we ended up serving a sauce directly from the pyrex jug it was made in due to lack of suitable equipment . . .

Images: Emma Mitchell via Desire to Inspire, Lightly, Megan Morton via the Design Files

Healing herbs

I cut my right hand badly on Thursday last which really slowed me down for a few days so no time for blogging. My left handed hair and makeup was looking a bit dodgy too over the weekend !! Anyway had to spend time this week researching the colour psychology for green which conveniently is a very healing and calming colour. My assignment was to create a magazine page of green objects and fabrics and this is one of my little finds - the herb garden by royalvkb, $79 from Top3 by design.

Thonet love

After the spikiness of yesterday's post I wanted to use something softer today - and what better than the gentle curves of Thonet chairs ? They are such classics and seem to be enjoying a revival - certainly they are featuring widely in the magazines these days. Love the cafe feel of this kitchen with the marble-topped table, the glossy floor and the photo wall.

Images: Tripod Agency via Desire to Inspire, Thonet Cafe Daum chair

Brick kitchen

With a little more time to spend browsing blogs I've been clicking through the blogrolls to see what comes my way. I ended up reading a post about whitewashing bricks, featuring this lovely kitchen. You really can find the instructions to do anything on the internet. While I can see the beauty and performance in sleek and shiny kitchens, the textures and greenery in this one spoke to me. Love the mirror and the light fitting and the brick / steel / wood mix.

Image: via White Flower Design

Cool drawer

It is not often I feature an appliance of any kind but I always find it hard to pass by anything with Paul Smith esque stripes so here is the Cool Drawer from Fisher and Paykel. Fisher and Paykel have a customised shipping container called Ironside which they fill with all the appliances of the future and tote it around to exhibitions. This photo is courtesy of Lucy at the The Design Files. Apart from loving the stripes I do like the idea of a few cool drawers around the kitchen and house. The idea is that they can be set to freeze, cool drinks or fruit and vegetables depending on where your cool drawer is and what you want to use it for. I wonder though, environmentally, would three or four cool drawers use more power than one big fridge ?

Image: The Design Files

Still life

Claire Stening is a Brisbane based artist and as a fan of still life I really like her work. I love art in a kitchen - pictures of fish, fruit, cutlery (Claire has some lovely paintings of spoons in her portfolio) and so on. This lemons are fantastic and would give a great splash of colour but I also really like her work in more muted colours like the fish and bone handled carving set below. You can see lots more of her work at www.clairestening,com and www.edwinacorlette.com.

Images: Claire Stening

Is it an egg ?

This kitchen is from James Tse's portfolio. I am a fan of art on the walls in the kitchen and this one is a beauty. What do you think - photo or painting, poached egg, egg shells, flower or something else ?? Either way I love the drama of the marble floor and the artwork.

Image: James Tse via Desire to Inspire

Its on the fridge

Another canny chalkboard idea - perfect for a fridge that is fully functional inside but looking a bit dented, scratched or dated on the outside. I am assuming you could either use board or stickers - chalkboard stickers might work better near handles. You could also go for chalkboard one side and magnetic surface on the other.

Image: via Kelly + Olive

Black beauties

I hadn't really considered a black dresser until I came across these images. The first one with the black napery would make you feel like you were eating out at a cool restaurant each night. The martini glasses look very elegant in the bottom shot and I am also thinking that shapely white bowls and platters would look great displayed in a pure black cabinet.

Images: TineK, Pottery Barn via The House that AM Built

Favourite rooms: Kitchen

Emily Jenkins Followill takes beautiful soft pictures - a real challenge if you are photographing a big stainless steel bench as in the kitchen below. Apart from the space and light in this room I really like the curved range hood which picks up the arched doorway and the mixed bench surfaces.

Images: Emily Jenkins Followill

Mysterious kitchen

Usually I am pretty good at keeping a record of the source of the images here but for this one I have unfortunately lost its provenance. It is a bit different this kitchen - dark walls, the big industrial looking surround on the extractor hood and the contrast with the beautifully upholstered and cool chairs. You don't often see such a dark floor in a kitchen either. I have been squinting at the picture to determine if the house just goes on and on as it seems to extend to another long table and then to another and another set of doors. Intriguing and I really like the kitchen.

Image: source unknown