scandinavian born trend forcaster anne lise kjaer lives and works from her 4 bedroom victorian house in north london’s highgate. her company, kjaer global, works with an internationally recognized client base with wide reach. as someone savvy to social trends, it’s fascinating to see today’s wonderful peek into her home and the ways she has incorporated feng-shui and balance to allow for the space to serve its dual purpose. an indian friend one told anne lise that white was the most spiritual color (or non-color) of them all, and in agreement,  white became the basis for a clean canvas welcoming lots of natural daylight and a space that can be curated to fit any occasion. the house was purchased in 2006 and went over nearly a year and a half of a-z renovations. don’t miss full-sized (and un-cropped) images right here that will give you an even better sense of this soothing space. {thanks, anne lise!} -anne

{images by Harald Brekke and Kjaer}

[ Everything in the bedroom is white apart from the framed art over the fireplace and the objects on the mantelpiece. This room is my calm white heaven and recovery zone – a place for recharging. The energies are just amazing for meditating early in the morning. The hand crochet bedcover is from Colombia is almost 100 years and a gift from my son’s grandmother’s home in Cartagena. The two framed art pieces over the fireplace in the bedroom is a limited edition of 50 by Danish artist Nina Saunders who lives and works in London. I bought them in 2002 from the Kiosk Project curated by my friend Regitze Bondesen (the granddaughter of Denmark’s renowned iconic lamp manufacturers in Louis Poulsen). It’s lovely to have artwork and objects from friends as it feels like their energy surrounds you. Other art pieces bought from the Kiosk Project include a miniature sculpture by Trine Olrik in the living room.]

In fact in the reading area I have some art pieces on the window seal curated with some fresh flowers. The 1930’s banana coach refereeing to the slightly rounded shape and the chairs was re-covered with a lovely durable linen material in a neutral colour to bring a feeling summer into this room. I bought them second for £50 back in Denmark 20 years ago and they traveled from Denmark via Germany (where I lived for 4 years) to London where they have had several homes. We have so many books that it’s unreal. The reference books we use all the time are here, my studio and the garden studio is also full of books and our country house in Norway has all our Scandinavian books. Thankfully my husband designed the shelves to utilize the space 100%. The large white standing wall lamp is from Gubi design company and the matching ceiling lamp is from Norman – both bought in Copenhagen.

The most iconic feature throughout the whole house is the blond wooden floor. The original planks were striped down and treated with lye followed by 2 coats white oil to keep them fresh and blond looking at all times. The handmade rug makes creates a perfect cocoon and lounge setting for relaxing and contemplating. To keep the yin and yang balanced in this space we used our dark wood furniture. Like the desk, the chair from my grandmother and the old travel trunk I bought from a friend for £50 almost 30 years ago. We placed the antique Spanish corner cupboard so we could hide all our technology. The B&O radio & DVD player, our play station and Wii all lives perfectly in here with all our DVDs and connects perfectly with the old B&O television over the fireplace. The table is our old kitchen table that we repaired and reduced to match the seating area. We have a good collection of Scandinavian glassware, as I can’t stop buying vintage and recently since working with iittala in Finland I have added a few Alvar Aalto pieces. My dream piece is the the new glass art by Harri Koskinen. I think I will have to wait to give myself a piece for Christmas. I have 3 artpeices on the wall. One is a bitumen print on craft paper and canvas by Columbian artist Oswaldo Macia, on the desk is a framed glove by Persian artist Koushna Navabi and finally the oil painting at the back by Scottish artisk Alan McDonald.

This was the space that made the biggest difference to our home. When we first bought it, it was quite dark. The space over the kitchen contains my son’s bedroom and a bathroom. We decided to go very ‘Scandi’ and create a ‘Hems’ which is bacically a space on top of a room that can double as a place to sleep. Here we installed 3 Velux windows and we have a heavenly light space with clever Ikea storage for foot wear and even a big wall for the large painting by my friend German painter Sybille Berger who sadly passed away in 2008. This painting was one of my first real art investments I bought many years back. The staircase was specially build to create a feeling of openness when entering the top floor studio.

CLICK HERE for the rest of anne lise’s peek after the jump!

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when you walk down the streets of paris you see a sea of black, grey, navy, brown and maybe a dash of red.  street fashion tends to stick to a basic and classic color scheme.  hence, it’s exactly for this reason that i absolutely fell in love with the home of wonderfully creative french stylist, sandrine place. she’s not only not afraid of color, she knows how to have fun with it. i first came across her distinctive styling for anne hubert of la cerise sur le gateau, where she regularly collaborates with – equally as awesome – photographer coco amardeil (who shot the images for today’s peek!). for those of you in europe, you likely have seen sandrine’s styling work which regularly appears in marie claire maison or in the beautiful creative book series editions paumes.  enjoy the rest of the “sneak peek” below, and don’t miss more of coco’s beautiful images of sandrine’s home right here. {thanks sandrine and coco!} -anne

[above: A Colorful entrance! I love this entrance because there's a mix of books, pictures children's drawing...it's an everyday place because we take of four shoes, sit on the bench when we come back from work, school, etc. it's a very nice place to be, because it's a big passage ... The yellow color was a real necessity because it's like sunshine when you come in the house! ]

The fireplace, is where we are as soon as the cold arrives. It’s a wonderful place where we are all together. On Sundays we may sit all day long on the eames chair looking at the fire! the fire place is the central place of the house!

I love that long bench on each side like so we can sit near the fire, and it looks like we are in the country.

The entire space is open in the house but when you are in the kitchen there is the main block where every things happens! We cook, we do the home work, we draw , chat with friends.  It’s very convivial. The table is from design by O .  I need pieces of very flashy colour in the house to rythme the space. I need to live with color even if all the walls are grey, and like that so I can add all the colour I want. The chairs and the lamp are vintage, I did the lampshade and the black furniture is old  furniture for desk.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Sandrine’s sneak peek after the jump!

The every day table place! I love the mix of flowers. This “table cloth” is an old one that used to be a curtain! I bought it in Sweden and i use it all the time. It’s very positive to have it on the table. The plates are all found in flea market but they all have flowers! And that’s me the back with my yellow shoes! I always need to have colors on me.

It’s just concrete on the floor and on the walls, with this new old bath that i love.

The stair is a mix of contemporary and old materials.

My bed is a little poetic place with garlands of Sophie Cuvelier and pillows by La cerise sur le gateau.

My little totem! with the book of the moment! Table and lamp by Habitat…Little Japanese doll Gaëkiko.

All my souvenirs on the shelves…..from travels, vintage flea markets.

For my son I did a mix of vintage furniture to arrange all his clothes, toys, books that I painted in all different colors…it’s so powercolor!!

so many homes we feature in our “sneak peeks” feature beautiful white shells and bright colors, and are located in some major coastal city. so today is an extra refreshing look into the minneapolis, minnesota home (and studio!) of katie kirk and nathan strandberg.  together the talented couple make up eighthourday, a multi-disciplinary, multi-talented design boutique.  i love the way that the color black and dark wood become the focal color of their home without feeling dark or heavy. both katie and nathan claim their midwestern upbringings as inspirational to their style, which is then topped off with clean lines and a modern twist. it’s great too to see how their living and work styles compliment each other for a very well designed (life)style. don’t miss more images of both their spaces right here. {thanks, katie and nathan!} -anne

[above: The side table lamps are Jonathan Adler and the artwork is from CSA images.]

The dining room opens to a hallway that connects to the living room, and we didn’t want it to feel like a disconnect, so we stayed within the darker palette. However, in this room we tried to bring in some more lively, modern fixtures and accessories. If the living room is a glass of red wine, this room is a cocktail. We went with a large dramatic light from Design Within Reach.

Squirrel art and terrariums.

We went lighter in the bedroom to contrast a bit with the rest of the house.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Katie’s sneak peek after the jump!

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i’m a huge fan of swans island handwoven blankets and i spend a lot of time drooling over the gorgeous images on their website. the company’s commitment to local artisans and craftspeople extends to a section on their retail site that they’ve devoted to highlighting like-minded designers and artists. through that list, i discovered photographer sarah szwajkos of damn rabbit studios and was blown away by her project “personal space ~ photographic portraits of private places,” in which she creates commissioned “portraits” of interior spaces. for this set of portraits, sarah drove up to rockport, maine to the home of swans island creative director susan williams and her husband rufus, also an artist and swans island partner. additional images here! {thanks susan, rufus and sarah!}     -amy a

[Susan and Rufus built their home several years ago on a large plot of land that borders the Beech Hill Preserve in Rockport, Maine. Set well back from the road, the house and studio buildings  emerge at the end of a long, winding drive, amid stone-walled fields with glimpses of the ocean in the distance. Here is a sneak peek at some of my images of their Personal Space.  -Sarah]

Inside the mudroom: a quintessential feature of Maine farmhouses. The mat is from Art Matters and the boots are made by the French company, Le Chameau.

In a corner of the kitchen, opposite the counters and stove, the big farm table entices guests to sit and relax among many pillows, which mix antique French tapestry patterns with bold, modern block prints. We found the wooden bench at the Union antique fair in Union, Maine. The block print pillows were bought locally at 412 in Rockland, Maine. The grey pillows are made from recycled Brunschwig et Fils drapes.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the peek after the jump!

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growing up just outside new york city in new jersey with frequent trips to soho galleries,  alex marshall always knew she would be an artist. after studying painting and ceramics for both her undergraduate degree and mfa, alex opened her first ceramics studio in sausalito, ca.  today she lives with her artistic partner and husband andrew barry and their daughter akiva in northern california’s central valley. the couple live on a five acre stretch of land with 600 olive trees plus a few pomegranate, lemon, tangerine, plum, peach and granny smith apple trees. their five acre lot is the smallest division of land allowable in the county so they’re surrounded by much larger orchards and farms. alex’s surroundings are an evident inspiration in her work and it’s fascinating to see how that translates to her home. {thanks alex, andy and akiva!} – amy a

[The main room of our house is one big open space. The mobile in the corner is a Calder my grandmother bought in the late 1960's and gave to me before she died. She had a great eye and is the primary reason I'm a designer today. The 2 paintings I did as an undergraduate at Skidmore College in New York State and are made of roofing tar, dried pigments, paper, wax, paint and are on wood. The green couch is from Design Within Reach and converts for sleeping. It's the perfect size for our 20 month old daughter to play on. The orange pillow is from our friends Max and Linda Geiser from Wallter. We met them at our first trade show in 2003 and not only consider them great friends but are also great admirers of their work. The wooden bench is from a local furniture maker which we use as a table, the vase is one of our sphere vases in brown stripe, the stools I made in college, the flooring is Flor's house pet tiles since we have a dog, cat and toddler and the rocking dog is our daughter's favorite toy. She loves to make it bark!]

Our dining table is an old wooden farm table that friends gave me years ago when they bought a new table (thanks, Ricka and Jeff!!!!!) and separates our living room from our kitchen. The dinnerware on the table is our slim dinnerware in white, the bowl is our 17″ bowl in chocolate and the sphere vases are in periwinkle and blue gray. We designed the pitcher a few years ago and I think it’s one of our best pieces but since it doesn’t have a handle it’s a tough sell! The photographs are wax casts of my feet I did in graduate school.

Our master bedroom, like the rest of our house, is minimal. The headboard is an antique teak door from Indonesia, the bedding is also from Wallter, the lamp is our rectangle lamp in matte brown, the dresser is a wooden trunk we bought at a flea market in Mill Valley, CA and the paintings I did in 2001 as part of a series of 8 on paper. The rest of the series sold and when we bought our house in 2004 found the perfect spot for these last 2!

CLICK HERE for the rest of Alex’s sneak peek after the jump!

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ok, there are officially too many fantastic sneak peeks from the team at fossil and now we’re adding one more. all you need to do is type in “fossil sneak peek” in the search toolbar on the top right to see the homes from the whole crew (it’s a great resource for the entire site). today we’re looking into the home of fossil team member patrick conner who is the design manager for store planning and design. two years ago he collaborated with a local architect to design their duplex based on mid-century iconic architecture and design elements. it’s located near downtown dallas in order to enjoy the benefits of the city, but enjoy a quiet neighborhood and yard for their daughter. enjoy the peek below and additional images here! {thanks, patrick!} -anne

[above: I love using the Nelson bench as a catch all for Ellie's toys, shoes, & magazines to go through. And makes a great folding table for laundry :). Ellie calls this piece the "no no" (every time she gets near it that is what I yell) Great piece, but not kid friendly :)...sharp corners! The art work was given to us by a neighbor. The piece was taken out of a local boutique hotel because of some of the "content". The piece is a collage of Hollywood icons. Everyday when I make up the bed I find someone new in it.]

TV room – I have always loved black and white rooms! They are timeless and so easy to change with a little color. I will throw in a random pillow, flowers, and small accessories and the room completely changes and takes on a new look.

I love mixing mid-century classics mixed with modern pieces. I use letters and numbers a lot in my artwork and placed a few down the table as a runner. I grouped succulents on a traditional cake stand I painted gloss white to give them a nice perch out of the way of serving dishes, place settings,  etc. I collect dishes, so this large buffet with sliding doors hides a lot of random unmatched pieces, vases, etc.

I use vintage industrial pieces for storage all through the house. I have found great pieces at Americanfurnishings.com The vintage finds look great pieces against the modern architecture. This stacked metal bookcase is great for toys and Ellie’s art projects. I collect numbers and letters and use them a lot in my artwork and decorating. I painted these orange to contrast the white wall. The various play on scale is fun and inexpensive to do.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Patrick’s sneak peek after the jump!

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the first thing you’ll notice about annie coggan’s home is the chairs. there are chairs in every nook and cranny. if you look a little closer, you’ll notice that these aren’t your run-of-the-mill seat furniture. in addition to design classics like a womb chair and an eames rocker, there are chairs with embroidered detailing and side chairs that have been painted and fused together. after many years of brooklyn living, annie moved her family – and her chairs – down to starksville, alabama mississippi where she and husband caleb teach at the college of architecture, art and design and are also partners in coggan crawford architects and designers. just last year, together with brother ted coggan, annie opened little building café, annie designed the space and it’s filled with even more of her chairs! {thanks annie, caleb and madeline!} – amy a

[Together with our daughter, Madeline, Caleb and I arrived in Starkville in 2007.  Madeline and I immediately fell in love with this house - a 1902 Queen Anne in town.  It is unruly - more space than we need but a very welcome change after life in a compact Brooklyn brownstone. The house has become a laboratory for my furniture design work and I always try to balance the room with color, since my attitude about color is there is no bad color.

This is our living room or as 19th century ladies used to say "the best room," which I love.  It does have all our Best Stuff in it. The light is a modern take on the southern chandelier culture.  It is from the Turkish company Auto Ban. The wing chair is a piece I made. I embroidered a map of William Faulkner’s homestead Rowan Oak and the green fringe on the seat is meant to represent the colias in the front half of his garden. All the mats in the house are by Christopher Paul.]

The Saarinen Womb chair is the most favored chair in the house. It sits directly in front of the TV.  The blue side board is a piece I designed – it’s painted metal and meant to accommodate speakers, books, games, etc. The drawings above are mine.

The Eames rocker was a birthday present from my husband.  The yellow chair is part of the garden series of chairs that I am working on – This one is Eudora Welty’s garden. The large painting is a student painting of Caleb’s and the small ones are from Brooklyn painter Jason Novetsky.

We are firm believers in Ikea when in need of drawers, closets, or shelving – this bunch has been in two houses.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Annie’s peek on one page!

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