A Green Prefab House by Nexterra

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Check out this stunning house, it is one of four prefab, contemporary dwellings developed by Nexterra Green Homes in Toronto and  designed by architect Ray Kappe. The house takes just 3 days to install on site!

The LivingHome boasts of 2132 square feet of open plan living space in addition to over 1000 square feet of basement, 1000 square feet of exterior multi-level decking and a two-car garage. A glass enclosed stair tower floods the house with light and reduces the need for artificial lighting. Responsible finishes are used throughout including locally manufactured, products such as recycled quartz counter tops, low emitting carpets, and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood for flooring.

Water-wise design is achieved through low flow, high efficiency and high-end plumbing fixtures, an on-demand hot water heating system, a rainwater catchment system and grey water ready considerations. The tight building envelope system features brick, FSC certified siding and a fiber cement composite rain-screen to keep moisture away from house. Topping it off is the green roof for reduced energy consumption and beautification.

Nexterra is seeking the LEED platinum certification for the houses in this project, which is the highest possible designation awarded by the United States Green Building Council and also available here in Canada from the Canada Green Building Council.

All images via Nexterra Green Homes, see more pictures of the house here. 

Madrona House in Seattle

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It is a horrible Monday again and I am sitting tired and bleary eyed on my desk. To add to my misery it is freezing cold and windy. The snow is melting to form muddy slush and I have reached the office skidding, slipping and risking my life on black-iced sidewalks. Understandably my mood is on the lowest possible setting and clearly I am in desperate need of some Vitamin D. Let's seek out some bright light filled spaces before I bore you with more melodrama!

This house with interiors designed by Seattle based Robin Chell Design provides the perfect antidote. It even has a cheery Mediterranean sounding name - Madrona, which conjures up images of beaches, verandahs, coconut trees and sun dresses. 

Designed by Bennet Lavacot Architects, this modern 3400-square foot home overlooking Lake Washington was designed to maximize the expansive views and encourage the interplay between the indoors and outdoors. It has a lush  courtyard and makes use of natural and honest materials like exposed concrete, natural stone, blackened steel and sustainable hardwood

All images via Robin Chell Design.Visit their website here.

The Charpoy reinvented

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It looked like a nice sunny day from my window when I woke up today and my first thought was to rush out and soak up the sun. I might not see it again for the next week I thought to myself. Sadly, it was a mistake not accounting for the freezing cold wind outside. It tore at my coat, ripped under my hat and turned my head into a block of ice. With watering eyes and running nose, I dashed back home to safety, like a child escaping from a schoolyard bully.

As I put the kettle on to boil my mind drifted to the countless January afternoons I had spent sprawled on the terrace of my house. With the Delhi sun warming me up and lulling me to sleep; I remember lazily cracking peanuts and dropping the shells on the ground under the charpoy.  As the memories slowly warmed me, I realized that a constant theme running through each one of them was the charpoy – sitting on it studying for the exams, dozing in the sun with my mom, helping her spread vegetables out to dry and so on and so forth. So what exactly is the charpoy.

The “charpai” as it is called in India, literally means “four feet”, and is a bed with a simple wooden frame onto which ropes are woven tightly. It is an age old and indispensable piece of furniture in most Indian households as people not only sleep on it at night but use it to welcome guests, eat a meal, read, spread spices out to dry or gather laundry after drying.

The charpoy’s USP is its lightweight and easy portability. It can be stored in an upright position when not in use hence saving space in the room or courtyard for other functions. Along with its diverse uses, it is an extremely hardy piece of furniture. Even when used daily both indoors and outdoors and exposed to the elements, the charpoy sustains years of rough use. The best thing about a charpoy is that just when you think it is on its last legs and beyond repair, a weaver can reweave it to transform its look and prepare it for years of use again.

I started wondering if the charpoy appeals to people nowadays as it used to and decided to do a spot of research- must say I was in for a very pleasant surprise. The humble charpoy is not only very much in use but has been constantly reinvented to suit contemporary tastes and styles. One of the designers to do so is Anglo-Indian design duo of Doshi Levien. Their version of the charpoy marries the skilled workmanship of Indian seamsters with Italian industrial production. The Charpoys are made using cotton and silk mattresses embroidered with the ancient Indian dice game of 'Chaupar'. I love products that fuse different cultures and design traditions and just had to share the pictures here.

Other interesting twists on the charpoy can be found at Jagmanja in the UK  

and Ouma productions in France.

How to design a room with a Autumn/Winter theme?

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It’s winter and I have this urge every evening to tuck my toes under me and curl up in a big armchair with a soft warm throw. Add to that a cup of hot chocolate and a good book and I am transported back to my childhood and Enid Blyton’s stories set in English cottages.

A traditional English room matches this mood perfectly. With its wood paneled walls, great stone fireplaces and cozy leather armchairs it is a perfect escape from cold weather. Cambridge University has many such beautiful rooms, which seem to be plucked straight out of Hogwarts castle. And it is simply wonderful to be able to wander in and sit next to the fireplace sometimes.

I have recently moved house and am using the elegant rooms pictured above as inspiration to transform my drab grey university apartment. Recreating this look in our homes is quite simple; we just need to deconstruct and understand its basic elements. Perhaps we can start by focussing on a single corner of the living room and make it cozy. Add an armchair, a stack of books, a tall lamp, throws and cushions in warm earth tones or a footstool to rest tired feet on, like this one made by Kiran Ravilious.

A heavy wooden chest of drawers can provide the same sense of backdrop as the wooden paneling in this Jonathan Adler designed room. A roaring fire is the perfect accessory to project all the warm colors – orange, red, amber into your interiors. But if you don’t have a fireplace do not despair. Grouping candle stands together, or a chandelier in bronze or brass can instantly provide that golden glow to any room.  

Top Tip:  Displaying fruits like apples and figs with walnuts and pine cones in a rough carved wooden platter is also a quick way to bring the seasonal theme into your room.

Merry Christmas from Cambridge

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Cambridge has looked so gorgeous since the lights were switched on. I cannot think of a better postcard for Christmas, than this image of St.Johns Street, awash in festive cheer and looking impossibly pretty. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Image from Sun Surfer. 

Daily Art: National Ideas by Alexey Rubanov

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This amusing yet thought provoking piece is by Ukrainian artist Alexey Rubanov who lives and works in Kremenchug City in Ukraine. As his day job he teaches children at the local art school. Alexey is a well established artist, regular participant of the national and international art exhibitions and a member of the National Association of Ukrainian artists.

According to him "Time is the most precious thing in the world", it's always in deficit, every moment of time, every breath you take is important".

Celebrity Home: Brooke Shields Greenwich Village Townhouse

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Brooke Shields beautiful Brownstone reminds me so much of elegant London townhouses. I am sure the interiors are inspired from the old money confidence of patrician homes in Mayfair or Saint-Germain. The house looks so well lived in, that it is quite impressive to know that this look has been created from scratch – for the house was just a derelict shell when Brooke bought it. “It needed a complete gut,” she says in the Architectural Digest article, “but after a quick walk-through, I could see our future there. My bathtub in a niche by a window, our daughters’ playroom on the top floor. A light-flooded kitchen with a big hearth and a balcony”.

She along with interior designer David Flint Woods and architects MADE, have filled the house with specially selected pieces from her childhood and her mother’s flea market finds. Eccentric buys such as a job lot of vintage hardware was used by MADE to accessorize the cabinetry they designed for the townhouse. A wood tub, crafted by a canoe maker in Idaho, was installed in the guest bathroom and a cast-off marble slab that was scavenged at a county fair was re-cut as a vanity top. 

MADE’s mandate was to salvage as much of the house’s original detail and structural integrity as possible. This has been balanced by infusing a sense of fun and wit in the interiors. Jolts of color and asymmetry give the decor an edgy downtown personality. As Flint Wood says “In my design, as in a British drawing room comedy, there is a subtle tension between propriety and irreverence. He has created an urbane mix of furnishings and materials that includes colonial rattan, Asian porcelain, hand-blocked Zuber wallpaper, neoclassical Italian tables, Chinese lacquer consoles—and art by Keith Haring.

The living room features Louis XVI–style armchairs, a French Empire commode, and a 1970s Lucite-base cocktail table. A Keith Haring painting and portraits of Shields’s two daughters hang on the walls .

Linen cushions are by John Robshaw ; the settee is George III, the curule-form stool is covered in a David Hicks fabric from Lee Jofa, and the jute rug is by Pottery Barn.

In the family room, portraits of Shields and her children are propped alongside 

works by Richard Avedon and Adam Fuss.

Don't miss the Louis Vuitton vintage trunk!

I love how the Chinese porcelain jars are placed under the console, like an afterthought!  

A drawing by Haring, used to wrap a gift for the actress, overlooks a chrome bench from Vermillion in the vestibule.

In the master bedroom, an Anglo-Indian tester bed and John Robshaw block-printed linens.  

Guest Bedroom, don't miss the stack of vintage suitcases in the corner. 

All images and product details courtesy Architectural Digest.

Frigiliana House, Andalucia Spain

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This home is located in one of the most beautiful villages in Andalucía, Spain. Frigiliana, is a town known for its maze of narrow cobbled streets lined by whitewashed houses, wrought-iron balconies and planters filled with brilliant red geraniums. The traditional house has been completely revamped with the use of modern furnishings and contemporary art. 

I adore the red leather Mickey Mouse chair sitting in the foyer, the whole arrangement looks like an art installation

  All images via Stuart Mcintyre