Urban Pioneer: Interiors inspired by Industrial Design

I absolutely love receiving a new book in the post, don't you? The smell of the pages, the anticipation of settling down a little later with a coffee in hand. And today is one of those days. The new book Urban Pioneer: Interiors inspired by industrial design by Sara Emslie has just landed on my doormat. There's something about the rawness of large, spacious rooms and the rustic feel of ex-industrial spaces that is simply awe inspiring. And Sara's wonderful book is packed with industrial-design inspiration, beautiful images and styling tips from homes set in the most magnificent buildings including: a warehouse in London, a former dockworker canteen in Amsterdam and a converted feather factory in Brooklyn. Here's a sneak peek......

This is just a small example of some of the lovely spaces inside....

Now all I need is a conversion of my own. I've always quite fancied a windmill (or even a lighthouse!), how about you?

Sara is a stylist and writer based in London (actually not far from where I grew up). You may recognise the name from her best selling first book: Beautifully Small: Clever Ideas for Compact Spaces (which I reviewed here).

You can pick up a copy of Sara's new book through Amazon here or order one through local bookstore.
 
Have a lovely day!

PS there's a very exciting give-away right now here (would hate for you to miss out!).

Book Credits
Urban Pioneer by Sara Emslie (Ryland Peters & Small, £19.99) Photography by Benjamin Edwards © Ryland Peters & Small

Home-owner credits:  
Pg.12 – Next Door’s Space by Carin Scheve and Francesco Caramella (open-plan space with concrete support columns)

Pg.36 – The London home of Peter Win (dining table with wooden drinks cabinet)

Pg.6 – The home of Louise Miller, available to hire through www.millerstyle.co.uk (kitchen with wooden benches)

Pg.94 – The home of Thomas and Bibi de Haas (galley kitchen beneath a mezzanine)

Pg.62 – The residence and studio of Jennifer and Liam Maher (aka Energy Plan Creative) (book shelf & 2x mannequins)

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A home inside the shell of a magnificent old warehouse

Someone left a little note in the comment section last week asking for more colour. Being into Scandinavian style I have to admit to being... er... more than a little colour shy (as you know!). However, I stumbled across this lovely space in a magnificent converted warehouse (styled by Australian homeware store Hunting for George) the other day and felt that although it's not positively bursting with colour, it does feature lovely pops of blue, pink, yellow and orange as well as some fab artwork which might just add a little ray of sunshine to someone's day! Checkout the beautiful decayed brickwork, high ceilings and magnificent arched windows too!

Credits: Hunting for George.

What a fabulous space! Wouldn't it be amazing to live in a conversion? So much history!

If you'd like to achieve a similar look to this home featured, many of the items can be found at Hunting for George.

I also love these converted schools, warehouses, barns, bars  and vicarages.

I've been lucky enough to visit not one but two converted schools lately. You might remember my friend Louise's home which went on the market a few weeks back (there was my chance damn it!). And we also photographed a wonderful apartment in an old school house in Norway for The Scandinavian Home. It belonged to artist Maria Øverby and was suoer relaxed and full of character and inspiring details, the team had to drag me out of there at the end of the day! 

Do you live in a conversion of some sort? If so, I'd love to hear about it!  

Have a great day!

PS If you're thinking of visiting Copenhagen this weekend you must head to the Finders Keepers design market with over 200 amazing designers selling their wares! I'm giving away two VIP tickets here!

PPS Do feel free to leave ideas for anything you'd like to see more of here on My Scandinavian Home - I love receiving comments and hearing what you have to say about the homes I feature, as well as tips on what you'd like to see! 

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The fab Brooklyn home and studio of a creative duo

Recently I've shown quite a few makers' spaces. Having made the leap from the corporate world to starting my own business at home (tea, toast and laptop in bed on a snowy day - now you're talking!), I am intrigued by the worlds of others who combine their living and work space. Today's art-filled Williamsburg warehouse in Brooklyn is home and studio to creative duo Jessica Barensfeld and Simon Howell and cat Kooks. Jessica (a jewelry designer) and Simon recently founded Lynn & Lawrence - a shop dedicated to selling hand-knit alpaca and wool hats. The light, airy loft, beautifully captured by Emily Johnston, is adorned with surf boards, large-leaved plants and handmade pieces for a truly inspiring, characterful environment.

Home-owner: Jessica Barensfeld and Simon Howell / Lynn & Lawrence. Photographer: Emily Johnston (with kind permission). For: Urban Outfitters Blog.

Could you work/ live here?

What does your work space look like?

Although I love working from home, my ultimate dream is to share a creative work space. Is there anyone with the same dream? Or perhaps you're already there? Some of my favourite studios include this collaborative workspace in Brooklyn, the light-filled studio of Camille Styles and the industrial style atelier of Love Warriors. One day...!

For those of you looking for home office, atelier, and studio inspiration - there's a ton more inspiration here. Who needs open plan anyway?!

It's never wrong to take time to pour over a few converted warehouse homes too!
 If you'd rather think about anything but work today check out this camper-van / trailer with an unbelievable twist! Something for the summer holidays?!

Have a lovely day!

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The colourful home of an artist

Doesn't the start of the weekend make you happy? To me it means sunshine (hopefully) the great outdoors (definitely), family, friends and a little freedom (most certainly) and also time to be creative (I've promised myself to do more of this lately). But this Melbourne based artist Kirra Jamison doesn't need to wait for the weekend. Her job is creating beautiful, bright pieces of art and her home is a converted warehouse filled with colour and bold patterns that in itself is a little ray of sunshine. Who needs the great outdoors?!

Stylist: Jason Grant Photography: Derek Swalwell for Inside Out Magazine,  Artwork Kirra Jamison via Avenue Lifestyle

What a fantastic space?!

I love an indoor swing. I'm always trying to think where I could put one in our home but yet to come up with the right spot (I'm thinking muddy feet on the walls.....broken vases.....at best! ha!) - what do you think of swings in the home - do or don't? Do you have one?

Have a wonderful weekend  - see you Monday!

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Inspiring work space in a converted warehouse

The more I see of collaborative or shared office spaces the more I feel they are an extremely inspiring and efficient way of working for independent business people! Designer and illustrator Mairead Murphy of Maike Design Studio converted this disused warehouse space in Northcote, Melbourne into a beautiful, vibrant and inspiring work space for independent designers and artists. It's been designed to maintain the natural light and feeling of large open space but zoned to allow both individual and collaborative work. Minamilist materials have been used to allow the original industrial features to shine through. I could work there, could you?!

Photographer: Pictures 1,2,3: Mairead Murphy, Maike Design Studio, Pictures 4,5,6,7,8,9: Sean Fennessey

Mairead has been so wonderful and sent me an extensive list of where the items are from for example, the dining chairs are Thonet 214 (15% discount with code MYSCAN), the sofa is Angelucci, the armchair was found in a skip and upholstered in Kvadrat tonica fabric, the white rug is Jimmy Possum, the pendant lights over the dining table are Lightyears by Caravaggio and the bench and swing are by Pop & Scott. The list is extensive so if you're wondering about anything else just give me a shout below!

Check out another fab collaborative work space here.

PS I'm off to a great friend's wedding tomorrow - so exciting! I hope you all have a lovely weekend. See you Monday!

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