Design*Sponge » sneak peeks

sneak peek: amanda wright of wit & whistle

Amy Azzarito — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:00:58 +0000

Amanda Wright and her husband, Daniel, have lived in this home in Cary, North Carolina, for nearly four years. Though the house is flanked by two cities and several highways, the huge windows in the great room provide panoramic views of the forest behind, giving the home a secluded mountain hideaway feel. In decorating the space, Amanda worked to highlight its bright and airy quality. She found herself drawn to neutrals and a bit of mid-century modern with a hint of rustic thrown in for good measure. The home is also Amanda’s workspace; she runs Wit & Whistle, a company that offers quirky paper products, art prints and greeting cards, from a studio space in the basement. Thanks, Amanda & Daniel! — Amy Azzarito

Image above: We have a two-story exposed-brick fireplace in our great room. We moved into our home in the middle of the paint-your-brick-fireplace-white craze, but I’m glad we left it alone, since the natural brick suits our house well. The zombies print is from YeeHaw.

Image above: A while back I decided to hand paint our coffee table with a herringbone pattern. It took me hours and hours to complete, but I think it turned out pretty well.

See more of Amanda’s North Carolina home after the jump . . .

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sneak peek: tiffany schrader-brown

shannon — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:00:07 +0000

Architectural designer Tiffany Schrader-Brown has designed many renovations throughout her career, but Brooklyn townhouses are her favorite. Three years ago, she and her family moved into this 1899 townhouse in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, after the completion of not only a gut renovation but also a modern addition above the original structure that she designed and built. The result is a light-filled, family-friendly space that maintains many of its original details. She was able to preserve the old charm of the bedroom floor by repurposing marble fireplace mantles as windowsill seats, as well as keeping the exposed brick and the original doorknobs (minus the lead paint). Tiffany has successfully created a flexible living space for entertaining, spending time with family and letting her son and his best friend (whose apartment is below theirs) run free. Thank you, Tiffany, and thank you to the photographer, Rachel Been, for sending us these lovely photos! You can also check out Rachel’s Sneak Peek here. — Shannon

Image above: Books are important to us, so I built a wall of books that climbs into the double-height space around the kitchen table. Our son and his best friend use the aisle around the kitchen island like a racetrack, taking lap after lap to race, run and laugh.

See more of this renovated Brooklyn townhouse after the jump . . .

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sneak peek: emma jeffs

anne — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:29 +0000

Emma Jeffs is a UK-based designer, maker, researcher and educator with a focus on textile, surface and product design. Her background blends craft and industry experience and takes a flexible approach to working on a variety of projects, from window films for sale and as custom work to developing a line of neckwear and serving as a business mentor. When her daughter was born, she moved her office into her home to spend more time with her, but now that she is older, Emma has moved out again to find a better balance and separation between work and life. She resides in southwest London in a 1960s home next to a large park. The style of her home is a constantly evolving collection of all the things she loves. Thanks, Emma, and thanks to Akemi Kurosaka for the photos!— Anne

Image above: Our kitchen; we did this all ourselves. When we moved in we had no kitchen — not even a sink! My partner is a chef, so lots of work surfaces are a must and everything has its place. You can see a little piece of my Otto window film, which is stuck onto the glass in the door frame. You can also see in this pic that we still have to finish boxing in the oven!

Image above: A snippet from my daughter’s room, including the paper birds I picked up before she was born. They cast wonderful shadows. My Otto window film is stuck onto an old cupboard that I didn’t have time to paint before she was born. The basket-size teacup I got from a trade show I exhibited at. A polystyrene manufacturing company had produced them to demonstrate how polystyrene could be moulded. I think they should put it into production, as everyone who sees it loves it. When my daughter was a little baby, she loved sitting in it.

See more of Emma’s London home after the jump . . .

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sneak peek: adrian richardson + family

shannon — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:29 +0000

Two years ago, Australian chef Adrian Richardson and his family moved into this Victorian cottage in North Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne. They needed a suitable home for raising an active, noisy young family that also felt warm and inviting. Within that short length of time, Adrian and his wife created an inspiring space that reflects their love of travel, food and junk-shop treasures. In addition to raising three energetic young boys with his wife, Adrian owns and runs the bustling La Luna Bistro in the Carlton North suburb of Melbourne. He has written two cookbooks, The Good Life and Meat, and has presented cooking shows in several countries. After putting in long hours at the restaurant, Adrian likes nothing more than coming home to read, play and listen to music with his boys. Thank you, Adrian! And thank you Stewart, Andrew and Lynda from Horton & Co. for the beautiful photographs! — Shannon

Image above: The house is a typical Victorian Hawthorn brick worker’s cottage that is quite small when looking from the front. It’s amazing that after more than 100 years, it still looks great.

Image above: The house is a real eclectic mix of rustic, retro and quirky pieces picked up all over the place. The sitting room is a haven to read and listen to music away from the kids. The sofa is an heirloom, the coffee tables are new Eames. A friend of ours runs Retrocollectit, a little store of old wares that I can’t stop myself from collecting.

See more of Adrian’s Melbourne home after the jump . . .

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sneak peek: amanda happé

anne — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:00:58 +0000

It’s not every day that I get to present a sneak peek full of logs, but this one made me smile, as each log has its own story. When painter and senior designer at Bruce Mau Design, Amanda Happé, moved into this Brockton Village, Toronto, apartment six months ago, the only furniture she brought was her kitchen table, a credenza and a host of logs. She filled in her minimalist style with local vintage-shop finds to create a quiet and clean getaway from the frenetic energy of city life. Read on for the story behind each log. Thanks, Amanda! — Anne

Image above: Besides being somewhat minimal, I like to keep things low and wide and mix hits of bright colour in with the white and wood. My favourite pieces are the logs that I’ve managed to collect over the years. Each one came from friends or family, and I think they’re super beautiful.

I found this sideboard in an antique shop on Queen Street West. It houses my books, record player, some of my grandfather’s drafting tools and a lamp that I found on a “rust belt” road trip. The painting is one of mine. I was gifted the branch from someone who was trimming a maple tree a few streets over. It’s thirteen feet long. I dragged it home.

Image above: I ended up hanging nothing on the walls in the bedroom. It’s different for me, and strangely refreshing.

Amanda’s full home tour continues after the jump…

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sneak peek: holly wales + stephen smith

Amy Azzarito — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:00:30 +0000

Illustrator Holly Wales and artist Stephen Smith of NeasdenControlCentre moved into this converted live/work space that was once a print finisher’s factory in October 2011. They fell in love with the home’s south-facing windows, which allow them to watch the sunrise and sunset and see planes taking off and landing across London. The apartment also has a glass roof on one side where they can watch pigeons walking overhead. The couple had a collection of objects, pictures, books, records and equipment that the large, loft-life space finally allowed them to display. Their studio space is on the upstairs mezzanine, and between their teaching gigs, they often end up working at random times during the day, making for a short, convenient walk from the office to the living room. Thanks, Holly & Stephen! — Amy Azzarito

Image above: Because the factory had to house lots of heavy machinery when it was built in the 1950s, it has solid concrete floors and high ceilings, and the interiors of each space have been adapted with mezzanine areas to define separate rooms. We’ve built a bedroom wall by hanging all of our clothes together — it’s really nice when the sun creeps through the gaps in the morning! The vintage 1960s wallpaper was found in Greenwich, London. The mobile is from the Museum of Modern Art in Los Angeles.

Image above: Our collection of original artwork hangs above the bookshelves. (Holly’s motel print series is available in her shop, and Stephen’s drawings are from his show at MU in 2010.)

Holly & Stephen’s London home continues after the jump…

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