Round-up of really good stuff (and some thank yous too)

Normally, I have a plan when I write a blog post. I search the Internet for pictures (hello Google, why did you mess with the image search?? ARGH!!), go through my inspiration folders, and depending on the topic, I’ll do some research. And then I put it all together and voila, blog post.

But today, I’m just going to wing it, because I‘ve found some really good stuff this week that I want to share, and I just don’t have the time to sort it all out. And I have some thank yous to send out too :-)

I want to live in a beach house

Not just any beach house. THIS beach house. It was posted over at CreateGirl earlier this week. It’s the Ocean Breezes beach house in New Hampshire. It was designed by TMS Architects, and it’s GORGEOUS. The exterior is beyond exquisite…

And the interior… breathtaking!! That’s a little body of water called the Atlantic Ocean out the window… LOVE THAT VIEW!!!

I’m absolutely in love with this dining room, especially the amazing window.

This kitchen would make me want to cook and wash dishes all day and all night!!

I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep in this bedroom, I’d just want to sit and look out at the ocean all day and night!!

If you want to see more—and I don’t know why you wouldn’t!!—go to the TMS Architects web site and scroll through the residential projects till you find Ocean Breezes. Also check out CreateGirl’s post, Lovelace Interiors, and photographer Rob Karosis.

New designer crush

Yesterday over at theLENNOXX, I discovered the amazing interior design work of Kathleen Hay. I’m totally hooked on this gorgeous dining room, especially the chairs. Notice how she’s used three different fabrics, and the nail head trim is perfection. The chandelier and fireplace and scones and accessories are pretty awesome too!!

One common theme to Kathleen’s work is “go big or go home”. Check out the huge pieces of pottery on this dining table:

And the glass bottles on the kitchen counter. Not to mention the FOUR chandeliers and TWO islands!!

I just love the architectural details like the coffered ceiling in this living room…

And the “grid” walls in this dining room…

 

Kathleen uses the same grid detailing on the wall behind the bed in this beautiful bedroom. Notice how the headboard, bookshelves, and side tables are incorporated into one piece.

The same technique is used in this beautiful blue bedroom, where the bed, headboard, side tables, and cabinet at the end of the bed create one big piece of furniture. And speaking of big, check out the HUGE shell on the headboard!!

Big clocks rock!

Susan from Between Naps on the Porch wrote this article at Houzz about big wall clocks. I LOVE big wall clocks!!

Susan’s article reminded me of my fave picture of a big wall clock from Things That Inspire. Not only does the clock rock, but the grid wall and windows and staircase are fab too!!

A couple more awesome big clocks from Things That Inspire…

You can see more beautiful clocks at Things That Inspire here and here.

And two big clocks my my latest designer crush, Kathleen Hay…

Gorgeous glass sailboats

I have no idea where these are from, and I’m not really sure what they are—maybe tealight holders??—but I found them at Jeff Allen Photography, and I love them!! Aren’t the shades of blue beautiful?? :-)

And a bunch of thank yous go out to…

A-M at The House That A-M Built — AM had a giveaway a couple of months ago. Five lucky winners received a copy of the June 2010 issue of Home Beautiful that featured A-M’s gorgeous home. And I won a copy!! Poor A-M paid a fortune in postage to send the magazine from Australia to Canada, but I’m absolutely thrilled to have my very own copy, and thrilled for A-M that her gorgeous home was not only featured, but it made the cover!!

You can see A-M’s beautiful home on her blog, as well as a short version of the Home Beautiful article here. And if you happen to live in Brisbane, you can BUY A-M’s house. Yes, believe it or not, A-M and her family have moved out and are going to embark on another home-building adventure. Good luck, A-M!!

Nancy at Marcus Design and Lisa at Lisa Goulet Design — Nancy and Lisa both had giveaways recently with CSN gift certificates as the prize. I won the $50 certificate from Nancy, and then a couple of weeks later, I won the $60 certificate from Lisa!! Yes, I know, I really should remove the horseshoe from my ass ;-) But I swear, I never win anything besides blog giveaways! Door prizes, 50/50 draws, lottery tickets… NOTHING. I’m looking forward to my CSN shopping spree — what to buy… these are some of the items Nancy found. I’m kind of diggin’ the peanut bowl :-)

Shannon at What’s Up Whimsy recently gave DesignTies the Beautiful Blogger award. Actually, it was a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve been total delinquents and still haven’t written the ten things about us that’s part of accepting the award. We will soon, promise!! In the meantime, if you really want to know more about us, you can read about me here and Victoria here.

I know this post is a bit all over the place, but I hope you enjoyed the round-up of really good stuff :-) Leave a comment and let me know what good stuff you’ve come across recently…

 

Unless otherwise noted, images are from the source(s) mentioned immediately before or after the images.