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! read more … November 17th, 2009 - 11:00am 
[today's final diy project is a guest post from designer david stark! stay tuned for his updated hometour in the d*s book, or click here to check out original tour online]
I have been obsessed with snowmen for as long as I can remember, and right now, I am certainly obsessed with string and twine! My buddies over at west elm humored my cord obsession, welcoming me to design my very first product line, a collection of holiday decorating items, all so reasonably priced and in the stores now. Many of the items in the line grew out of techniques we often employ for the hand-made elements we create for events. I am happy to let you in on one of our secrets. 
A twine snowman is a no-brainer. Simply take 3 varying sized balls and stack ‘em. But the “drawn” twine elements – pipes, hats, any details you desire, all are created by re-wrapping twine around wire, hiding it as an armature inside the strand.
You can then draw anything you want because the wire holds the shape. Write words, create a bow tie, a jaunty cap, and group a happy family on a credenza or a mantle. Create a centerpiece for a dining or buffet table, pairing the snowmen with items from our west elm collection to create a unique scene. Mixing naturals with glimmering metallics feels new to me and immediately propels twine into the holiday season. [Photos courtesy of Susan Montagna] Ho ho ho! D. CLICK HERE for the full project steps after the jump! read more … November 17th, 2009 - 11:00am 
today i’m finishing up the final sequencing for all 400+ pages of the design*sponge book so tomorrow i’m going to be taking a very, very needed day off. so today i’ll be posting diy projects that would normally go up tomorrow. up first- a great upcycling project from amy merrick. amy turned her collection of vintage crates into beautiful rustic shelves just waiting to become cubby holes for special objects. can’t find vintage crates? try asking your local wine shop if they have any leftover crates from new shipments- you can always distress your crates or paint them to suit your personal style.
CLICK HERE for the project instructions post after the jump! read more … November 17th, 2009 - 10:00am 
this beautiful fall craft project comes from d*s reader and photographer danielle thompson of the thompson family blog. she created these gorgeous fabric pumpkins as a last minute thanksgiving centerpiece of vignette- i love the way they let you use up bit of leftover fabric (and they won’t turn to mush if you leave them out too long!). CLICK HERE for the full project steps! thanks, danielle!
November 17th, 2009 - 09:00am 
i’m still finishing up the book this morning, so i wanted to kick things off from with a fun diy project. d*s reader and crafting mom sara rivka dahan created these great crocheted placemats using leftover plastic bags from the grocery store. it’s not every day that you find a fun way to reuse those bags, and this is the perfect project to keep you busy on a cold winter day. CLICK HERE for the full instructions! thanks, sara!
November 17th, 2009 - 08:00am 
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!! November 16th, 2009 - 12:00pm 
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! read more …  November 16th, 2009 - 11:00am | 
