I Heart Green

Over the course of my life I have had many favorite colors. For a very long time red was the favorite, but at some point over the last few years I started to really dig green. Bright yellow greens make me especially happy. I have been seeing a lot of green show up in kitchen photos lately and it makes me wonder… I mean I love green now, but who knows when the shift will be to yellow or blue or back to red? Then I am stuck with green cabinets as a haunting reminder of my green period. This kitchen is a wonderful use of green accents and vinyl wall decals, which may be so last year, but are something I still happen to love. The swatch of green on the wall give the table and chairs a special place. I have been coveting those IKEA chairs since I saw them and I think they look great in this small kitchen. If you will really closely you will also see another of my favorite things, a little birdie. This is a really great way to add color quickly to a rental space that you have to paint over. Way to go, Jennifer!

TYIN tegnestue

These structures by TYIN tegnestue, a non-profit organization run by five architecture students from NTNU, are just beautiful. Simple with their butterfly roofs, built to be open and airy with natural material using traditional methods, lain out in such a way that promotes community while giving a bit of privacy. It feels selfish to want one or three on my own property when the inhabitants of these delightful little buildings are orphaned Karen refugees. via

A little more about TYIN tegnestue from the company’s website:

TYIN tegnestue is a non-profit organization working humanitarian through architecture. TYIN is run by five architect students from NTNU and the projects are financed by more than 60 Norwegian companies, as well as private contributions.

Through the course of the last year TYIN has worked with planning and constructing small scale projects in Thailand. We aim to build strategic projects that can improve the lives for people in difficult situations. Through extensive collaboration with locals, and mutual learning, we hope that our projects can have an impact beyond the physical structures.

Lizbeth’s Dream Home

If you have read my about page then you know it is a dream of mine to build a home on our 18 acres of property and relax. I am not sure about the relaxing part but I am one step closer to the house! M&I are working with Chris of FORMan design to design a house. One day, half joking I used my facebook status to ask if any of the architects I went to school with wanted to design a house for me and Chris answered the call. We are in the dreaming (we need four shop buildings, a two bedroom main house, a tea house, and a two car garage with a drawing studio/guest house), siting (where the heck do we really want to put this house?!) and programming (what do you want to put in these buildings?) phase. At the moment the house is not what I would call tiny, but who knows where we will end up.

Sleeping Under the Stars… Or Not

I am pretty sure I have mentioned before that I love things on wheels. How amazing would be it be to be able to roll your bed onto a deck to sleep under the stars? So cool! Now add a huge door that opens the room to the outdoors, corrugated steel siding and a huge metal roof to cover you from the elements and you are really in business. Fernau + Hartman is the architecture firm behind this stroke of genius as well as many other way to clever details. Via desire to inspire, my favorite new blog for drool worthy images and definitely recommend giving them a look.

Cool Heat

I am totally in love with this fireplace. The color is beautiful against the Heath Ceramics gray tile wall. I especially love the touch of red in the foreground. Turquoise and red is one of my favorite color combinations at the moment. Is it weird to be thinking about a cozy fire when it is almost 90 degrees outside? via

Floating

I love this house by Rodales + Crecente. The way it floats above the ground, the huge expanses of glass, the indoor/outdoor space relationship, the floor to ceiling bookcases as room dividers with the huge pocket door, the bathroom… I love it all.

Great Outdoors

I live in NYC and I am not one of the lucky few to have a yard, balcony, patio or roof deck. On the opposite end of the spectrum, my weekend place is all outdoors with very little inside space (for now) so I am looking for inspiration on how to make it a fabulous place to spend my time relaxing. It just so happens that Apartment Therapy has the call out to  readers to send their little slices of outdoor heaven. I am not quite ready to submit mine, but I certainly appreciate all the creative ideas. I especially like this deck with LED lights. Apparetly LEDs don’t attract mosquitoes like other lights, and I need all the help I can get in mosquito avoidance. If I am out for more than 30 seconds without Deet, I will be lucky to get away with only a handful of bites. String lights are one of my favorite ways to light a space at night. They are just the right glow without being overpowering.

I Want to Go to There

We have been working very hard at making our upstate wilderness a little more tame. I love this outdoor living room featured in Elle Decor. The sunken firepit is wonderful and the curve of the bench is very inviting. I may want a few more cushions though…

The Devil is in the Details

The details are what make a good house great. I was drawn into many of the residential projects done by Shipley Architects, but the detail above is one of my favorite things. So simple and beautiful. It is what separates the meh from the amazing.

Moat

One day I dream my “pond” will look like this. Yes, this is from Sunset, what can I say, they have a lot of great ideas!