section: interior design 
artist and design blogger (from the right bank to the left coast) ally has moved so frequently - two overseas moves, several times across the country and many moves across cities – that she’s been dubbed the modern-day nomad by friends. a self-identified design junkie, each move gives ally the opportunity to decorate a new space and leads to the discovery of new shopping sources, so it’s not surprising that her seattle home is a seemingly effortless mix of the modern and the antique where everything seems to be carefully selected and collected. {thanks, ally!} – amy a
[Our last move was from Paris to Seattle and on the very first day of our house hunting trip, my husband and I found a green, contemporary house in the middle of the city that was in the beginning of the construction phase. Even though it was basically just a shell of a house at the time, we could visualize how it was going to turn out and bought it on the spot! It’s turned out to be the perfect house for our two dogs and us and to this day we can’t believe our luck. Some of my favorite objects in our home are the antique French and Flemish paintings in the living room. I especially like them contrasted with the exposed beams and contemporary furniture.] 
Having moved so much, you can imagine our furnishings are from all over the place. I’ve also always been a fan of mixing styles so our home is a real mishmash of old/new, froufrou/modern, high/low . . .
CLICK HERE for the rest of Alek’s sneak peek after the jump! read more … November 2nd, 2009 - 12:00pm 
over the past decade, husband and wife team, adam mccauley and cynthia wigginton have collaborated on a number of children’s book projects with adam handling the drawing and cynthia working on the design (titles include my friend chicken and the monsterologist). and when they’re not drawing and designing together, they play and write music for their band, bermuda triangle service. today we have a sneak peek into their san francisco home that they half-jokingly describe as modern jungle eclectic. basically it means they love having comfortable home where friends and family can come over and not be worried about putting their feet up. color is such a part of their lives in their daily work, that a neutral palette works great for their home, and makes for a flexible background for their ever-expanding art collection. it also works well to mix up heirloom and ikea pieces. and of course it wouldn’t be a modern jungle with out lots of plants, and pets are welcome too. {thanks so much adam and cynthia!} -anne
Living room [2 shots above] Split-rail loveseats from Modernica (as featured on Mad Men! Or perhaps they are using the Elizabeth Knoll originals? Mid-century modern coffee table from The Touch on Valencia Street. MCM desk and shelving passed down by Cynthia’s parents. Pillows: from the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite, Chiasso, BB&B, Walgreens. Chalkboard silhouette art by Nathaniel Parsons. Pink silhouette painting and big sculpture slightly off frame by Adam McCauley. Persian rug passed down by Cynthia’s Nana Glass head for remotes from a thrift store in Oregon (it was meant to be used as a hat model). 1950’s globe found in a thrift in Oregon. Stuffed tortoise is a loaner from our neighbor to use as reference for a drawing for the Oakland Zoo’s ‘Walk In The Wild’ campaign. Bowl is from Creativity Explored.
Ikea Frosta stools/side tables, floor lamp, Expedit. Expedit artwork (from left to right): collaborative piece (Eric White, Jordin Isip, Isabel Samaras, Marcos Sorensen, Adam McCauley) Calef Brown (Post-It art), Gary Taxali (bunny man), Heath vases. Stripey vintage chair passed down by Cynthia’s Nana (looks sort of like Carrie Bradshaw’s in the SITC movie, right?). Pre-war Gretsch guitar (instruments tend to be strewn about on a regular basis).
We decided to earthquake retrofit our home last year. What an undertaking! Consequently, we also had to re-work the ground floor façade and paint. BM ‘Dried Parsley’ was the winning color. It is more yellow in the summer and more gray in the winter. For Halloween décor, Adam created this paper cut based on a design he created for Martha Stewart Living magazine. It appears in MSL’s 2009 Halloween Special Issue.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Adam and Cynthia’s sneak peek after the jump! read more … November 2nd, 2009 - 11:00am 
earlier this fall i was lucky enough to meet talented uk-based illustrator trina dalziel over a fresh croissant and chocolat chaud at a local parisian cafe. it was so fun talking design with her and seeing some of her new work. as soon as she sent over her sneak peek, i thought to myself, i could totally picture her living here. it’s an early victorian home in the north of london, with wide steps up, four floors, and floor to ceiling windows on the upper ground floor. as with many cities, the home was originally meant for one family, but this home was clumsily (as trina describes it) carved into seven flats. trina and her boyfriend were on the top floor, which would have originally served as the maids quarters. in denial that she would call this flat home for 9 years, trina ignored the flaws and cracks by training her eye to focus on “pops” of color. i also love how so many pieces in her home hold such wonderful memories and stories, as you’ll read below. click here to check out more images, and don’t miss more of trina’s work here, here, and her latest work here! {thanks, trina!} -anne
{photos by uk interiors photographer jon day} [above: The screen print is by a Scottish artist Evelyn Pottie. The summer I left college I did a screen printing course in a church hall in the Highlands of Scotland that she taught. Also the location of this print is near where I’m from in Scotland so it’s lovely to have for those two connections. The 1940s cabinet I bought in 1996 with some of the money from the first book I illustrated. It was from a shop called Gibson Castle in Upper Street in Islington – the shop has closed down now but they sell online. The lamp base I found in a junk shop in Hastings, on the Sussex coast and after a good clean I took it in a carrier bag to John Lewis (big London department store) where with in a minute the man serving me had found me a shade!] 
The telephone I got for a photo shoot I was styling for Jon last year. I paid a deposit to the shop and was to return it after the shoot – but couldn’t quite make myself so ended up buying it. It is exactly like the one we had in our hall when I was small. I can remember standing holding on to my Mum’s skirt whilst she would call the grocer to give her order over the phone. It can be very calming – the slow dialling – waiting for the dial to roll back after each number – however it has no touch tone and makes calling lots of numbers impossible so we had to get a modern one as a back up! The cushion was a Skandium splurge – unfortunately my ingrained Calvinist heritage has so far stopped me from fully appreciating it in a guilt free way!
The big bowl with the yellow rim came from my great aunt’s whose house was a time capsule – so much so, she was still using cocoa powder in the 1980s she’d bought with ration coupons after the war!
CLICK HERE for the rest of Trina’s sneak peek after the jump! read more … November 2nd, 2009 - 10:00am 
suzie mckig of twig & fig describes her home in north berkeley, california as “euro-village style.” really, i think she’s spot on with that description. you feel like you’re off gallivanting in europe, rather than in the hills of berkley. it probably helps too that her place is a 2-story spanish style home, built in 1926, and all the stones were laid by italian masons who did most of the stone work in the bay area. and of course, i’m always drawn to all the great pieces inspired by their travels. {thanks suzie and serge! click here to check out twig & fig on facebook} -anne
Local artist/legend David Lance Goines gave us these beautiful posters from the chez panisse commemorative. The walls through the downstairs were painted by suzie with lime wash (lime powder mixed with pure pigment); saffron then mango. unlike doing faux finishes (which are trying to simulate lime wash), natural lime wash is so much more lovely to use than toxic paint and ages with amazing character.
Iin the foyer, we made the coat rack from an old plank of railroad tie & hooks from anthro. the light we made from a candle shade. serge pimped a modern carbon fiber bike to be more my euro-village style.
Kim Austin (Austin Press) gifted us with these beautiful art photographs from her collection.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Twig & Fig’s sneak peek after the jump! read more … October 28th, 2009 - 10:00am 
this is one super-stylish power team! tec and chelsea petaja live in nashville, tennessee where when chelsea’s not teaching visual arts to montessori school students, she frequently styles photography shoots for tec who does both commerical and wedding photography. (she recently put together a beautiful yellow and gray tablescape for oncewed.) oh and somehow she finds time to run an etsy shop! {thanks tec and chelsea!}
[We bought this house, our first home, in April of this year. It was built in 1905 and is tucked in a historic neighborhood in the city. We've spent the past half-year making it us.] 
[The majority of our home is comprised of hand-me-downs, thrift finds, or items we owned separately before we were married. However, the dining room table and matching bench were one of our first purchase as a married couple (from World Market). The orange chairs are garage sale finds, and the yellow chairs are repurposed hand-me-downs from my sister. The large painting in our dining room is by Dr. Tommy Mew, a former professor of mine.]
The caned chair was saved from a “Goodwill pile” and the frames, all from Ikea, display some of our favorite pictures and mementos. The “We’re better together” wording was done by just painting it on top of a thrift store painting we already owned.
CLICK HERE for the rest of chelsea’s peek (and all the photos on one page!) read more … October 26th, 2009 - 01:00pm 
south american born rosy levy is a self-proclaimed aspiring designer and wanna-be architect “when she grows up.” there is a standing joke in the household that her husband cannot leave town for more than three days because he’ll come back to something that has changed. still, her husband of 20 years and two teenage kids keep up with rosy and are willing (so far) to move every few years so rosy can have a new clean palette to work with. she describes her home as contemporary eclectic where every room has a function. enjoy reading below and learning about all the creative solutions she’s come up with for her home! {thanks, rosy!} -anne
[above: My children's Work Area was a 4th bedroom we opened up to incorporate it with the loft area. 4 Eames Molded Plastic Side Chairs from DWR, Eames Round Table from Corporate Design Choice, 3 round mirrors from Urban Outfitters, Zettle'Z Pendant light by Ingo Maurer lamp from Ylighting, 2 Magazine Racks from PB Teens, Curtain fabrics from Donghia] 
They don’t have desks in their bedrooms, which are meant only for sleeping. The corkboard is covered with a raffia material. Millwork was done locally, leather drawer pulls from York Studio, Eames soft management desk chair from Corporate Design Choice.
Kid’s Loft – The French movie poster from “Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down” I got from my brother who worked with Pedro Almodovar for over 10 years. The TV swings out so they can watch TV from their desks. Boi Sconces are from Pucci International, king size futon upholstered in espadrille fabric from Donghia. We set up a king upholstered mattress to lounge, play X-box and have kids sleep over.
My daughter wanted a comfortable area to read and talk on her cell phone, so she chose the bubble chair [from InMod]. I fell in love with the penny tile [Bloom 4 from Viva Ceramic] wall after I saw it installed in Casa Cielo, a tile and mosaic showroom in the Miami Design District. I copied the headboard from one pictured in House Beautiful, pillows on bed are from Jonathan Adler, pillows on bubble chair are from Missoni Home & Maison de Vacances from Calypso, Kartell Bourgie Lamp from Hive Modern, nightstands are channing end tables from Johnathan Adler, Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup poster is from allposters.com, Linens are Ralph Lauren & Bloomingdale’s Hudson Hotel line, the area rug is a white Barbie shag from Lilypad Creations Miami and the cashmere throw is from Bloomingdale’s.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Rosy’s peek after the jump! read more … October 26th, 2009 - 12:00pm 
when dave allen saw this little 900 square foot house in the woods above napa, it had been abandoned and left open and was basically uninhabitable, but there was something magical about it and david decided to take the plunge. the house had been built in the 1940s as a summer cabin. since the home’s paper-thin walls and questionable foundation make a remodel impractical, david intends to eventually build a new structure on the site. in the meantime, he looked for inexpensive ways to make this summer cabin comfortable and liveable – and when he does build his new space, you can bet he’ll salvage everything possible from this one! {thanks dave! and thanks to adrian gregorutti for the photos!}
[I'm completely happy in my unheated hideout, drawing water from an above ground spring and sharing with the space with bats and raccoons. Bonus features that bring me daily pleasure include a creek and a mountain (which, as it seems to be unclaimed, I’ve informally annexed). My nearest neighbors are the vineyards of the famous Hess Winery. Down the hill in my Sonoma showroom, Artefact Design & Salvage. I tend toward overscale and unusual objects displayed rather dramatically. At home I simply want to surround myself with meaningful objects. So in my wee cabin my only ongoing conscious design consideration is trying to keep the ambience calm and uncluttered despite layers of favorite objects competing for attention everywhere in the tiny space.] 
The kitchen had been stripped of everything and was just an empty alcove. I brought in Ikea cabinets and had a friend pour the raw concrete countertop. Ceiling is corrugated aluminum, flooring is simply painted subfloor.The painting is by Roger Groth. I have a little frog living in the staghorn fern (Platycerium Superbum) just under the gold corncob trophy. Last summer when I discovered him I put him outside, thinking he’d been trapped by accident. But a few days later he was back. We’re now old friends and on warm evenings he croaks happily.
Painting by Mark Hobley. Corrugated aluminum siding from Home Depot. Buddha collection, gilt angel wings are Italian antiques.
Skylight is original, though I did have to re-sheetrock the ceiling to get rid of the mold. The oversize armoire is salvaged from a textile mill in India, and the bookshelves I out of scaffolding frames I found in Belgium.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Dave’s peek after the jump! read more …  October 26th, 2009 - 11:00am | 
