I am quite taken with John and Jen Vitale's house which featured on Freunde von Freunden recently. John is a skateboard designer and Jen, a stylist. Their home is a Navajo-hued stucco building in Portland, Oregon with lots of light and architectural charm. Filled with plants, records, books, natural objects and a fine collection of handmade kitchen items (check out the pots in the kitchen cupboard), it seems their home exudes an appreciation for the simple things in life. I would love a natural, stripped-back home like this but, I am so drawn to colour & pattern that it's kind of impossible.
Lab
These pictures are quite old (at least by crazy fast-paced fashion/design standards) but they are some of my favourites, so I wanted to post them anyway. They feature Lab products in the home of stylist Anne Millet. Anne has a French photo blog called Mobil Home, and I love her use of colour, pattern and composition. Lab is a beautiful label that mixes plaids, Liberty prints and colour washed linens in that very effortless and stylish way that French people seem to do so well. The pictures have me hankering after pretty much everything in their range - they do homeware and kids pieces, and I could happily live with them all! Thankfully, I've just discovered that vintage 1950's checked tablecloths provide similar plaids and colour combinations at a fraction of the price, so I'm currently fueling my desire that way!
Caitlin Mociun
Caitlin Mociun designs beautiful jewellery and her home reflects this. Like most renters, she knew that she would only live in her Brooklyn apartment temporarily and faced the dilemma of how to make it feel like home, without doing any major work. I like the way that these restrictions have encouraged her to create a very minimalist space that focuses on edited furniture, colourful artwork and carefully selected ceramics. It is a comfortable and creative home that is both easy to live in and move out of. "I'm not attached to it," she says." But I'm totally comfortable in it. It's inspiring to me." Mociun's apartment was once a bar in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It has high ceilings, painted brickwork, big windows and lots of natural light. She mixes a few bits of vintage and appropriated furniture with selected pieces from her shop including striped Libeco benlinen, hand thrown pottery and Moroccan rugs. Her collection of green houseplants also feature heavily across the apartment. These bright pops of colour echo Mociun's jewellery designs and although the minimalist design might be a result of functionality, I find this style of edited living very inspiring.
Long Farm
This new house in rural Suffolk was designed by British architect Lucy Marston to reference old English farmhouses. Sitting high among a group of existing farm buildings, the exterior features red brickwork and a steep gabled roof, facing east across salt marshes and open fields, towards the sea. Internally, the vernacular references continue with whitewashed brickwork, exposed beams, a super-sized inglenook, window sills deep enough to sit on and a large kitchen table, seating ten. I particularly like the muted colour palette and the way the chartreuse yellow in the bedroom and bathroom complement the crops in the fields. Strangely, I also like the carpets in the living room and bedrooms. It's good to see that the owners of this stylish house have kept it cosy and comfortable; I'm sure that the result is a very happy and contented home.
Hayloft
Located on Föhr, a small island in the North Sea, architects Francesco Di Gregorio and Karin Matz have converted the hayloft of an old thatched farmhouse into a beautiful and modern apartment. The spotty tiles, pale pine boards and nest-like wooden beds, make the space feel both minimal and cosy. The bold use of colour is inspiring too, yet it appears subtle when surrounded by a sea of white. The interior is inspired by tradition, as the architects were keen to incorporate the Friesian heritage of the island into the interior. "The space is very much influenced by the place - its history, traditions and nature," says Matz. "In the traditional houses at least one wall in the dining rooms would be covered in patterned tiles, as a way of showing wealth. Since we wanted to bring light into the house, we thought that tiles would be a great reflective material and at the same time something so present in all Friesan houses." They have also embraced the classic Friesian colour palette of moody blues and greens, highlighting these North Sea inspired colours on the tiles, beds and ropes that are suspended from the ceiling. The polka dot grid pattern of the tiles is unusually created by drilling into the centre of each tile and revealing the bright blue grout behind it. I love this idea of creating pattern through space, however I'm not sure how great it will be to keep clean!
Interiors: Jersey Ice Cream Company
The Jersey Ice Cream Company are Tara Mangini and Percy Bright, designers and builders of beautiful things. The couple named themselves after a long-forgotten ice cream company whose embossing stamp they found at their first flea market together. This fittingly lighthearted name both connects the company to the past and sets the tone for their delicately sweet work. Together the pair transform spaces with a wonderful lightness of touch, using reclaimed materials and vintage pieces. I love their use of texture with a restrained colour palette and splashes of black. I also particularly like the fact that together, Tara and Percy offer a complete range of skills - design, sourcing, carpentry and styling, meaning that they can personally complete a whole project themselves, with little need for outside help. If you are interested in seeing more of the wonderful work of the Jersey Ice Cream Company, visit their website. They also have an online vintage shop here.
House Tour: Sophie & Nick
Remember that pretty pink bathroom that I featured a few weeks ago? Well here is a peek at the rest of the house. It belongs to my good friends Sophie and Nick and I shot it recently for Apartment Therapy. You can look at the full house tour here. Sophie and Nick are a very stylish couple who live in a large Victorian house in Manchester with their two daughters. It is one of my favourite places to visit, as they have a happy home with lots of good stuff to look at, great food at the table and are generally excellent company. Thank you for letting me feature you Sophie & Nick!
Interiors Inspiration: Simple Spaces
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These images were shot by Olga Bennett for Peppermint Magazine and show the lovely home of Andrea, founder of Stampel, which sells very bright playful accessories. I like her spray painted, faceted wooden vases and braided necklaces. By contrast, Andrea's home is fairly quiet, with white walls, lots of green house plants and a nice mix of furniture and textiles. I am fond of this kind of interior at the moment - it's not too shouty or overly designed - it's just a very calm and simple, comfortable looking space.