interior design – findingtimetowrite

Friday Fun: My Personal Interior Designer

I’ve shown his work in previous Friday Fun posts (see last week’s libraries for example), but let us take a moment to fully appreciate Luis Bustamente, Spanish interior designer of international renown. He started out as a sculptor and painter, and this shows in his quite grandiose interior schemes with large pieces of art. However, the reason I love him is that in nearly every one of his projects, he includes a library or at the very least some bookshelves. Let’s hope the owners of the properties appreciate this as much as he does. So, if I ever become fabulously wealthy, he’ll be the one designing my house, complete with at least one or two or three home libraries. All of the pictures below are taken from his website.

No windows? No problem with this hidden library that has doors leading in from multiple sides and mirrors to enhance the light.

For those who cannot conceive of a library without a mezzanine floor…

Clever use of skylights and a light colour scheme to make the most of another windowless room.

The best wall divider one can have: bookshelves.

He managed to squeeze in bookcases even in a Swiss chalet in Gstaad. Well, I’d certainly want some books for apres-ski, wouldn’t you?

Even in corporate projects, Bustamente manages to sneak in bookshelves. This is for the London Embassy Gardens luxury apartments in Nine Elms.

Friday Fun: Hallways to Feel Welcome

When I looked at staircases a couple of weeks ago, I started wondering whether some of those hallways were truly welcoming or simply statement pieces. In this week’s batch of inspiration, it’s not the staircase that is the star, but the way you feel as you walk in through the door.

Elegant in black and white in France, from Elle Decoration.

Sober period piece with charming tiles, in Bordeaux. From FusionD.fr

Laid back and slightly cluttered, from Australia. From Domino.com

Making the most of the rather dark space through amazing tiling. From Instagram.

That door, those tiles… to die for! From Livingetc.com

Most of the above have been traditional hallways, but here we finally have a modern, colourful take on it. From Modernhomefurniture.co.uk

Last but not least, the country look, from outlook.live.com

Friday Fun: Home Libraries at Long Last

I’ve been neglecting the first and abiding love of my life: pictures of home libraries. It has been quite a while since I featured any, mostly because most of the interesting pictures on the internet have already been used up on this blog. So hurry up, folks, furnish some more gorgeous libraries in your houses!

The dark clubhouse style, from Freshome.com

The extremely rustic yet still cosy, from Cottage Life.

The awkwardly shaped one with a staircase, from Elle Decor.

Small but perfectly formed reading nook, from Pete Ginkey.

For the more palatially minded, from Empatika.com

This one comes with a how-to guide for those who own mansions, from Mansion Global.

Friday Fun: Blue and White Temptations

I’ve always loved the combination of blue and white in interior design, flowers, clothes. even flags. That might explain why I married a Greek (and why I like the Finns). While appearances are often misleading (marriage case in point), it is a sure-fire classic combination for decorating your house and I have done so many times in the past. Although perhaps not as extravagantly as in the following pictures. It is so clean, fresh, simple and reminds me of travelling to faraway places by ship.

Accent colours highlight the predominantly blue and white scheme, from Home Interior Inspiration.

More subdued Scandinavian colour palette, from Interior Design Files.

The classic Cape Cod style, from Bright Bazaar, one of my favourite design blogs.

If the blue veers off into turquoise, I don’t mind at all. From Best Home Decor.

Another combination of nautical colours: light blue, green and turgquoise. From Interior Design.

What better way to decorate a hotel in Capri? From JK Hotel.

I adore the Moroccan style of blue and white tiles. From VKVVisuals.com

Navy blue can be very striking and restful in a bedroom, from Lifestyle Denver.

But ultimately it’s back to the inspiration behind it all, which I’ve loved since childhood. Greece.

Friday Fun: The Windows Have It

You can’t get enough daylight in winter, especially if you are stuck in a basement office, so here are some houses that use windows in a creative way, to give you the illusion of more space.

Scandinavian, of course! From fotoblooblogspot.co.uk

The mastery of Japanese narrowness. From kotaku.com

House in Rock Creek, US, from ArchDaily.

A Japanese house that gives me vertigo just looking at it, from The Systemlab.com

The heaviest glass doors you can imagine, from modernarchitecture.com

Friday Fun: Designer Libraries

I prefer the lived-in look in a library, with a few higgledy-piggledy piles of books which give me an insight into the owner’s current preoccupations. But of course there are people who get interior designers to create libraries for them. Some of them do look quite tempting, but I doubt any designer would put up with my excessive expectations of indulging the books.

Another loft library and home, from homedesigning.com. I think they could have fitted in a lot more bookshelves.

Corridor library – a good use of otherwise wasted space, from homebunch.com

Library in Milan which seeks to emulate that ‘lived-in’ look, from NY Times. Also, lots of pictures.

Home library designed by Patrica Martino. Bonus points for ladder.

Library from Sarah B. Spongberg Interiors. Minus points for unused spaces.

Calling forth the spirit of hygge, from T Magazine in NY Times.

Friday Fun: Windows and Doors

I’ve always believed in keeping windows curtainless (so you can admire the view) and doors open (so that friends can come in at any time). Some of the incarnations of doors and windows below take this to a whole new level, but I have to admit I dream about owning something like this…