Loft Design-Kelly Hoppen

We love, love modern designs at Inside Avenue. We especially like modern designs that are organic, warm and livable. In our opinion, no one does it better than Kelly Hoppen, an internationally well-known designer from the UK.

Here is a sample of her work from the latest issue of Metropolitan Magazine , using our favorite color scheme, black and white.

A wonderful color combination (note the yellow chair).



How about this for a dining room? Check out the cool chandelier, and again, the use of yellow as an accent color...



This is what makes Kelly Hoppen so good, the creative mixing of furniture style...



How about this for a modern bathroom?



If you like Kelly Hoppen's work, check out her design books at Amazon. They are a great source of inspirations. She also designed a furniture collection for Century Furniture, China for Wedgewood and a bedding line for Sferra.

Loft Decorating

The trend toward loft living is increasing. We see more lofts being built than ever. Traditionally, lofts were conversions from old factory and warehouses. Recently, however, more builders are building loft-style developments throughout the country from coast to coast.

Lofts are cool, but they are difficult to decorate. Here is a sample of a great loft design from Metropolitan Home Magazine.

Notice the clever use of all neutral colors....


We love the use of yellow as punctuation. Very clever...



See the use of hallway as a functional space...



The kitchen warms up with accessories...


Here are a few lessons we've learned from looking at these photos:

1)Make use of awkward spaces by using built-in bookcases and desks.

2)Use neutral colors if that is your thing, but pump it up with splashes of colors.

3)Use accessories to warm up the space.

4)Don't stick to one type of furniture. Mix it up.

Christmas in Sweden

: : hello from Sweden! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! "God fortsättning", Swedish expression for " I wish you a continuing good Christmas"....that's what you say when you run into someone while you're out shopping at all the sales.

I meant to put up a quick post about me spending Christmas in Sweden, and that the blog would be on hold for a few days. But things got too rushed in the end....instead I'm posting this photo taken of the harbor by my Grandmother's [Farmors'] house on Christmas Eve. We were sad to not have any snow, but happy to at least have sunshine...this picture could just as well have been taken on a warm summer day.

I'll be back at the beginning of next week with a report from Sweden and pics of my design finds here. God fortsättning!

method

so, my plan for my Friday night was to stay at home, do laundry, pack, wrap gifts and get ready for our Sweden trip. what happens?....I give my roommate a ride to a party, 20 minutes later I fidn myself at target and it's 10 PM. 10 minutes later than that...I'm standing with a basket full of oxo products, walking towards the register and of course pass the cleaning isle on the way.....and I just can't resist the beautiful .method. products, sitting on the shelf, happy and colorful. 5 minutes later, I'm looking around for a cart because my basket is now getting too heavy. 10 minutes later, I'm standing in the parking lot, with a giant target bag and $ 100 less in my bank account. but the method products look..oh, so good in our bathroom. I'm such a sucker for design! damnit!

precidio

: : I am always on the hunt for new dishes. I found precidioobjects via mocoloco
and completely fell in love with their sumani series. their organic forms are just beautiful!!!
also above is their sum series, a little bit more of an every day feel.

unica home

: : unica home's giftguide is also a hot tip. lots of items in every price range. an alessi egg cup and spoon holder.

online christmas shopping

: : as I was walking up the stairs to our apartment I noticed a pile of brown boxes at the top of the stairs. all of my online christmas shopping gifts....delivered to my home. could it be more convenient? why rush around in a crowded mall when you can shop from the comfort of your own home *smile*

here are some other good tips for online christmas shopping places. check out moss these iittala kivi votive candles are available on their site. luckily I am going home to Sweden on Sunday and can stock up on Swedish design for the next two weeks. Squeals! [.maiya. expression] I'm so excited!

netto collection

: : ...and more kids furniture. nettocollection
is a more modern approach, almost a bit retro.....

momoll

: : ...while I'm on the topic of kids furniture, here's some more fun stuff for kids...Deutch company momoll is taking a simplistic approach. there's a great article about momoll in this month's issue of ID.

fun for kids

: : playful and smart kids furniture at p'kolino

red.house button

: : welcome to the new and improved red.house. *smile*...only a small improvement... I'm switching to a red.house button logo. more fun and easier to use.

bamboo furniture

: : came across iannone: sanderson when I was looking for sustainable furniture. not only do they design beautiful pieces of furniture, many of them use bamboo as the main material.

iannone: sanderson was founded in 2004 by .michael iannone. and .james sanderson. with a purpose to create good modern design. many of you might already be familiar with the .glowbox dresser. which is my favorite.

they're located in Philadelphia...I would love to peek into their studio next time I'm in Philly visiting .Iz.

time for Christmas presents

: : greenergrass design has expanded their product offerings extensively since I last visited. I was browsing their collection today for some Christmas presents and found soo many great things! they have a great giftguide, offering gifts in all price categories.

a bowling pin lamp that turns off when it is knocked over. a hip/shoulder ammo bag from silent revolution. [ I want this! perfect for going out and for everyday] bubbly coasters in different colors and a collection of melamine plates from .bob's your uncle. [which is a local, Boston, based company.big fan.]

vitamin living

: : lots of dual functions and interesting controversial approaches...vitamin living .a life less ordinary. is just that...a life less ordinary. most of their products are out of the ordinary. here an urban gnome and a combined ashtray and flower vase.

my new tote bag!

: : this weekend was my birthday, which was celebrated in the wilderness of the Adirondacks, just me and Iz...and the bears.

and of course, on birthday morning there was cake, balloons and presents....not just any present...a fabulous orange Lotta Jansdotter tote! somebody had been paying attention, as I had clearly expressed my love for Lotta Jansdotter's work when doing an interview with her for d*sponge's guestblog. Tack älskling!

hannah louise lamb

: : these pieces are too beautiful to pass up.... .hannah louise lamb's. jewelry on .papa stour.

: : wears+wares

: :...unfortunately one day late for this weekend, but still with plenty of weekends to come...lovely .kelly. of etcetera media decided to keep the south end open market going through the winter and started .wears + wares. together with a friend. at different locations, all located in central Boston, she's gathering local artists to come sell their products. be sure to visit them at the ritz next weekend, 11.28, for some holiday shopping.

thank you kelly!

Satinbox in Cambridge

: : ... I was out and about, trying to get some of my things on my "to.do.list" checked off, walking over to the hardware store by Porter Sq. and found satinbox. I immediately remember reading about this adorable design store " in a box" on d*sponge a few months ago when they opened. but I had no idea that they were located around the corner from my house! I stepped inside and found .tim., who owns satinbox together with his wife. They just recently moved from San Francisco to Boston and decided to set up their store here, located on 353 Beacon Street, in between Inman and Porter Sq. Cambridge, MA. All of the items in their store are also available online. But if you're in the area, I strongly recommend a visit. You won't miss it, there's only one box on Beacon St....the satinbox.

art hotel

: : my friend .leo. found this fantastic art hotel in Berlin! it just seem more authentic and true than other places that I have seen like this. so, if you're traveling in the direction of Berlin..check out...kuenstlerheim

[found via reddit]

wall creations

: : well, I'm still in textile and wallpaper mode after my guestblogging on d*sponge. wonderful pattern creations at pvanb and a lovely website as well. definitely worth checking out. a Dutch company I believe.

the simplest chair

: : halloj. I'm happy to be back in my red.house again. unfortunately my two week adventure on d*sponge kept me too busy to update my own blog. but now I'm back, and excited about a stack of posts that I have saved up.

A friend of mine, .ulf jansson. , a graduate of the Industrial Design program at Lunds University, Sweden, designed this wonderful chair which deserves a lot of attention. It's incredibly Scandinavian to me through it's absolute simplicity, purity and use of materials.

It's called .the simplest chair.
This pine wood chair, made from one single plank, originates from an antique Andalusian birth chair. The construction is very light, less than 4,4 lbs (2 kg) and with its architectural and modest expression it is ideally suited for café environments. The chair is still in prototype stage looking for a producer and best of all, despite its uncomfortable looks, it is extremely comfortable!

to contact .ulf. send him an e.mail at Ulf.Jansson@condesign.se

Design Contest coming to Bravo

We heard that the folks responsible for Project Runway and Top Chef are coming out with a show for interior design. This is so exciting! We love Project Runway and Top Chef! It's nice to have a reality show about talents than about silly people babbling about nothing of value (would you believe this, but there will be a realtity show coming called "Hot Moms". Please, give us a break!)

On some other TV related-news, we will be featured on "Ex-wives Clubs", coming to ABC next year. Well, that is if we don't get cut out in the editing room. The folks from the show came to us last year to shoot a segment with Marla Trump and the woman who used to be married to K-Fed (what is her name?). You know what's realistic about reality show? Very little. From what we've seen it's very scripted.

Watch out for our next post where we will keep you informed about all the cool home design stuff that is going on in Los Angeles.

iBride

www.ibride.fr

: : I found this fantastic website iBride via Moco Loco the other day. They have a great line of products, especially their animal furniture series where the legs are shaped as the lower half of dogs, deers and ostriches. They also have one of the most beautiful websites I have seen! Their graphics are beautiful! Check it out right here.