in one of katie’s guest blog posts this morning she linked to j. morgan puett’s interiors and i’ve been drooling over the site ever since. hello, rooms of my dreams. i’d like to take a nice long nap and read a good book in each one. click here for more interior dreaminess.

good morning! i’m typing slowly this morning because yesterday i sliced my finger open with a lovely new bread knife we got as a wedding present. 4 hours later i left the ER with new stitches so now my typing ability is slightly impeded. thankfully katie runnels has two beautiful interiors up on the d*s guest blog so this morning i wanted to start with those (and give myself time to slowly type the next posts). this morning katie is taking us on home tours with pam pemberton and katie’s mom- bonnie runnels. i hope you’ll enjoy them as much as i did- after a week in georgia and south carolina it’s wonderful to see homes that remind me of the warmth and charm of southern homes.

since we just got back from a wonderful trip to savannah, (congratulations again grace and aaron!) this week’s project needed to be super easy and super quick—something we could crank out after working all day at the shoppe. looking around our apartment, we spotted a scrap piece of walnut that we had picked up at a neighbor’s sidewalk sale a few days before we left. we had no idea what we’d do with it, but we’ve learned to never say no to pretty lumber. a quick trip to the hardware store for legs and paint, and voila, we’ve got ourselves a lovely new coffee table.

have fun!
derek & lauren

CLICK HERE for the full instructions.

read more …

this is the very last of the altoids tins diy projects, i promise! they are just so cute. i have several shopping weaknesses, and letterpress art is one of them. a friend of mine sent me this adorable card (by wexford girl)and i have been meaning to frame it. but since wall art is another thing i have kind a lot of, i decided to turn it into a little clock for the kitchen. instead of attaching the clock directly to the card (which you can do), i used the altoids tin for extra support. plus, it hides clock mechanism nicely and gives the clock more weight. i plan to add magnets to the back so it can stick on the fridge. have fun! – kate

CLICK HERE for the full project instructions after the jump!

read more …

aun and su-lyn are former journalists, each having spent a decade in the publishing industry (perhaps reflected best in the bookshelves completely devoted to cookbooks). in the course of writing about travel destinations, hotels and restaurants around the world, the duo’s love for great design and thoughtfully conceived interiors is self-described as an obsession. apart from running a food blog – chubby hubby – as a hobby, the couple now run a lifestyle consultancy that offers restaurant development and public relations services. their signapore home is truly remarkable, so don’t miss the full sneak peek, with additional images, after the jump. {thanks a million to aun and su-lyn, and to keiko for the incredible tip!} -anne

[above: Our golden retriever, Sascha loves the carpet we picked up in Istanbul from Gunes Oztarakci. We’ve always loved the iconic Eames recliner and were thrilled to finally be able to pick one up for our new home. ]

We were a little shocked that the bookshelves in this double-volume space just barely accommodate our cookbook collection. The red Double Octopus chandelier and lacquered black loveseat are both from Autoban, Istanbul’s hottest young design duo. The loveseat is a one-of-a-kind prototype they created for one of the House Cafés. The Piero Lissoni Frog chair is one of our earliest acquisitions. We originally had two, our younger dog Alix ate the leather base of one (which still hasn’t been repaired).

We ordered the Flexform Magister sofa without ever seeing it in real life. Thankfully, it turned out to be superduper comfortable and exactly what we’d hoped for. The white Arne Jacobson AJ Floor Lamp was another piece we’d lusted after for years. The black Pumpkin stool is another piece by Autoban.

We bought the dining lights, chairs and table before the house was even built. Obviously, they all come from different design schools and we weren’t sure they would actually fit well together. Fortunately, and despite their differences, they do seem to work well. The Carravagio lights are designed by Cecilie Manz and produced by Danish company Lightyears. The Pebble table is from Autoban and the French dining chairs are by Carmina.

We wanted our guest room to be a really hospitable, almost hotel-like, space. This is a close-up detail of the Armani Working Desk we placed in the room. On it is a tea set that we picked up at Design Republic in Shanghai, which in turn sits on a tray we found in Chiang-Mai, Thailand. We both love books and have placed fun reads all over the guest room. Pictured are A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Mauz by Art Spiegelman, and a really gorgeous edition of Grimm’s fairy tales. The Chinois-style lamp is a vestige of our younger years. The red chair was a junk yard find we had reupholstered.

This is arguably our favourite room in the house. We designed the island to have dual cooking stations so that we can cookbook side-by-side. All the appliances are from Miele whose products we love both for their sexy good looks and their consistent, unparalleled performance. The counters are all clad in Silestone because we chose because it’s less porous, more stain resistant and more durable than Corian. We were thrilled to discover this cool, retro floor pattern when we visited our tile supplier.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the peek, including additional, full-sized images, after the jump!

read more …