Breakfast

Photos by tomo koh 

 Breakfast is my favourite meal! From poached eggs to crusty bread with lashings of butter and home made jam... YUM! I love it even more when I sit around a table with my fiance and friends. Eating with others can bring people together. It's here around a table eating good food when bonds are formed and sustained. It's a time when to listen, inform indulge and entertain each other. In a society that values individualism at the expense of community I can't think of a better way to start the day by simply sharing warmth, love and having a sense of belonging. Oh yeah and a full belly in the morning means a better working brain during the day. Remember this next time you try to skip breakie. Tomo Koh from Tokyo captures my favourite part of the day perfectly.

Basil Infused Vodka

photos by Jen Gotch

The weekend is coming up and I thought this recipe for infusing vodka with basil wasn't a bad idea to kick it off.  It's very easy and a great way to spice up your average vodka. I really like this on the rocks or in a Bloody Mary...(hick-up)

Ingredients:

• 2 large sprigs of basil
• 750ml bottle of premium vodka
• infusion jar with tight-sealing lid

Preparation:

1. Rinse the basil to remove any unwanted chemicals. There is no need to chop or remove the stems.
2. Place the basil into a clean quart-sized mason jar.
3. Fill the jar with vodka.
4. Secure the lid on the jar and shake well.
5. Store the infusion in a dark place at room temperature for 4 days.
6. Strain the vodka through a coffee filter into a seperate container.
7. Store as you would any other vodka.

Living With Colour

Whenever I find colour used well I have to share it with you. Homeowner Halewijn, of NU Architectuuratelier, designed this house for himself, his wife, Mathilde, and their son, Ramses in Ledeberg, near Gent Belgium. The use of concentrated blocks of colour help break up banks of dark timber kitchen units. When self control is used colour pops out and visually has tremendous impact within a room. Here sky blue is used in the washing up area and lime green for the opposite work surface creating a busy area feel soothing and stress free.

Inside Your Fridge

This Fridge is from Denmark
My name is Lisbeth, I am a Danish woman 43 years with two children (12 and 15 years). As you can see we like to drink milk, eat all kinds of yoghurts. I think this is very typical for a Danish family.

This Fridge is from Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
This is Yuki's parents fridge 

This Fridge is from Hanoi, Vietnam.
I'm Dony and I'm n Hanoi for work. I have a beautiful apt here an a brand new fridge which I filled with (possibly) healthy food. Fish and meat in the freezer, grated parmesan (from Italy), vegetables and ricotta in the lower section. Look at the nice straw box for eggs - isn’t it wonderful?

 This Fridge is from Nairobi, Kenya.
 Angie's Fridge

This Fridge is from Moscow, Russia.
Usually my fridge has more yogurt and some camembert, too.

I have just discovered Fridgewatcher a new favourite site. It's a project where people from all around the globe open their fridges to others. I love how every fridge tells a story of the person who owns it.

All I Own

All photos by Sannah Kvist

Sweedish photographer Sannah is visiting people in their home and photographing their stuff. This shoot made me instantly think of my FAVOURITE book "Snoop", by Sam Gosling. For the last ten years, ingenious psychologist Sam has been studying how people project (and protect) their inner selves, and how we form impressions of others. He dispatches teams of scientific snoops to see what we can learn about people from their bathrooms, offices and bedrooms - and from everyday signals ranging from where people live to the clothes they wear. A good snooper can work out how strong a relationship is, how someone is likely to vote, and well yer anything. Lets here how good your snooping abilities are and give us a snippet about the people in Sannah's photographs. Sannah will be having an exhibition soon from this series. Go over and say hi.

Entertaining at home

Footage by James Whitaker

I want to ask you a question straight up. Do you entertain at home? Are you one of those people who loves inviting friends to your pad and creating a 3 course dinner or perhaps you choose a more casual affair? Or are you someone who prefers to meet friends at cafes, pubs or restaurants instead of having them in your little sanctuary. Me I love having people over. But I want to hear how you entertain or not.

Home is Safety

all photos by talented Mr Paul Raeside and paint from Society Inc

I adore this set of photos by Paul Raeside. Not only is he the best dressed photographer I know  he is a talent who beautifully captures lovely images through his camera whilst telling inspiring stories. He really is a British gem.  Paul has photographed a rustic and remote cabin highlighting how our home is our PROTECTOR from the elements and preditors . You can take inspiration from the cabin for your own urban home to help you connect to nature and the outdoors whilst not lacking in your mod cons. Follow the colour palate above and bring living materials indoors, including timber. If you do this your city pad will feel warm, welcoming and protective.

Bodies In Urban Spaces

Hi Everyone! Happy Valentine's. Thank you for your lovely wishes below. I'm afraid I've mislead you:(  I am planning to go back to Australia but it is not for a while longer. However I'm starting to plan what needs to be done. How much is it going to cost me to ship all my stuff back, Is it easy for my fiance to move to the sunny Island, hopefully landing a job before I get back, blah, blah, blah. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to entertain you in the UK for a while longer. 

Austrian artist Willi Dorner squeezes human bodies into nooks and crannies for his Bodies in Urban Spaces project. Groups of dancers, climbers and performers wearing brightly coloured clothes run through busy malls and high streets and cram themselves into doorways, alcoves and any gap they can find in buildings.

What excites me about this project is how Willi explores the use of space. Something a lot of us lack within our homes. In interior design any volume which is being contained within masonry walls and are habitable is normally termed as space. Creating negative space and wasteful space are two very different cookies. Negative space helps us bring a balance to a room or surface. For example if you have a fireplace mantle don't jam it with nick knacks. You want to make a curated display creating a focal point. Sometimes it can be dynamic to display your favourite vases say on the left side of the mantle and leaving the right side empty.

However wasteful space is something so many homes have which in this day and age we can't afford to do. Wasting your habital area is a BIG NO, NO! If you are not using a space and it's collecting dust consider it may be time to rerange the room or give the room a whole new purporse. You need to create a room with great flow leading you to each area you have created. You don't want to be tripping over stuff to get to the other side of a room but when your home costs so much to buy or rent for every square footage don't waste it.

Moving House