it’s hard to picture 80 teenagers gallivanting around the beautiful home of embroidery and textile designer maxine sutton, but that was the scene last weekend for the celebration of her son’s 16th birthday. luckily the gorgeous home is still in one piece. maxine, her husband and their three kids moved into this c.1840 early victoria townhouse in the seaside down of ramsgate, kent three years ago. after living in london they needed more space to live and work, not to mention a change of scenery. they were quickly attracted to the area by its proximity to london, the sea and beautiful beaches, the pretty harbor, wonderful architecture and great affordable houses. click here for more, full-sized images of this delightful home, and don’t miss more of maxine’s work here, and visit her shop here. {thanks, maxine!} -anne

[above: It’s a big old solid place built of brick with a smooth stucco front. The outside was painted last autumn and we’ve started work on the garden this summer, so hopefully next year with some growth, the beds and planting will start to take shape. Now that we’ve started on the garden I’ve turned into somewhat of a plant addict so the collection of pots and containers around the front door will no doubt expand.

It was very dark everywhere when we first arrived, so we started by ripping up dark carpets and heavy window coverings, sanding back the floors and re-painting everywhere, to brighten and lighten the space. The curved wood handrail is a favorite original feature of the house. The striped stair carpet is by Crucial Trading and is super practical, with kids and dogs!

On the first floor landing is the beginning of our collection of round mirrors. The embroidered Brain Shade is from my 2005 MA collection. The charcoal drawing is by my husband Daniel; we both studied Fine Art as first degrees and he is now an exhibition designer running his own company, Designmap. The oil landscape is a treasured gift by Daniels dad Sid, also a designer and artist.

Like most of the house this room is still evolving. Well used by all of us it has to be practical and I’d rather not feel too precious about furniture and possessions so lots of the furniture is from charity and second-hand shops, like the coffee table that was £5! The ceiling is high and the room quite large so finding an appropriate light fitting was daunting - all the antique chandeliers we liked seemed out of reach! This new one from John Lewis is a great compromise and was a house-warming present from our parents.

CLICK HERE for the rest of maxine’s peek (and all the images on one page) after the jump!

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around d*s we’re huge fans of pattern in the home so we were instantly drawn to the home of anne kristin hagesæther, an illustrator/printmaker/painter in oslo, norway. the flat is from 1951 and is to believed to only have been redecorated once – in the 70s. every room was repainted when they moved in, but they kept the kitchen (hello, pattern!), which reminded her and her husband of their childhoods. anne kristin’s apartment will be shown in a book of interiors made by nina stang, coming in february 2010 published by cappelen damm. don’t miss more of anne kristin’s work here and here, and full-sized images of her home here. {thanks, and kristin and nina!} -anne

CLICK HERE for the rest of anne kristin’s peek (including all the images on one page) after the jump!

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growing up I always had aspirations to be a national geographic photographer. well, today’s sneak peek comes from penny de los santos, who does just that, but she also shoots for saveur and most recently, martha stewart living. she bought her 1938 austin bungalow in 2003 and along with her partner did a 14 month remodel last year. the entire house was designed to pull in northern and eastern natural light; the architect – kimberly kohlhass – designed it so that during the day not a single light ever needs to be turned on. besides being filled with light and life, the house is also centered around the kitchen. it’s the largest room of the house, the heart of the home and the gathering place for the people she loves in her life. you can find additional images here, and don’t miss penny’s work here and on her blog here. {thanks, penny!} -anne

[above: Where everything creative happens, the center of this house the kitchen. 2 sets of windows, 1 North facing 20foot windows, the other 20 foot east facing windows bring the outdoors in and allow for amazing natural light throughout the day. Perfect for this food photographers cookbook shoots and various food related assignments. Center table purchased from the Wooden Duck in Berkeley, CA. in the 90's and chairs inherited from an a great aunts house on the Texas Mexico border. A vintage chandelier is at the center, purchased at Home Girls in Austin. Used in the evenings for more elegant meals.]

Detail of the stove with the counter and unique European tea pot along with various spoons collected from assignments in various parts of the world.

The master bedroom, looking out onto the back of the property, north facing light, 20 foot commercial grade glass windows make you feel like you are waking up outdoors under the trees.

CLICK HERE for the rest of penny’s peek (including all of the images on one page) after the jump!

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[this post is the final post from our summer correspondent in copenhagen, brittany watson. thank you so much to brittany for her beautiful posts this summer!]

Well, I’m back on American soil. With a computer whose keys are in a recognizable location. And air conditioning blasting because there’s 75% humidity in Washington, DC. Yeah, welcome back to me! One whole Scandinavian summer has whooshed by and I’ve seen and done things I didn’t imagine possible and met people who have made a lasting impression. Writing for design*sponge this summer gave me the chance to enter a private realm of Scandinavia I wouldn’t have entered otherwise. Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes who I didn’t know prior graciously opened their beautiful homes and studios to me and I’m glad to call many of them my friends. Thank you!

I took a little side trip to visit my cousin, artist Bryson Gill, in Berlin and he showed me the shop of Franziska Wodicka called SchubLaden, maker of new furniture, both ready-made and custom-made from old drawers. I’d seen her work before but didn’t realize how lovely it would be in person. Especially lovely was her studio where she stored all the found drawers, arranged, of course, in beautiful neutrals and colors. I’m tempted to make my own collection of drawers purely for beauty, not function. Franziska started SchubLaden after attaining the shop space but not knowing what to put in it. After accumulating loads of drawers she decided to get them out of the way by making them useful once again…hence SchubLaden. She’s quite good at imagining uses for cast off materials and arranging them in imaginative positions like these that face sideways.

Thanks for reading my Chronicles and a huge thanks to Grace for giving me this opportunity. Let’s stay in touch! Hej hej! -Brittany

CLICK HERE for more images from schubLaden after the jump!

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last week holly at livingston and porter sent me a link to the sweet bella site and i’ve been clicking back and forth to it for days now. i’m trying to think of a reason i’d need to own these berlin bear brushes, other than to enjoy looking at them. and the porcelain apples? for some reason i’m dying to use them in a little arrangement next to my bed. no matter where i look on the site there’s something fun to check out- click here to view their full collection and shop online. thanks, holly!

good morning! i’ve got a serious case of the mondays today so i’m going to try to pull myself out of this rainy day funk with some lovely new artwork from brooklyn-based artist wayne pate. wayne’s new paris print is now available for $35 right here and considering that d*s editor anne is now living the sweet (graduate school) life in paris i couldn’t think of a better way to start the day.

i also wanted to take a moment to welcome caroline rogers of looks good to me to the d*s guest blog! i’m a big fan of caroline’s blog and have always loved the way she integrates original watercolor illustrations into each post, so i’m thrilled to have her voice- and watercolors- on the d*s guest blog today. caroline will be writing about the intersection between fashion and home design worlds these two worlds- click here to check out her first post on handkerchief art.

I’m just so happy.
To be here, guest blogging on Design*Sponge this week! Thank you so much to Grace and the team for having me, I am very excited for the week ahead.

My name is Caroline and I am coming to you from Looks Good To Me, my illustrated blog on which I pull together a variety of things that well, look good to me.
I work in the fashion industry and thus many of my blog posts are fashion-related. Since Design*Sponge focuses mostly on the vast design world beyond fashion, I am going to spend this week writing on where these two worlds collide. Home and decor, art and design. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

As a textile designer, I have a deep love for vintage fabrics, particularly vintage ladies handkerchiefs. To me they are a symbol of days gone by when manners reigned supreme and a true fashionable lady never left home without one folded carefully into her pocketbook.

Allison Manch, an artist and photographer from Seattle, WA seems to love handkerchiefs as much as I do. Her artwork is hand-embroidered onto the vintage pieces in the shape of song lyrics and references to pop icons. Allison’s embroidery does not compete with the existing artwork on the handkerchiefs but embellishes upon them, adding another dimension that makes something antique and sentimental into an art piece that is new, modern and highly personal.

I have been a longtime fan of Allison’s work and try to catch her shows whenever I am in Seattle. Her next show is this winter at the Grey Gallery and Lounge in Seattle.

CLICK HERE for more images of Allison’s work after the jump!

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