Euro Style Home

Exposed brick walls are something everyone loves to have in their lives. Just think about how warm and cozy they make you feel, the stories they tell, and how naturally beautiful they are in their raw form. They really do have the best personality and I've got proof.

I would love to cook up some old world italian cuisine in this industrial kitchen and tell stories about our travels through Tuscany.

The guests can stay in this room curated with pieces from travels around the world.

The brick reveals layers of history as it's exposed from beneath the plaster. The modern elements create a perfect juxtaposition. 

Industrial dining at it's finest. It feels like a restaurant in the middle of your home! I love the contemporary chandelier design above the table.

Who wouldn't want to study in this library for hours and hours?! Oh the places you would go and things you would learn!

Working late hours in this office wouldn't seem like that big of a deal I don't suppose.  

Moving into the garage couldn't be better!  

Painted brick and cozy eclectic furniture truly make this room a conversation piece, with a modern pendant light above.  

When you want your brick to be more you...just paint it pink!

Or seafoam green!

At this current time my fascination is with white brick walls! And... I've found a product that would allow every single one of us to have a brick wall! There is a new product on the market called Panel Piedra that comes in approx. 3' x 4' panels that can easily be installed over any wall. My white brick wall would need to be surrounded by natural woods, steel, bright colors, bold patterns, and soft organic shapes. It would look a little something like this...

1. Piquito 11" High Black Mini Pendant Light  2. Arteriors Home Linden Tripod Wood Floor Lamp 3. Laguna Sahara Club Chair 4. Knibb Design Dining Table 5. Helen Frankenthaler  "Pranzo Italiano"  6. Panel Piedra Brick  7. Vintage Rug  8. Raw Wood Turntable

Images: Concept Blanc, The Archivist,  Apartment Therapy, Desire to Inspire, Yellowtrace, Concrete and Dust, CS Interiors, Apartment Therapy,  Design Sponge, Decor8, 

Responding to the modern dream for clean sophisticated design and bright open spaces.

The Mima House is a 387 square foot prefabricated house in Portugal. Designed by Mima Architects, it has a modular structure and can be divided into rooms with a grid of removable partitions. Each side of internal and external walls can have a different color/finishing, which allows a dramatic change through a simple wall rotation.

It costs about the same price to manufacture as a family car. Mima architects researched for years to be able to put together a single home that was fast to produce, flexible, light and inexpensive, yet was a good quality product wrapped up with a pleasant clean design. Fundamentally inspired on the traditional Japanese house, the perfect paradigm for lightness, flexibility, comfort and pleasing lines.

Plywood panels transform the windows into walls to create privacy where necessary.

Despite its standardized construction methods, these houses can be customized in so many parameters, that you’ll hardly see two equal houses.

Fundamentally inspired on the traditional Japanese house, the perfect paradigm for lightness, flexibility, comfort and pleasing lines.

The restrained order of its standardized building parts appealed to MIMA architects as the hallmark of a deeply rooted culture, confirmed over centuries and easily adaptable to any new development.

Images: Jose Campos

Hope you all had an amazing Labor Day Weekend! Many of us spend so much of our time working and not enough time playing so I hope you had a chance to relax, enjoy family and loved ones. The best long weekends are when you can be at peace with nature and your surroundings.

Rewarding yourself is sure to keep your energy flowing. How will you reward yourself this fall?

A trip to the picturesque Ram's Gate Winery in Sonoma seems like a perfect reward! "In a world obsessed with making things faster, where speed is valued above all else, Ram’s Gate is our way of pressing pause."

The architecture is a modern interpretation of it's natural surroundings and weathered farmsteads of Carneros, while the interior is an eclectic mix of classic contemporary and urban cool. 

Designer, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy did no wrong here and created something exciting at every turn. The interiors were designed with close attention to detail, from the open beam ceiling, the reclaimed wood walls, and the natural stone tops to the mill-work. Large glass pendant lights work great in open spaces because they make a gorgeous statement without cluttering the space.

Clusters of seating create intimate environments. Low coffee tables are always great for casually seating spaces. 

The large island in this modern kitchen creates a perfect area for serving and gathering.

Can't you just feel the calmness of Ram's Gate Winery through these photos? What a serene setting!

Images: Ram's Gate Winery

With winter coming on in full force, we thought you would enjoy a little greenery.

This modern cabin seamlessly blends in with its Northern California forest setting. Upright wood siding echoes the surrounding redwood and pine tree trunks. Planted roofs evoke the forest canopy and help to protect the roof against sun damage.

And we love the way they used cylindrical and modern outdoor lighting to subtly illuminate the entryways and a small seating area.

Photos thanks to Builder Online

So many goods are transported via container daily and these containers have shelf life just like everything else. After about 10 uses they can no longer be used and they end up piling up at ports all over. The use of shipping containers for construction is a brilliant idea. Although it is not the newest idea out there, innovative uses are popping up everyday and are taking the world by storm. Whether it be an entire shipping container mall with pop up retails shops, a restaurant opening up in Times Square, or hotel rooms inside a large warehouse. The simple construction allows these retail stores to pop up on almost any vacant urban lot for any amount of time. They are also continuing to be integrated into interiors of modern industrial spaces to reduce the construction costs, bring efficiency, and affordability to innovative green buildings. 

Boxpark Shoreditch, said to be the world's first pop-up mall is constructed entirely out of recycled containers. 61 containers are combined to create a multi-level structure with spaces for both shopping and relaxing. This idea is wonderful for small businesses that cannot afford long leases and want to take an innovative approach into the market. Look for many more of these structures to be making an appearance in your neighborhood  in the very near future!

25hours Hotel Hafencity in Hamburg, designed by Stephen Williams Associates, has used a shipping container in the lobby to enclose the conference center just off the main lobby. As you enter you feel like you're about to go on an adventure in a shipping warehouse beside the harbor in Hamburg. Everything from the plywood box desk, the industrial luggage trolleys, and industrial lighting make this destination a true adventure.

Snack Box, designed by Aedifica, takes the food truck off its wheels and stations it in one the most iconic spots in the world. It is an entirely self-sufficient structure and after a long day in Times Square it can easily be closed up and moved on. The visual identity and branding allow the structure to have a bold presence in this saturated environment.   This is a true innovation for container architecture and usage in an urban setting.

When this travel and art obsessed San Francisco couple bought the 3,200 square foot former Chinese laundry and tooth powder factory they knew that had to do something incredible with it. How do we create volumes and rooms in this space without breaking it up into individual spaces and blocking the natural light that shines through the unit? Shipping Containers....of course!

The original idea for the guest room in the middle of the space was a railroad car, but the shipping container quickly became the answer! Copper piping, industrial sconces, and teak accents evoke the utilitarian feel of the cargo. Everything about this space is perfect to me!  

Even Starbucks has tapped into the container market. The Reclamation Drive-Thru container coffee shop is part of Starbucks new branding strategy to encourage green building, reduce operating costs, and continue to stay innovative in their approach to environmental design in retail. I like the direction that they are going.

Images: Boxpark,  25hour Hotels, Design-Hotels, Arthitectural, Dwell, Business Insider