NEW ARRIVAL

I'm still here - just preoccupied. Life has been turned upside down with the arrival of a little niece for me! She's so tiny and beautiful, already wide-eyed and curious about the world and my parents have come across to our little apartment to crash on the couch so they can meet their little granddaughter. But we don't mind. Family time is extra awesome when you live interstate from everybody.

Back soon!

HOUSE ENVY : ARCHITECT MAURICIO ARRUDA

Another for the House Envy files - the apartment of architect Mauricio Arruda in Sao Paulo. Unfortunately I couldn't find any "before" photos, which would have been amazing to see considering the amount of changes made (see the link below for floorplans). But regardless, the photos in Yatzer's article about him and the space are beautiful.

It's not so much the contents - though there are a few items that I'd happily keep if I were to somehow oust him from his dwelling for whatever reason. It's the light, the open plan, use of space, white walls, the pillar left to keep support when walls were removed (for some reason I'm intrigued with the idea of a pillar in mountainforesthouse), wall texture AND THAT FLOOR.

Amazing.









I'm especially impressed with the kitchen and how he's worked that space. The simple shelving taking up the wall, building the stovetop and sink into the other work space. It really feels like a real and usable kitchen that seamlessly fits into the rest of the house.

Full article with more pictures and detail here.

AND IT WAS ALL...

I'm very much a black/white/shades of grey kind of guy, as anyone who knows me or has been to the apartment will tell you. However, the past year or so I've had SUCH a thing for yellow. Not that I'm going to paint a room or overkill it with having too much stuff, but as a colour-pop of choice for around the apartment, yellow's totally become mine.


A few recents from my Instagram
So Swiss Miss' new tumblr blog of yellow things for her friend is total eye-candy for me. Go and peruse at Yellow Things For Maria. And buy me stuff, cos I daresay there'll be a long wishlist forming!

FOUND : MALOTA-ESQUE BUILDING, RICHMOND

One of my favourite things about where I work is walking through the back streets during my lunch break. In winter, it can be pretty but rain makes for a cold and slushy trip around the place. We've had a couple of days of unseasonable sunshine the past week, and I finally got to go out and walk through some of my favourite alleyways. I seem to find a lot of inspiration and ideas just wandering around, as well as awesome street art to photograph and junk to pick up and bring home.

Since my last trip, the back of this building has undergone a HUGE facelift. I love it. I'm not sure who the artist that did this piece was though, but the colours and shapes literally made me stop dead in the middle of the street and stare.







Something about it reminds me of the older stuff of Malota, who I've been fascinated with for years now. Definitely worth checking her site out. More photos of this amazing building at my flickr.

HOUSE ENVY : TRON LEGACY

I saw the trailer for Tron Legacy many months ago, and instantly was transfixed on the .3 seconds of footage showing Sam Flynn's house. And now, months later, I'm guilty of freeze-framing every camera angle the show of it and drooling uncontrolably.

True, set designers don't need to worry about constraints like livability, security, insulation or something as trivial as where the powerpoints for those lamps are (cos I sure as hell don't see any extension leads running across the floor). But goddamn, it is pretty! The sunken living space, the faded and dusty oriental rug, the rough and faded black leather couch, the worn-in brown armchairs, the matte black hanging fireplace. The big window opening out to an amazing view of city lights on water. The fact he can grab a beer from the big, robust old fridge he has found in perfect working order and has a space where he can work on his Dad's beat up old Ducati bike inside.


Oh, I die.

Here's a little scene from it which shows it off a bit. The movie itself shows a lot more of the space than any photo or video I can find though.

A New Start

I suppose a welcome post should be in order. This is going to be my blog for sharing the next few years of my life. It's been a big year and I felt like I needed a new start. For the first time in my life I'm happy with where I am and how things are, and I have a few concrete plans for the future, and I'm actually working toward them.

We're renting a small 2 bedroom apartment in one of Melbourne's outer city suburbs - close to work and university for both of us. Gorgeous little place, above a business. Circa 1950s, with a lot of interesting quirks - I think a lot of DIY went into it when it was converted into a living space. But that's not necessarily a bad thing cos there's lots of things to do to fix up the things that need it, and to get things how we want them.

In the meantime, we've fallen in love with an area about 1 hour or so drive from where we live, outside the city. Mountains, trees, ferns, crisp air and big lakes all near enough that we can get to work or the city easily when we need to. So, that's the plan. Over the next few years we're working toward that, our Mountain Forest House. And all the things that pop-up.

Follow me @mountainforesthouse on Instagram and Flickr.