Crisp white walls and pale grey infusions make a serene life setting, especially when cast alongside the natural beauty of wood. Here, our four featured home designs employ smooth grey, white and wood decor to create an air of elegance within luxe modern open plan living spaces. The peaceful palette has been combined with stylish furniture, textured finishes and easy flowing layouts to create tasteful layers. The atmosphere of prevailing calm unites pale grey lounge spaces, contemporary oak and walnut kitchen designs and polished modern dining spaces....

There are so many things to appreciate and enjoy about the holiday season. Of course, time with loved ones is the most important, but that time can be even more memorable with the right surroundings. Putting up Christmas decorations is one of the best ways to get in the holiday spirit. When you’re surrounded by the glow of beautiful lights, soft, cozy textiles, and the fresh scent of a Christmas tree, it’s nearly impossible not to start to feel that special sparkle of the season....

We would like to feature today these beautifully rendered modern designs by young, Polish 3D-artist, Grzegorz Magierowski . His minimalistic tastes and fluid design, particularly the wooden “floating stairs” and the use of very different wall finishes, such as marble and cement, are admirable. He uses pops of bright color throughout the various rooms, which are mostly inundated with dark brown, black, wood, and white tones. But mostly, we loved how the designer managed to make smaller loft spaces still look spacious and stunning....

Designers often think up of ingenious ways to redefine common place products and items. See for example this foldable staircase design from industrial designer Aaron Tang. Though it basically looks and functions as a staircase, Aaron calls it a ‘redefined door’ as it is “an element of a wall that allowed passageway to another environment when opened and restricted passageway when closed.” Using just hinges and pistons, the staircase can fold up a wall to expand space on the lower level or restrict access to the upper level....

In the war against wires, wireless phone chargers have always been game chargers. Even though you still need these chargers to be plugged into power sockets, having the ability to keep your phone untethered brings in real advantages in terms of convenience. However, the benefits of wireless charging become truly significant only when these chargers themselves disappear into other everyday objects we use. With major phone makers like Apple (starting with the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X ) & Samsung (from the S6 to the Note 8 ) reaching consensus on using Qi as the common wireless charging standard, there is now real hope for furniture makers to bring in products that blur the line between electronics and furniture....

It’s a combination of photo studio, styling lab, creative office. But above all, it’s the gorgeous and endlessly fascinating home of Milan-based photographer Paulina Arcklin . The interior features a contrast of texture and theme – rough industrial accents add depth and character to their light Scandinavian inspired backdrop, its ethereal quality constantly grounded by creative reinterpretations of everyday objects. If you’re the type of decorator that foregoes antique stores in favor of rescuing rusted treasures from moss-covered barns or forgotten warehouse basements, this apartment is sure to stoke your thirst for adventure....

Based in Hod HaSharon, Central Israel, this 80 square metre apartment with a 16 square metre balcony has been transformed for its new owner. Maya Sheinberger redesigned the flat for a woman in her late seventies who bought the apartment to be close to her family who had relocated to the city‏. After 3 months of planning, and then 6 months in the making, the new owner now has a cosy modern space that is both beautiful and practical with plenty of storage opportunities....

Let’s face it, nobody wants to bring their furniture indoors every time it rains in effort to prevent mold and rusting. So unless you use your noggin, creating outdoor spaces may become challenging (and a bit expensive) if your furniture is inevitably exposed to the elements. But alas, we’ve gathered a quaint collection of country gardens and patios that provide livable lounge and dining areas while perfectly complimenting their natural surroundings....

Some people prefer to learn the time on a vintage grandfather clock that resonates through a tile corridor. Others like the chime of their rare tabletop Philippe Patek. Then, of course, there’s the old standby of the large wall clock . No matter what our time-telling preference, we do not expect to exact significant effort to see that it’s 4:20. These designed watches, however, make complications on a true watch-o-philes’s wrist seem....

have combined the ultra modern with the organic by incorporating indoor plants in creative ways throughout the spaces. You’ll see how these are no ordinary potted plants: vines creep up walls, and pop up out of built in storage to perfectly counteract the modern finishes and amenities of these spaces. The architects note that the plants do more than add a design element to the space, they provide a positive impact on human health, like filtering the air we breathe and acting like a humidifier....

When it comes to designing comfortable homes when there is little square footage to work with, there are many places to look for a solution. Many designers start, understandably, with the ceiling. When you have vertical space to grow, the possibilities for design open up, from lofted beds to skylights, there are a litany of different ways to make a small space feel bigger and provide the occupant with all the necessary nooks and crannies....

Style: English Heritage Traditional Color Combination: Charcoal gray, warm cream, brass accents, rich wood tones Who is it for: For the professionals who want their home office to feel distinguished rather than corporate. The entrepreneurs who take client calls from home and need to look the part, and anyone who believes their workspace should inspire rather than drain. This is for people who appreciate quality pieces that tell a story....

Perched atop a commanding hill on a 50-acre Australian estate, this 640-square-meter home by Michael Lumby Architecture and Nielsen Jenkins reimagines the Australian Farmhouse concept. Spectacular views of vineyards, Philip Island, and Western Port Bay surround it, but exposure to coastal weather necessitated a design that embraced a large, sheltered courtyard garden at its core. This prominent courtyard becomes the heart of the home, offering a meditative refuge. The house itself is spatially flexible, opening up to host extended family, then closing off behind the courtyard wall to become an intimate one-bedroom haven when guests leave....

A foyer is an entryway to your home. The careful design and decoration of foyers is often neglected as these areas are sometimes considered just to be a pass through space. But it is necessary to keep in mind that foyers give guests the first impression about your home. And more importantly, it is the place to greet YOU when you come home. Foyer Decorating Tips You could try painting your foyer a different colour from adjacent rooms....

is a company focusing on developing full scale interactive environments combining technology,design and augmented reality. We came across their work recently and have really been impressed with the way they tackled their latest challenge which was to develop a visitor’s center for the Spanish bank Ciudad Grupo Santander. The brief given to them was to make it reflect the bank’s position as a leader in technology and innovation. The results they have come up with look stunning....

Living with the view of a golf course is a certain kind of accomplishment. It speaks to luxury, relaxation, and the ability to enjoy the finer things in life. This house on the edge of a golf course in Valencia, Spain, designed by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos , is no different although the way in which it communicates that luxury is quite unique. The elliptical shape of the exterior of the home is immediately striking....

With nearly 2000 acres of skiable terrain, Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado is one of the most desirable winter recreation areas in the U.S. While condos and hotels abound in the area and in the surrounding mountain regions, there is nothing quite as luxurious as curling up in front of your own private fireplace in a sprawling mountain cabin after a long day on the slopes. Like our recent post featuring a Canadian ski retreat , this Colorado cabin is a far cry from the rustic mountain homes of yore....

3D Visualization hub Evermotion holds contests once in a while where talented designers around the globe pit their 3d rendering prowess. A while back we featured one such contest where designers rendered out library concepts . Here are the results of yet another one of these challenges. Here the designers were given a base 3D model of a house and were asked to come up with a finished render of the house and surroundings....

When decorating in dark colours, you can find yourself in a mundanely monochrome and featureless rut. In this collection of daringly dark interior designs, we look at how to introduce deep and intriguing textures within sculptural art walls, rugged rock face feature walls, au currant ribbed panel elements, expanses of tilework and industrial style tinted concrete. We’ll observe how atmospheric lighting schemes accentuate the 3D elements, and how bright accent hues lift individual furniture pieces off black and grey canvases to create crisp definition....

Walking into the Trilogy Townhouse, or better yet, opening a beautifully crafted book, is an experience of its own. Each floor reveals its own mood, yet together they create one seamless story. Tucked along the iconic King’s Road in London, this three-storey townhouse was reimagined to function as a working office, an event space, and a curated furniture showroom, all within a narrow, characterful footprint. The design challenge was clear from the start: each level needed its own identity, but the entire home still had to read as one cohesive composition....