Sep 062012
 

Spring is in the air and with that came the inevitable “let’s spruce things up a bit”-itch that goes around this time of the year. What does this have to do with Gallery Walls, you might ask? My spring clean­ing endeav­ours have yielded a nice sur­prise — a col­lec­tion of black and white prints I orig­i­nally put out of harms way two years ago! It would be per­fect for a Gallery wall; smart, quick and stylish.

Sim­ple black or white frames make the prints look pol­ished. To me it is either or not both. The look should be cohe­sive, with a nice con­trast and focus on sym­me­try. Now… the choice between black or white frames…

What do you think?

Black

Gallery Walls

or White?

Gallery Walls

 

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Aug 162012
 

Imag­ine com­bin­ing all of these inte­rior pho­tographs by Matthew Williams and cre­at­ing one, big, beau­ti­ful space…

Where every­thing is beau­ti­ful, even when messy, the light­ing is always per­fect and the stacks of books & pil­lows look like works of art.  So pretty.

Matthew Williams

Aug 142012
 

Trend­set­ting duo, Chris­tine Ralphs and Michelle Lloyd Bermann, com­bined their exper­tise to cre­ate the design con­sul­tancy, Lloyd Ralphs Design. Both for­mer Club Monaco design exec­u­tives, these women are renowned for clas­sic style and impec­ca­ble detail. Their sig­na­ture high-contrast spaces are sleek and glam­orous, and often punc­tu­ated with bold zebra-print.

Here’s how these two fash­ion­able design­ers cre­ate time­less spaces.

 Mix­ing a vin­tage metal sculp­ture with pho­tographs brings archi­tec­tural inter­est to a strik­ing black and white art wall.

 Posi­tion­ing the white cab­i­nets lower makes room for cre­ative dis­play on top.

Trendy Gold Accents adds warmth and sparkle in the kitchen.

Sym­me­try is key in the lay­out of this din­ing area. A pair of floor lamps sit on either side of a black and white pho­tog­ra­phy dis­play. Two white bird sculp­tures are perched atop the table, which is sur­rounded by casual, Eames style chairs. The del­i­cate lines of the glass din­ing table make the room look even more spacious.

In a Petite Pow­der Room a side-mounted faucet makes the most of an oblong sink, and even offers stor­age underneath.

In a Sparkling White Bath­room draw­ers of many shapes and sizes accom­mo­date stor­age needs.  Mirrored walls and glass pan­els play with one’s per­cep­tion of space. An over­all white palette keeps the look immaculate.

In this White-on-White office, sim­ple stor­age boxes main­tain a sense of order and cre­ate a beau­ti­ful dis­play. Open shelv­ing looks calm, not chaotic, thanks to the all-white scheme and closed containers.

 A Glam­orous Back­yard Design

Mod­ern ele­ments meet clas­sic details in this eye-catching space.

In this mas­ter suite, a soft taupe fea­ture wall bal­ances qui­etly lux­u­ri­ous ele­ments like the sleek white uphol­stered head­board, mir­rored side tables and lamps. Black and white bed­ding is mixed with zebra-print sheets for added graphic appeal.

A teenage girl gets the star treat­ment in this sophis­ti­cated space - the epit­ome of the graphic-meets-glamorous look: a room inspired by a print of Mar­i­lyn Mon­roe.  The gold-toned bed is a warm con­trast to the black and white fur­ni­ture and linens. Retro-style lamps, on low side tables, suit the min­i­mal­ist design.

Wicker, raf­fia and rat­tan accents offer tex­ture and a casual, beachy note.   Mix­ing play­ful, rough and unex­pected objects with a sleek daybed and Saarinen-style table keeps the cot­tage from look­ing too pre­cious. White paint, fab­rics and Moroccan-style lanterns and cab­i­net lattice-work cre­ate an exotic feel.

 

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Aug 082012
 

It’s snow­ing in Johan­nes­burg & Pre­to­ria and apart from the obvi­ous excite­ment, it stunned every­one. It is win­ter in SA, but snowflakes are a rare commodity.

It was absolutely freez­ing when we went to gym this morn­ing at 5:30 but never in a mil­lion years did we expect snow later in the day. It sent every­one rush­ing out­side and point­ing cam­eras to the sky. This is only my 3rd time, but some peo­ple in this coun­try have never seen snow. Peo­ple twirled and danced as snowflakes fell. By late after­noon rooftops were cov­ered and roads quite slip­pery, but noth­ing could put a damper on the excitement.

I’ll bet very lit­tle work got done!

Snow

Bianca & Zane as the first snowflakes start falling

Snow

Snow

C’mon…I want to play outside”

The South African Weather Ser­vice says it has only snowed in Johan­nes­burg 22 other days in the last 103 years and the snow last fell here in June 2007.

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