Inside out x

We celebrated all that is great about the summer last week with a safari supper in our street – everyone met for drinks at the start, then we all divided into different dinner parties with each course at a different house with different people.  The whole thing was a joy.  The house we started at had just renovated their garden, removing worn decking and replacing it with black and white geometric tiles, not only did they sit beautifully against the green of the garden, they totally blurred the line between inside and out.

 

(All pics Pinterest)

A rather delectable statement.

Laters, Kate x

Rainbows x

 

Finding the gold.



(All pics Pinterest)

 

Laters, Kate x

Three wishes..

 

And one of them would be to buy a summer dress from Three Graces London...

With a joyous attitude that isn’t afraid of volume, a lightness of touch and a cunning eye for cut, these dresses embody the free, unfettered spirit of summer.

Classic yet modern, these dresses have the ability to move effortless up or down social requirements, from the perfect piece for a day knocking back the Pimms on Centre Court, to a throw-over beach dress for a family holiday.

(All pics Three Graces London)

 

Time to get saving..

Laters, Kate x

Bottoms up x


(All pics Pinterest)

I need to sit down…

Laters, Kate x

Clipped x

 

I’ve lost my favourite hair clip and it’s upset my equilibrium because it’s the only large one I have.

On the plus side it’s the perfect opportunity to find the perfect replacement, like these from Etsy.

(All from Etsy and Pinterest)

 

Until then, it’s about being creative with hairbands, which is probably no bad thing.

Laters, Kate x

Revamp No.2

Black Desert House revamp no.2 – this?…

Or taking softer, older elements like this table to mix with the modern kitchen chairs to contrast and compare.

To take the colour black but loosen the hard lines of modernity, accepting the black is modern enough.

Upgrading the light to a design classic.

(Pinterest)

 

Working with the room, and not against it.

Laters, Kate x

Revamp No.1

Why doesn’t it work? Maybe the photos don’t do it justice, but for a super expensive building this interior comes across as a mash-up between a car sales room and Ikea.  The intention seems to have been to create a distinct feeling between what’s inside and what’s outside, but when that subtle line between nature and manufactured isn’t blurred, the furniture responds by looking brash, staged and disconnected.

Which doesn’t mean reflective surfaces as bad – just that age, colour and natural elements need to have a voice.

Even black works when it’s veined marble.  The chairs, the nod to modernity with the patina of vintage, the table in the middle inviting the voyeur to sit and drink in, be in the room.

Or change it with the presence of wood, natural, warm, characterful.

The pink chairs..the colours.

(All pics Pinterest)

The lighting..

Laters, Kate x

Black Desert House x

Black Desert House in the Yucca Valley near Palm Springs is a darkness that flows and follows, proud yet hugging the ground.  In fact the architects, Oller and Pejic Architecture were told ‘To build a house like a shadow’, an idea as they said with ‘very specific relevance to the desert area where the sunlight is often so bright that the eyes only resting place is the shadows’.

The opposite of expectation for a house in the desert, the darkness offers an almost dreamlike quality as it both sits within the landscape but also underlines it’s difference.  This is beauty distilled to it’s most appealing concentration, a thunderous quiet, brooding contrast to the celebration of nature.

But I have to confess to a jarring and feeling of disconnect when it comes to the interiors..

(All pics here)

 

This is the sitting room and the unsaid question is, what would take this room to another level?

Results tomorrow.

Laters, Kate x

Front Garden..

Heading to the DIY shop today for wire brushes, sand paper, fillers and primers whilst imagining the perfect front garden:  I have this quiet obsession developing for a statue of a dog to stand sentinel by the door – I’ve already caught myself searching on Ebay so I know it’s serious. It can’t be an expensive one as I’ll never persuade The Husband (hmmmmmmm – mind at work – present for Father’s Day?!, ‘Here Husband, have the concrete dog you’ve always wanted but never knew you did..you love it, don’t you?!’) Besides the chances are it’ll get nicked, but there’s a persuasive voice in my head saying ‘get a faux concrete one and paint it with yoghurt, the resulting green algae will soften, age and add character’…will it be enough to blur the line between kitsch and statement? It’s a risk..

But I can see him there already, proud, endearing, ever present…with a party hat on for birthdays, skeleton mask for halloween and baubles for Christmas: Fun, joy and no poos to clear up.  Win win.

The search for the perfect Fido has meant other garden art has also popped up, some of it sublime.

(All pics Pinterest)

 

Think I’ll need a bigger garden..

Laters, Kate x

Exterior..

Molly the dog will be fifteen next week and we still haven’t made any progress on the front of the house..except try out multiple tester pots..

And cobble below the bay window.

Not great progress in a year. At least the decision has been made on colour…we’re going DARK..

Rad, bad..and let’s hope not sad..Work starts Monday

Laters, Kate x