Beautiful Habitat in Homes & Real Estate Weekly!

Beautiful Habitat was recently interviewed by the Longmont Times-Call Weekly Homes and Real Estate section. The article is Instant Upgrades: Add Luxurious Touches to your Home. Check it out for some great ideas!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Big Changes at Beautiful Habitat

I am happy to announce some changes here at Beautiful Habitat.

First is my shiny new beautiful and functional website. Please check it out: beautifulhabitat.com. It been a labor of love between my talented web designer and I. (It was very interesting to be on the client side of that relationship, too).  There will be additions to the website coming soon including videos and photos of projects that are in the final phases now. Stay tuned!
In the mean time, the beautiful habitat blog is also directly on the website and via wordpress. If you don't mind the extra effort, I'd appreciate if you switched your feed to that page at beautifulhabitat.com/blog. However, being the busy creatures that we are, I understand if you don't have the time and energy, or if you are particularly fond of blogger. In that case, the beautiful habitat blog will continue to be right here where we first met.
Thank you for joining me in the journey. Stay tuned for more fun. And please let me know what you think about the new website!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Black, White & {insert color choice}

I am always drawn to rooms that are a strict color palette of black, white and one other color.  The contrast makes the spaces so interesting.  Here are a few such rooms for your to enjoy!

A Black, White & Red scheme from Designer Kelley Proxmire. I found this room at Desire to Inspire.

From Kelly Wearstler's book Hue, two rooms featuring Black, White & Yellow.

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Favorite Things - Jonathan Franc Funriture

I was recently introduced to Jonathan Franc Furniture. These pieces are so beautiful and unique that I had to share them here. Having recently been sold only out of California, now these gorgeous pieces are available in Denver. Jonathan Franc furniture are the creations of Interior Designer and Furniture Designer John Bossone.

The Jonathan Franc collection consists amazing combinations in wood, acrylic, parchment, mica, gilt wood, shagreen, bronze and nickel. His ability to fuse acrylic and wood so seamlessly in his designs makes these furnishings quite unique.

 Burnel Chest

 

Peony Acrylic Chair

Melrose Desk & Seren Chair

 Polaris Chest

Francesca Table

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Inspiring Images - Egypt

It's been a while since I've had an Inspiring Images post. In case you haven't seen one before, they stem from my belief that inspiration for your home can be found anywhere. If you love a place, a culture, a food, a plant, a book or movie, piece of art, piece of music, a sport or hobby, etc - you can find creative ways to incorporate it into your interior spaces, without being a "theme".  For previous posts:  Beautiful Habitat: Inspiring Images

Given the recent headlines, I've had Egypt on my mind. I was very fortunate to have visited Egypt in 2007 and found plenty of sources of inspiration. I certainly hope that the Egyptian people can find a peaceful resolution to the recent unrest. When they do, I highly recommend a visit!

**Note: I've left in a few touristy shots, mostly so you can grasp the colossal scale of the ancient temples and monuments.

In Cairo: the bazaar

 The architecture

The Nile

 

 

The Sunsets

And, of course, the many temples of Ancient Egypt

** See the guard in the doorway above? Gives you an idea of the scale.

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Interiors of The Kings Speech

Have you seen The Kings Speech? It lives up to the hype and more. The story is inspiring, the acting is brilliant and it absolutely deserves the numerous awards and nominations.
While I love the movie for it's story and acting, the sets were also beautiful and gave us a flavor of decades of British Interior Design. We see everything from Victorian to Art Deco and Art Nouvea and even a little Regency.I hope you'll find  inspiration in this beautiful mash up of period interior design.

The office and speech therapy room of Lionel Louge. This room features a beautifully patina-ed  wall finish, a huge carved wood fireplace, amazing leaded windows and vaulted leaded-glass ceiling, late Victorian lighting and a gold-gilt settee. What's not to love?

 

 

The home of Lionel Louge is equally stunning, combining both Art Deco and Art Nouveau elements. The wallpapers were the first thing to catch my eye, with a definite Deco flavor.

Nothing says Art Nouveau quite like flowing forms in leaded glass. The doors in this scene fit the bill perfectly.

 

And, of course, the various interiors of the Royal family are mean to be awe-inspiring.

Here, Westminster Abbey in preparation for the King's coronation.

 

 A young Duke and Duchess in one of the palaces.

Buckingham Palace with it's Regency period decor of bold colors, white painted wood and gilded gold.

King George IV after his 1944 broadcast

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Lighting Inspiration

I recently found myself inspired by lighting shown in the Dec 2010/Jan 2011 issue of House Beautiful magazine. It's wasn't a lighting issue, but the homes featured had some unique lighting and unique uses of standard fixtures. Here are my favorites from the issue. Enjoy!

From Designer Thomas Hamel and a home in Florida, the kitchen and dining room below have fabulous lighting options. They certainly inspired me to think out-of-the-box.

 The use of different pendants at varying heights over this kitchen island is nothing short of stunning!  The individual pendants become one unified feature and make such a statement in the room. Brilliant!

This globally-inspired dining room is just a beautiful room. Period. My favorite feature is the custom laser-cut screens. However, I am also intrigued by the use of the modern chandeliers in the setting. It's a perfect eclectic balance.

From a Georgian Utopia, Serenbe Community, this home has used traditional chandeliers in some not-so-traditional locations.

First, the large chandelier over the kitchen island. It's an unusual place for this fixture, but it works perfectly for the size and style of the room.

Secondly, a crystal chandelier in the hallway. If your ceilings are tall enough for a chandelier - it's a great way to make a statement.

Oh, and they also have a banquette!! JOY!

If you missed my obsession with banquettes, please read: An Ode the Banquettes.

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com