“Two early prefab Swedish timber-framed cabins brought to the West Highlands in the late 1990s to a 25-acre woodland where a seven-foot Swedish Viking prince, Borradill, is said to have been buried.” Set between moor and sea loch, the property sounded so wonderful to interior designer Claire Mookerjee and her husband—already regular vacationers in the […]
Life in Motion: Artilleriet Founder Christian Duivenvoorden’s Evolving Home in Gothenburg
In the villa town of Långedrag, just outside Gothenburg, Artilleriet co-founder Christian Duivenvoorden lives with his partner, Björn, their son, Niko, and the family dog, Minou, in a 19th-century Jugend villa that has quietly evolved over time. Designed with the precept that a home is never finished, the house—like Artilleriet, the beloved Gothenburg design shop […]
Kitchen of the Week: Epoch Films’ Friendly-Industrial Loft Kitchen
Lots of Hollywood offices have movie-star swagger, but few are as stylishly original as the Epoch Films setup in a 1940s Beverly Hills warehouse that had been a brass foundry. Originally designed back in 2000 by architect Finn Kappe and Pamela Shamshiri of Commune, the space recently received a refresh, and what stopped us in our tracks […]
The Architect Is In: Making the Most of Your Floor Plan
Over the last 20 years, New York-based firm Platt Dana Architecture has developed a reputation for transforming traditional buildings and apartments into spaces oriented around contemporary family living. This week, Kate Platt and Hope Dana talk to us specifically about their update of a classic, prewar eight-room apartment for a busy family of five on […]
Artful Utility Blankets from an Artist in Residence
During a recent stint at The Workshop Residence, Jim Isermann, an artist based in Palm Springs and Guerneville, California, reimagined the humble utility blanket, creating a line of thick cotton duck canvas throws, custom dyed and silk screened. The geometric pattern is a reflection of Isermann’s style, an interpretation of industrial design and fine art through the lens of […]
Creative Compound: A Ceramic Artist Couple at Home and Work in the French Countryside
Ceramic artists Justine and Jean Hay de Slades’ rustic home and studio in France’s Haute Saintonge were years in the making. First, Justine had to establish her line of bone-white porcelain that she calls Epure—the exquisitely simple wares are what first caught our eye: see Made In a Barn in France. Success enabled Jean to […]
Kitchen of the Week: A Victorian Renovation by an American in London
Leanne Kilroy knows a good thing when she sees it. She fell hard for her future spouse, Eric Fulwiler, as a high school freshman in Newton, Massachusetts. “It is nuts to me that my husband was the 14-year-old with braces and a buzzcut that would pass me notes in math class!” she shares. “It especially […]
LA Arts and Crafts: Handmade Detailing in a Topanga Canyon Update
“They sold their big, modern house and bought a camper van that they traveled around in until they decided where they wanted to end up.” LA designer Gabrielle Aker of Aker Interiors is explaining how her clients—an engineer and a business consultant with a young daughter—took an unexpected journey in the early days of the […]
Kitchen of the Week: Plain English Goes Contemporary in a Converted London Schoolhouse
Built in 1859, the schoolhouse in London’s Marylebone neighborhood had in recent years been home to a surprising mix of fashion showrooms and an evangelical library. The owners themselves, a husband and wife in their sixties, kept offices here, and as they worked, they envisioned an entirely new use for the structure: their own post-retirement, […]
Kitchen of the Week: A Budget Remodel That Looks High-End, Thanks to DIY and Clever Design
Like so many people this past year, Kelly Jo moved back to her hometown to be closer to family. A single parent to a young son, she took it a step further by buying her grandparents’ ranch-style house, which was her mother’s childhood home. The house, in Pittsburgh, held sweet memories, but she wasn’t attached […]
Tiny Altars: Furniture Inspired by Japanese Temples
Furniture maker Shin Okuda grew up in Fukuoka, Japan, a town on the southern island of Kyushu, which he traded for Los Angeles in 1998. On arrival in the US, Okuda worked for a sculptor for five years, and honed his machine and design skills along the way. While helping to curate shows at LA […]
Kitchen of the Week: Two Young Paris Architects Completely Redo Their Kitchen for Under $4,300
It’s been a heady few years for architect couple Hélène Pinaud and Julien Schwartzmann. The two, both 27, met as students at the Strasbourg National School of Architecture. After graduation in 2014, they moved to Paris and launched their firm, Heju, an abbreviation of their first names. They hit the ground running, designing apartments, boutiques, […]
Remodeling 101: Cutout Cabinet Pulls
As obsessed as we are with hardware, one of our favorite types of cabinet pull isn’t technically a pull at all—rather, it’s an open hole or handle cut out of a flat-front cabinet door. To get the details on the technique, we turned to Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory members Medium Plenty of Oakland, California. Here’s what principals […]
Bohemian Glamor with a Santa Monica Stylemaker
A visit to the Santa Monica home of actress and holistic maven Shiva Rose, courtesy of LA-based fashion designer Jenni Kayne. Kayne met Rose a few years ago (through their mutual friend singer songwriter Nicole Simone), and the two became fast friends. Earlier this summer, Kayne took her camera and dropped in on Rose’s modern […]
A London Designer’s Apartment Remodel for a Demanding Client (Her Mother)
After earning an architectural interior design degree from the prestigious Inchbald School and working for two design firms in London’s Chelsea, Lonika Chande felt ready to strike out on her own. What she needed was an initial solo project to show what she can do. That commission came from Lonika’s mother, Lucy Dickens, an artist […]
Kitchen of the Week: Sunshine and Storage Aplenty in a Tiny Vancouver Remodel
When it came time for Gillian Stevens to remodel her dated Vancouver kitchen (“let’s just say it needed some help,” she summarizes), she did what her training as a photographer had always taught her to do: look for light. In this case, there wasn’t much. “The previous owners had installed a cupboard over the only […]
Steal This Look: A Glamorous London Kitchen in Marble and Brass
London designer Harriet Anstruther (a member of the Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory and author of the design book Reveal: Interior Design as a Reflection of Who We Are) worked with architect Alex Michaelis (a lifelong friend) on her streamlined yet luxe kitchen in an 1840s landmarked London townhouse. Marble? Check. Unlacquered brass? Check. Prouve? Yes. We’ve […]
Announcing the Winners of the 2013 Remodelista Considered Design Awards
We’re thrilled with the results of our first annual Considered Design Awards: you entered more than 500 projects, voted more than 40,000 times, and tweeted your favorites faithfully. Thanks to all who submitted; we’ll be publishing project profiles over the next two weeks here on Remodelista, and in August, all entry images will go live […]
Kitchen of the Week: A London Architect’s Sky-Lit Compact Kitchen
We love every inch of this compact 14-by-10-foot kitchen in the Peckham neighborhood of London. Designed by architect Jonathan Nicholls and his partner, Alex Randall, a lighting designer, it occupies the rear extension of their Victorian home. While many architects find the experience of designing their own home an existential nightmare, Nicholls found it be […]
Felin Fach Griffin in Wales
The Felin Fach Griffin in south Wales offers weary travelers the knowledge that after a pint (or two) and a hearty meal, a comfortable bed is just a stroll upstairs. Originally built in the 17th century as a coaching inn, the Felin Fach Griffin is an ideal spot to settle after rambling around rural back […]
The Height of Downtown: LA Designers Nickey Kehoe Apply Their Signature Glam to an NYC Loft
Luxe alert. Interior designers Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe create fully detailed interiors that achieve that rare feat of feeling inspired rather than overly done. The two began their design partnership in NYC but, fittingly, founded their firm and home furnishings store, Nicky Kehoe, in LA: their work—and the new and vintage goods they sell—have […]
Trend Alert: Sideboard as Kitchen
As Remodelista editors, we see many, many kitchens and what we’ve been noticing over the last decade is a slow de-kitchening of kitchens—a trend toward fewer bulky upper cabinets, a preference for components that look more like high-end furniture, a desire to decorate the space as you would any other room (with art, books, table […]
Blush in the Bedroom: 9 Unexpectedly Unfussy Pink Boudoirs
Up ’til now, I admit, I’ve much preferred earthier colors—for wearing and for interiors—than what I’ve always thought of as somewhat frilly, not-me pink. But lately I’ve surprised myself by being rather drawn to it: There’s a slew of pinks out there to love—not all of them bubblegum or tutu—from dusty mauve to soft salmon […]
Kitchen of the Week: An Expensive-Looking Remodel for Just $13,000
We often recommend Ikea’s kitchen cabinets as a solid, bang-for-the-buck option for those looking to remodel. And nowadays, there are so many offshoot companies offering cabinet front styles specifically tailored to fit Ikea’s base cabinets that, if being economical is a priority, there’s little reason not to at least start with an Ikea skeleton. (See […]
Bold Minimalism in a High Victorian Townhouse Reinvented By McLaren Excell
Luke McLaren and Rob Excell have been friends since childhood. They both went on to become architects and to found the award-winning London firm McLaren Excell, members of the Remodelista Architect and Designer Directory. The two are bold minimalists: they describe the look they’re after as “a robust simplicity.” But their team of 14 are […]
House Call: Jaipur by Way of Brooklyn
Alayne Patrick of New York cult boutique Layla produces her clothing, housewares, and jewelry in Jaipur and other parts of India. “I feel at home when I’m there,” she says–which explains how her Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn apartment came to feel like a colorful hideaway in Rajasthan. Alayne first visited India in 1998, and has been […]
Weekend Escape: A Room in a Prussian Lodge
Named for the water ferns that grow along the Vistula River, Salvinia Lodge is located on the Vistula Spit in Poland, a Baltic coast resort area 30 kilometers from Gdansk. Built in 1789, the timber-framed lodge is one of the oldest surviving arcaded houses in the region. The interior has been modernized and features a […]
10 Easy Pieces: Wooden Blanket Chests
The business of storing blankets is a risky one. If not stored properly, what was a beautiful wool throw last spring will be a moth-hole riddled rag in the fall. Enter the blanket chest (also called the “hope chest” in the American tradition), a hardwood or cedar box at the foot of the bed for the […]
Steal This Look: A Quiet, Intentionally Simple Summer Bedroom (Budget Sources Included)
In the summer bedroom, less is more. Take it from this simple setup, as seen in Reighton Road in London: A Calm, Contemporary Revival of a Victorian Apartment. Here, we uncover matching (and similar) sources: Above: The intentionally simple London bedroom of property developer Pete Monaghan and film and television producer Cherish Perez de Tagle. […]
Kitchens of the Week: A Multi-Generational Household in Copenhagen with Mine and Yours Kitchens
Pernille and her family of four live a stairway away from her parents. The multi-generational group bought a historic house in Valby, in the southwest corner of Copenhagen, with plans to cohabitate. Pernille and crew have the ground floor with easy access to the yard, and her parents are on the parlor floor—each with mine […]
Kitchen of the Week: A Scandinavian Design with a Proper British Accent
As the keeper of a vintage, ice-box white kitchen, I can’t help but wonder about life with a bit more color—and space, too. I look at classic British design as interpreted by Plain English and deVol and dream of making dinner surrounded by a new paint palette and pantries galore. Sara Aagaard, the owner, with […]
Kitchen of the Week: An Open Kitchen in Kiev with a Touch of Subtle Glamour
Last month we visited an apartment called Birdsnest remodeled by 28-year-old architect Emil Dervish. It was the first project we’ve ever featured in the Ukrainian city of Kiev. But more than the location, what interested most readers was Dervish’s custom approach to storage. That’s especially the case in the kitchen, where the focal point is an […]
10 Easy Pieces: Winter Wool Blankets
Impart a rustic vibe to the winter bedroom with a wool blanket (there are numerous advantages to wool; it’s a natural fiber that breathes in warm weather and insulates in cold, naturally regulating temperatures). Here’s roundup of ten good choices. Above: From new bedding brand Tekla, the Pure New Wool Blanket comes in a range […]
The Gym Hook
There can be never too many storage options when you have young children (I have a four-year-old son, so I know whereof I speak). Here is an appealing idea: a wooden hanger that resembles a gymnastics ring, created by Swedish designer Staffan Holm for Danish company Hay. Photography via Design Boom. Above: The Gym Hook […]
Pantry of the Week: Elevated Kitsch in Matilda Goad’s Granny-Chic Larder
For a while, it was the mudroom that grabbed homebuyers’ attention as the most coveted tiny room of the house. The new status small space (according to our highly unscientific analysis)? The walk-in pantry. A while back, we spotted on the historical real estate site Inigo the extremely charming pantry of Matilda Goad, the talented […]
10 Easy Pieces: Simple Upholstered Beds
Years back, I went on a search for a clean-lined upholstered headboard. After a bit of research, I discovered a now-defunct custom maker in London called Headboard Ltd. For that simple and well-finished upholstered headboard look, here are our favorites readily available from stores stateside. Above: The West Elm Mod Upholstered Platform Bed is $1,999 […]
Sofie Howard’s Malibu Mobile Home Gets a Bohemian ’70s Makeover
The best art/fashion/style has tension—a push and pull between textures, colors, and shapes. This recent project by a Remodelista favorite, LA-based Reath Design, has that coveted tension in spades. It is a modest mobile home, but sited in an exclusive Malibu Beach neighborhood. It feels youthful yet worldly. It juxtaposes somber, autumnal colors with more […]
DIY: Kitchen Cabinet Painting Tips from Two House Rehab Warriors
Cathy and Garrett Poshusta live in a farmhouse in Ellensburg, Washington, and, since 2014, have been chronicling their renovations on their own home and rental properties in their blog, The Grit and Polish. While juggling parenting three young kids, Cathy and Garrett do things like paint their pantry cabinets in a weekend. Their can-do comes […]
Steal This Look: An Artful Attic Bedroom in London
Recently, we asked London-based designer Cassandra Ellis how she puts a room together. Her answer? It’s like writing a story, “telling the tale of home,” she says. By building up interiors with antique furniture, handmade fabric, and a rotation of ephemera, Cassandra creates personalized spaces. The upstairs bedroom in her former house, a split-level apartment […]
Steal This Look: A Pale-Palette Bedroom on the Baltic Coast
With the start of the new year, there’s nothing we want more than a calm, nearly colorless space. Take this neutral-toned project from Colombe Design, a pre-war flat in Sopot on Poland’s Baltic Coast. The main bedroom features a smart blend of two well-loved Farrow & Ball paint colors, a vintage wicker chair, and layers […]