It’s so fun to see a new batch of photos added to our Fresh New Spaces Group! I know I just featured her a few weeks back (here), but I had to share Ivy style 33’s lovely shelf arrangement with you today. I hope it inspires some weekend organizing and decorating for you!

photos by flickr member Ivy Style 33

The front walk – it’s your first chance at making an impression on visitors. Since more and more crackheads are knocking on my door asking for money lately, I have thorny roses blocking mine. However, if you want to let visitors feel welcome and let them know that you are groovy, you do what Jenn Ski did. We are LOVING the way she interpreted and installed the idea behind these photos.

Just wait until summer! Jenn has all the concrete poured. Here is the story of the work in pictures on flickr.

We also love Jenn Ski’s prints, available in her Etsy shop. Here’s a teaser:

images via Jenn Ski;

• first image: Garden Art & Decoartion, A Sunset Book, ©1962
• second image: she found at Junkcultureshop, one of my new favorite blogs.
• third image by Jenn Ski
• fourth image: Home Sweet Home giclee copyright Jenn Ski. See link above to purchase on Etsy.

Sorry, it’s technically Tuesday and has been for 40 minutes here on the east coast, but I was out of town and didn’t get my blogging act together too much before I left town. This morning I woke up to this, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in awhile:

So this is right off the deck on Stockbridge Bowl in the Berkshires. The mountain in the background, I think it’s called Mount Lenox, or Lenox Mountain. I only wish one of us would have had a real camera so that we could have captured it better, but my camera phone was better than nothing!

Today I have been admiring this Gastown loft in Vancouver B.C. that I found in our fresh new spaces group on flickr. Thanks so much to flickr member to be, inspired for sharing this! At first, you might browse on by and think “oh big whoop, another gorgeous loft with big windows, exposed brick and beams and huge open space.” However, look closer. This owner really knows how to balance things to perfection. It’s not too rugged, not too sleek. Not too modern, not too eclectic. It’s just right:

This loft strikes a great balance between sleek, modern furniture and some classic glitz; between structural elements like ebony wood cabinets and more worn patinas, like the exposed brick walls and slightly rough-hewn posts. Sticking to the a neutral color palette allows the wide array of textures to stand out.

For more about this loft, link over to this post at To Be, Inspired. Also, this post is hilarious. If you want to learn more about the owner, Sally, click here. She is someone I would love to hang out with!

both images from flickr member to be, inspired, specifically, Ryan. Doesn’t this beautiful photography enhance the palette and style of this space even more? As I watched the slideshow from our group, every one of their photos was obviously theirs.

These shots show some scrumptious color. I never really thought a yummy snack could inspire a room, but now I realize I was wrong (from flickr member leinestein):

I am loving these green mums from flickr member emma lamb:

Loving these cheerful paper lanterns from the fabulous ninainvorm:

A blue door and a party from veronikanika:

I spend a lot of time today looking back through my flickr faves, as some have been pushed back without being appreciated for awhile. Thus was the case with this shot from sarahrae2:

How did she manage to give such a mundane and depressing scene so much vibrant energy? I find this photograph brilliant, and I’d love to blow it up to a huge size and hang it on my wall.

Is there a better spot for picking up cool postcards than a museum shop? I went to preview the Monets at the High on Saturday and picked up this ode to bentwood in their gift shop. This is Ellis Island in 1926, photographer unknown. Every time I see Thonet chairs I think of my friend Sally, who loves them. This photo also makes me think about all the different people who sat in them, where they came from, and where they ended up.

I swiped this screen shot from somewhere awhile back and stupidly thought I’d remember where I found it. Of course I did not – if this is from your site please let me know so that I can credit and link over to you. I think it’s a vintage Eames photo and I thought I might have swiped it from flickr member (and grandson of Charles and Ray) eamesd. This then led me over to his flickr page where I was sucked in for over an hour but never found the shot. The point is, I just love the way this photo is styled. While the photo is about a modern chair, it’s sitting in a room with a, dare I say, Shabby Chic kind of floor, surrounded by an asterisk of interesting objects that form straight lines radiating out from the chair. It’s a perfect combination of old and new, and shows how neutrals can accentuate a rich variety of textures. If the photo is vintage, that typewriter is probably high tech, but it still works in the shot today.

Last Sunday it snowed five inches, this Sunday it was about 75 degrees and sunny. It inspired me to start flipping through Garden Design. There were a few images I tore out (for my non-existent inspiration books that I will never get organized enough to put together properly) before recycling the issue; thought I’d share:

Kyle Schuneman of Live Well Design’s moss chair.

Water Jasmine trees in Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden in Thailand. It’s like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory coming to life.

David Stark’s recycled shredded paper topiaries adorning the tables at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s 2007 Awards Dinner. I am obsessed with these – brilliant, beautiful, and so appropriate for the occasion!

Also, CONTEST ALERT! Garden Design is sponsoring a contest to recognize when great design meets ecological responsibility. Click here to find out the details.

photo credits: Joe Schmelzer, Peter Widmann, Marianne Majerus all from Garden Design Jan.-Feb. 2009

1) I cut this Boston Globe Magazine story out of the paper over the holidays and just found it wedged in a Soduku book in my carry-on. It’s about Nicole Freedman, whom they are calling “The Spokes Woman.” Freedman has a background in urban planning and is now Boston’s Bike Czar. rallying for bike share programs (like this one I told you about in Paris) and better bike lanes.

2) On a related note, here’s a clever bike lane light post over at Shelterrific. It’s from Good magazine, where we learned about guerrilla bike lanes a few months ago:

3) This image over at swiss miss brightens up a rainy day:

4) Melissa Hom turned the camera around on one of our very favorite photographers/bloggers Todd Selby – I spied him in his own home over at New York Magazine. By the way, any headline that mentions A.C. Slater will grab my attention every time! That magazine has some of the best article titles.

5) What do you think of “log” cabins made from concrete logs? I’m with Joe Campeau who says “Architecture 101 says respect the integrity of the materials…material should represent itself and not another material. Simply put, they’re fake.”

Yea or nay on the logless log home? I suppose we could get into a big semantic argument over the definition of “log.” Does it imply a shape and color to you or material? What do you associate log cabins with (it’s Laura Ingalls Wilder for me all the way)? Would you forgo the integrity of the material in exchange for low maintanence? Wouldn’t you rather have a house that celebrates its material like this one?

2) from Good, via Shelterrific

3) photo by Sam Spenser via szymon via swiss miss

4) photo by Melissa Hom for New York Magazine

5) photo by Janie Osborne for The New York Times