Markus Andrews

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    One Last Decorating Detail to Update

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    When it comes to making your house truly your home – every little decorating detail matters.
    I have pretty much transformed every surface in my house over the 5 years since we moved to the lake. I still had one small detail to update though. It was not a big deal in the grand scheme of updating and decorating a house, but for me getting this last detail updated by adding my own style was a very big deal.
    It is the last part of the house where the previous owner’s tastes still exists and it has taken me 5 years to get it done…. talk about procrastination!!!
    Before gearing up to decorate the house for fall, I thought I would finally get this detail updated.

    I am 5’5″ tall and only see the bottom shelf when I open my kitchen cabinets above the stove where the previous owner had blue and white shell motif Contact Brand adhesive shelf liner. Shell motifs were a thing in the house – both bathrooms also had shells as a decorating theme. 🙂

    When I made over the kitchen, I tried ripping up the adhesive Contact shelf lining paper, but only got a small section removed as it was not going to budge. At the time, I figured I would cover it eventually. 5 years is a very long eventually. 🙂
    There is never a time like the present to get something done, especially now that I am spending more time at home.
    To get the cabinet’s bottom shelf covered in something more to my liking, I went to my gift wrap stash and found the black and white plaid that I used to line the drawers earlier this year. That gift wrap also seemed like the right solution to line the cabinets.

    It took all of 10 minutes. 🙂
    This gift wrap is not like ordinary paper gift wrap. It has a vinyl component to it which makes it wipeable.
    You can find wipeable gift wrap at HomeGoods, TJMaxx, and Marshalls in many different patterns and colors. In my previous house, I used it to make a runner for my kitchen table.

    So nice now to see color and pattern that fits my personal decorating style.
    How to Line Cabinet Shelves with Gift Wrap
    supplies needed:
    Wipeable gift wrap or any decorative paper – sold at HomeGoods, Marshalls, and TJMaxx
    Iron-On vinyl or Clear Contact paper if using regular gift wrap or paper
    Scissors
    Tape measure
    Optional: glue stick

    Use a tape measure to figure out the depth and length of the cabinet interior.
    Cut the gift wrap to size with scissors.
    Place gift wrap into cabinet.
    If you want the gift wrap to stick, after placing it in the cabinet, lift the corners and add a few swipes of a glue stick on the underside of the paper.

    When I painted the kitchen cabinets, I didn’t paint the insides or the inner lip where the cabinet doors sit when they are closed. Keeping the lip paint free allows the doors to close all the way, with ease.
    Don’t Have Wipeable Gift Wrap?
    If you can’t find wipeable gift wrap or a color or pattern you like to line your cabinets, then the next best thing to use is any gift wrap you like which can be covered with clear Contact paper or iron-on vinyl as I did when I lined my kitchen drawers.
    Or line your cabinets using the real thing – shelf-lining paper. Here are a few stylish options:
    Stylish Shelf Liner Options

    Black and White Plaid Gift Wrap (similar to mine)
    Gripping Shelf Liner Non-Adhesive
    Contact Brand Cork Self-Adhesive Liner
    Wood Grain Shelf Liner
    Clear Contact Brand Shelf Liner
    Lining cabinet shelves is a small detail that may not seem worth the time, but adding your own style to even the smallest detail in your home does contribute to making a cohesive look throughout a room and entire home, even when behind closed doors.

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    Think Architecture completes Zurich home with lake and vineyard views

    Swiss practice Think Architecture has created House at a Vineyard, which includes a veranda and sunken courtyard that have vistas across the waters of Lake Zurich.The house is situated in a wildflower-filled meadow that lies beyond a small vineyard near Lake Zurich.
    It was created by Think Architecture for a young family of four who, after showing the practice a few inspirational images from Pinterest, said their key request was that their home was modern and had a simple, symmetrical layout.

    “Though symmetrical villas have long dominated architectural history, in recent decades they have tended to appear only as neoclassical imitations,” said the practice.

    “House at a Vineyard aims to prove that this specific spatial arrangement still has its place and can be translated into a contemporary design.”

    The house comprises a stacked pair of rectilinear volumes, both of which are punctuated with tall recessed windows that offer views of the surrounding landscape.
    A three-metre-wide veranda runs the entire length of the lower volume of the house that boasts herringbone-pattern decked flooring.

    At its centre is a small, sunken courtyard centred by a single tree, which the practice has specifically placed to fall in line with the sequence of reception rooms indoors.
    Cushioned seating runs around the perimeter of the courtyard, allowing the family to relax there during the warm summer months while overlooking the waters of the lake.

    To complement the exterior of the house, which is rendered with pale, off-white plaster, surfaces of the internal living spaces have been washed with lime. Herringbone oak flooring also runs throughout, mirroring the decking on the veranda.

    Think Architecture creates minimal hilltop house in Zurich

    Think Architecture worked alongside Atelier Zurich to develop the aesthetic of the home’s interiors, which have been finished with a few standout decorative elements.

    In the kitchen, the breakfast island is topped with a slab of murky-green marble, while the dining room has a long blood-red table surrounded by cane-back chairs.
    This room is flanked by staircases that lead to the first floor, where blue-grey joinery and wall panelling has been introduced. Several contemporary artworks have also been mounted on the walls.

    Think Architecture was established in 2008 and is co-led by Ralph Brogle and Marco Zbinden.
    This isn’t the only residential project that the practice has completed in its home city of Zurich – last year it created House in a Park, which comprises a series of stone and plaster-lined volumes.
    Photography is by Simone Bossi.

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    Folding polycarbonate wall reveals earthy interiors of São Paulo wellness space Dois Trópicos

    Brazilian studio MNMA has designed a spiral concrete stair and folding polycarbonate doors in this botanical store, yoga classroom and restaurant in São Paulo.Dois Trópicos has a calming earthy palette featuring local materials and crafts that MNMA chose to complement the functions of the wellness hub.

    “The concept of the project is a hybrid space, there is no determination or boundaries. We want a space that integrates gastronomy, the practice of yoga and botany,” MNMA explained. “Where people can feel in every way the importance of spending time in the chaotic city of Sao Paulo to take care of themselves, slowly and with pleasure.”

    “A commercial space that creates a homelike hosting experience, using nostalgia and natural matter, crafted by artisan hands that desire to achieve not perfection but real environments,” it added.

    Translucent polycarbonate doors set in aluminium frames front the exterior to contrast the earthy aesthetic, and allow natural light and cross-ventilation.
    “By contrast, the facade is technological, drafted and executed with precision, thought to allow sun and wind in, to avoid artificial air conditioning systems,” the studio explained.

    “The general purpose is to create a contemporary element that, when opened, would bring back some lost time of ancient forms of construction, a slow passing of time, an earthy place… it feels like ‘home’.” the studio continued.

    Slender terracotta-coloured bricks made by local craftsmen cover the flooring and form structures for washbasins, while textured soil-based render is applied by hand to the walls throughout.

    “We don’t use conventional paint to colour the walls, we literally use earth (like clay) to give this colour, the walls and ceilings are natural earth colours, we don’t use anything chemical,” MNMA said.

    Cracked floors and weathered wood feature in minimal São Paulo shoe store

    “The soil reacts allegorically to the sunlight movement along the day, turning walls, ceilings and the floor not into limits or boundaries, but into canvases for the light to express itself gradually in various forms,” it added. “As it is possible to enjoy comfortably great and authentic food, full of flavours.”

    A spiral staircase at the entrance has a rendered banister and concrete treads with a marked underside that was built using leftover wood on the construction site. It leads up to an open studio space for yoga and massages.
    “The shape was made with materials reused from demolition,” it explained. “The experience was more important than the performance of the technique, so the drawings that are usually super strict gave voice to the empiricism of the local artisans workers,” the studio added.

    A circular door punctured in the rear wall to provides access to stairs that lead down to a restaurant on the lower level. Granite gravel is laid the floor of the outdoor areas to allow for drainage of water. A glazed roof partially covers the restaurant and bar – which is also made from the pale bricks.
    Founded by André Pepato and Mariana Schmidt, MNMA has used a similarly pared-back aesthetic for a number of spaces in São Paulo. They include a retail space for Brazilian women’s clothing store Egrey and a store for shoe company Selo.
    Photography is by Andre Klotz.

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    The Nest at Sossus guesthouse in Namibia features a thatched facade

    South African designer Porky Hefer took cues from the amorphous shape of bird nests to create this off-grid guesthouse on a wildlife reserve in Namibia.The Nest at Sossus guesthouse is situated on the Namib Tsaris Conservancy, a 24,000-hectare reserve nestled between the Nubib and Zaris Mountains in Namibia’s Namib desert.

    It’s been designed by Porky Hefer to emulate the habitat of sociable weavers – a species of bird found in southern Africa known for building huge, bulging nests that are able to accommodate hundreds of birds at a time.

    The four-room guesthouse is an evolution of the nest-like seating nooks that Hefer has created in the past by weaving plant stalks across metal skeletons.

    “I was convinced that my smaller nests were bigger than a chair or a design piece,” said Hefer.
    “I designed these camps with nests all over them and then I tried the idea for three years, changing forms and materials according to the locations I was pitching them,” he continued.
    “People didn’t really get it and preferred four walls and a roof…but I kept on trucking.”

    When Hefer’s unusual accommodation concept was ultimately accepted by the owner of Namib Tsaris Conservancy, Swen Bachran, the designer did a series of hand-drawn sketches to consolidate what The Nest at Sossus would look like.

    Shipwreck Lodge’s wooden cabins evoke ships washed up on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast

    The three-storey guesthouse is completely off-grid and operates off its own supply of water and electricity. Like the nest of a sociable weaver, it swells at different points to form bulbous protrusions.

    Most of the facade is thatched with strands of reed harvested from northern Namibia, supported underneath by a hand-bent steel framework.
    Some walls have been built using rough chunks of granite that have been carefully arranged to emulate the bark of camelthorn trees, which populate the surrounding landscape.

    Walls inside the guesthouse are also thatched, but in some rooms have been set slightly apart from the external shell to allow for the insulation required during the colder months.
    Flooring and joinery throughout are crafted from Rhodesian teak wood.

    Hefer worked alongside his wife, Yelda Bayraktar, and creative consultant Maybe Corpaci to decorate the interiors.
    The trio opted to have the majority of the furniture built-in, much like components are in a nest, and relied on a handful of striking pieces to “bring in the modernism” – for example, the living area is anchored by a sunken Chesterfield-style sofa upholstered in oxblood-coloured leather.

    Outside, a swimming pool for guests has been created in the same space where there was once a dust bath for zebras.
    “The zebras have been known to join guests at the house’s outdoor movie theatre to enjoy the odd movie,” added Hefer, “and surprisingly the local troop of baboons have resorted to observing with interest rather than destroying out of curiosity.”

    Porky Hefer’s self-titled studio has been established since 2011. Prior to that he was running his own creative consultancy,  named Animal Farm. The Nest at Sossus is the designer’s first architectural project, and joins a growing number of design-focused spots to stay at in Namibia.
    Others include Shipwreck Lodge by Nina Maritz Architects, which comprises 10 rooms that are each meant to resemble ruined boats strewn along the sands of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast.
    Photography is by Katinka Bester.

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    Black staircase twists up Joseph store in Miami Design District

    London studio Sybarite has designed a store for fashion label Joseph in the Miami Design District to include round balconies, curved railings spiral stairs as a reference to the city’s seaside architecture. A black metal corkscrew staircase is among the details that takes cues from Miami’s seaside architecture dating back to the 1940s and 50s.

    Featuring contrasting white polished-marble stair treads, it twists through a circular opening to lead from womenswear on the ground floor to menswear and accessories on the first floor.

    Smoked-black glass wraps around the opening with a curved black balustrade adding to the decorative motifs. Sybarite said other details include the irregular wall cutouts that form windows.

    Marking the fashion label’s largest store to date, the 243-square-metre Miami Design District space is among a number the British studio has designed for the fashion label.
    In each, Sybarite follows the theme of opposites common in Joseph apparel with contrasting tones of black and white, and harsh and soft materials.

    “Our designs for Joseph are based on opposites and the unexpected to provide a complete brand experience for the customer,” said Sybarite co-founder Simon Mitchell.
    White-painted walls and concrete floors are a backdrop to black metalwork fitted with LED lighting that forms frames around clothing rails and extends up in an angular form to meet the ceiling.

    Plinths for bags and shoes made from oriented-strand board (OSB), brass and Corian are arranged in groups on an area of the ground floor marked by a brass grid embedded in the concrete floor.

    Tree bark covers Christian Louboutin boutique in Miami Design District

    A pop of colour is provided by the till desk made of Italian green marble, following on from a recurring concept in Jospeph stores in which a different marble from around the world is used.

    Sybarite has also used geometric shapes of softer carpeting, as and rich shearlings and velvet upholstery in the changing rooms, to add a more cosy elements.

    The studio completed the Joseph store in 2018 making the latest addition to the Miami Design District, which property developer Craig Robins transformed from a formerly neglected area into the hub for design boutiques, luxury fashion brands and art galleries.

    Other fashion brands that have opened up architecturally interesting shops in the area include Christian Louboutin, which has a flagship store covered in tree bark, Dior, which has a boutique sheathed in curved white concrete panels, and Tom Ford, which is housed in a pleated concrete shop designed by ArandaLasch.
    Founded in 2002, Sybarite has completed a number of retail and hospitality interiors, including shops for fashion houses Alberta Ferretti and Marni.

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    Remi restaurant in Berlin is defined by cherry-red joinery

    Red-stained cabinets crafted from MDF surround the open kitchen of restaurant Remi in Berlin designed by local studio Ester Bruzkus Architekten.Remi is situated near Berlin’s Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz square and is led up by Dutch chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi.

    This is the second restaurant that the pair have in the German capital, joining Lode & Stijn which opened its doors in 2016.

    As with their inaugural restaurant, the chefs were keen for Remi to have a pared-back aesthetic – but also wanted the space to be reminiscent of the dining spots they once frequented at home in the Netherlands.

    “For Remi, we were inspired by the grand cafes of our home, where we used to enjoy eating together,” Zuylen and Remi explained.
    “We wanted to create a place where you could meet easily, whether for reading the newspaper, a quick lunch, or an intimate dinner.”

    Local studio Ester Bruzkus Architekten was brought on board to develop the interiors of Remi, which takes over the ground floor unit of a new concrete and glass office building.
    The restaurant is anchored by an open kitchen, enclosed by a series of MDF cabinets that have been stained a deep cherry red hue.

    A handful of surfaces in the kitchen have been covered in rough grey stucco, while sheets of perforated metal have been used to conceal service ducts that sit beneath the ceiling.
    “We used architectural materials that are high in quality, carefully sourced and crafted, with rigorous attention to detail,” the studio told Dezeen, “this is the very approach to ingredients that the chefs bring to crafting a meal.”

    The same red shade of MDF has been used to make the tall gridded shelves that run along the rear wall of the restaurant, openly displaying wine bottles, glassware and jars of ingredients.
    Cherry-red MDF has then been combined with black granite to form the service counter where guests are greeted by staff before being shown to their table.

    Metal-frame dining tables with grey countertops designed bespoke by Ester Bruzkus Architekten have been dotted throughout the room.
    One long communal table where guests are encouraged to “linger all day” has also been placed beside the restaurant’s entrance.

    Berlin restaurant LA Poke takes its cues from Hockney painting A Bigger Splash

    Each table is accompanied by timber or acid-yellow chairs by Danish furnishing brand Please Wait To Be Seated. There’s additionally a couple of wooden benches with seat cushions upholstered in mustard corduroy fabric by Kvadrat.
    Red, yellow and steel editions of Muller Van Severen’s Hanging Lamps have been mounted on the restaurant’s walls as decoration. White-neon tube lights also wind and intersect across the ceiling.

    Ester Bruzkus Architekten has been established since 2002. Remi isn’t the only Berlin restaurant designed by the studio – back in 2018, it completed LA Poke.
    Taking cues from David Hockney’s 1967 painting A Bigger Splash, the eatery features vibrant pops of summery hues such as cobalt blue and sunshine yellow.
    Photography is by Robert Rieger.

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    Longhouse by Partners Hill spans 110 metres across Australian bushland

    Architecture practice Partners Hill has designed this lengthy shed-style home in the Australian town of Daylesford, Victoria to incorporate living, cooking and agricultural facilities.Described by Partners Hill as “a study in inclusion”, Longhouse contains a farm, restaurant-cum-cookery school, guest rooms and living quarters for its owners, Ronnen Goren and Trace Streeter.
    The practice worked alongside Goren and Streeter over a period of 10 years to design the multifunctional property.

    “The Longhouse recalls a Palladian tradition of including living, working, storing, making in a single suite rather than referring to the Australian habit of casual dispersal,” said the practice’s founding partner, Timothy Hill.

    “It emphasises how much – or how little – you need for a few people to survive and thrive. A handful of animals, enough water and year-round crops.”

    Nestled amongst a 20-acre plot of land just outside the town of Daylesford, the 110-metre-long building overlooks rolling plains of bushland.
    Goren and Streeter were charmed by the site’s natural vistas but, after several visits, came to realise that the area was subject to extreme weather conditions including strong winds, erratic downpours of rain and snow during the colder months.
    A variety of animals such as kangaroos, wallabies and foxes could also be found roaming the site.

    This “beautiful but hostile” environment is what encouraged Partners Hill to design Longhouse as a huge shed-like structure which would be “big enough and protected enough for the landscape to flourish inside”.
    Translucent panels of glass-reinforced polyester wrap around the exterior of Longhouse, which is punctuated by a series of windows that offer views of the landscape.

    “Smart gel-coated cladding provides different levels of UV and infrared resistance,” explained the practice.
    “Panels with different finishes have also been deployed to optimise solar penetration and shading depending on the orientation of each facade and roof plane.”

    An algorithm was used to design the home’s 1,050-square-metre roof, which has been specifically sized to harvest an optimum amount of rainwater.
    Any water collected is stored in a series of tanks around the site – some of which are concealed by grassy banks – and can be used to service different rooms. It can also be used in the event of a bushfire.

    The main entrance to Longhouse is at the western end of the building, which plays host to a sizeable garage for storing farm machinery and an enclosure for the cows, pigs and fowl.
    A short walkway leads through to the kitchen where cookery workshops are held and meals are rustled up for guests dining at Longhouse. Designed to appear as a “surprisingly lush haven”, the space is bordered by leafy trees and plant beds overspilling with foliage.
    Vine plants also wind down from the ceiling.

    Australian cypress pine has been used to craft a majority of fixtures and furnishings, selected by the practice for its resistance to rot.
    The same timber has been combined with red bricks to form a couple of gabled structures that accommodate cosy eating areas.
    Some elements, like the kitchen hearth, are built from glazed clay tiles.

    Partners Hill hides Aesop pop-up among the undergrowth at Tasmanian music festival

    A set of stairs leads up to the guest rooms on the first floor, referred to as The Stableman’s Quarters. One of them features warm orange walls and is centred by an oversized daybed piled high with plump cushions.

    Goren and Streeter’s private living quarters, nicknamed The Lodge, are also located on Longhouse’s first floor. Surfaces throughout have been painted a pale shade of blue.
    “Even in the depths of cold, grey winters – there is an uplifting sense of blue skies and long sunsets every day,” added the practice.
    In a nod to the owners’ passion for 19th and 20th-century interiors, the practice has also included a handful of decor elements that “recall the manors of a bygone era” such as clawfoot bathtubs and ornate ceiling roses.

    Partners Hill is led by Timothy Hill, Simon Swain and Domenic Mesiti. Previous projects by the practice include a wooden pavilion for skincare brand Aesop – the structure was specially created for a Tasmanian music festival and was shrouded by shrubbery.
    Photography is by Rory Gardiner.
    Project credits:
    Architecture, interior design and landscaping: Partners HillCladding fabricator: Ampelite

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    Collective installs stage in New York ONS Clothing store

    Architecture firm Collective has inserted a stage with a green curtain for hosting events in the back of the ONS Clothing store in New York City.The flagship location of ONS, a menswear apparel brand, is located on 201 Mulberry Street in New York’s Nolita neighbourhood.
    It is located inside an existing structure situated 1.5 metres below street level that was previously a garage.

    ONS intends to use the stage space for hosting cultural events, such as exhibitions and pop-ups that it says will change regularly.

    Steel railings, ceramic tiles and asphalt flooring are among the references Collective has taken from the streetscape to guide the store’s design.
    To balance the dark colours and textures of the flooring the studio has inserted pops of colour using light blue tiles on the changing room pods and blue and green counter surfaces.

    “The material we used in the store were carefully chosen for the feeling of the street – ceramic tiles, steel ramps, fibre glass objects while their bright array of blue and green colours balance out the crudeness of the black asphalt and steel,” Collective said.
    Pale wood floors and wood panelling cover the walls in the front room of the store, which the studio conceived as a “standalone wooden box”. In the space there are two wood counters for displaying accessories, while rectangular cutouts in the walls to hold clothing racks.

    An asphalt ramp replaced the existing wheelchair lift to create an accessible pathway from the street into the storefront and to the rear of the space where the studio has constructed a large stage.

    Lunya styles Manhattan store like a “glitzy, upscale New York apartment”

    “The ramp allows a natural flow of circulation from a higher point entering the very deep area at the back of the store, and at the same time, its hovering presence performs as an object in space,” the studio added.

    There are several “props” on the stage including blue- and white-tiered shelving units, curved plinths for displaying products and potted plants, added as a decorative element.
    Angular green drapes attached to a steel rack on the white ceiling and wrap around the space to form an adjustable divider. When closed the fabric curtains extend 30 metres forming a backdrop for the retail displays.

    “Together with the rearrangement of the bright colour display props, the back room area of the ONS,” it continued.
    “Flagship is immediately domesticated and activated into a stage for events, with a light touch of living room like domesticity and comfort.”

    Collective is a studio that practices architecture, interiors and exhibition design founded in 2015.
    It is led by Betty Ng, Chi Yan Chan, Juan Minguez and Katja Lam and has offices in Hong Kong, Madrid, San Francisco and New York.

    Los Angeles clothing brand Lunya also has a retail space in Nolita that takes cues from “upscale New York” apartments, while other stores in the city include a jewellery store in SoHo.
    Photography is by Eric Petschek.

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