Mr Bohaute and I are planning on winning the large lotto draw this weekend ($32 MILLION DOLLARS). So for fun, we went hunting for houses well out of our current price range….and came across this Takapuna, Auckland home as the place we would settle into with utter happiness!  It’s for sale here while it lasts.  The view is stunning, with room to do cartwheels and collect shells from the beach right in front of your home.  Bring on Saturday!

We have been looking at buying a home for a while since our return from Australia, and so the hunting continues.  While clicking my way through quite a few pics, I saw this beauty in Devonport on the North Shore in Auckland.  It is sooo me.  The colour, the furniture, the kitchen, all of it.  It’s for sale if you like it and to view more images click here.  The current owner and renovater is an interior designer, so it’s no wonder the place rocks! It’s also been in a couple of home magazines, so enjoy.

These two photos are from a great home renovation in Redondo Beach – see the slideshow here.

The first image caught my eye as the many many tiles make it feel spa like, plus their colour is very calming, they are from Ann Sacks, a US company with a huge selection of ceramic and glass tiles for any area of the home.

I had to show you what a feminine fireplace looks like.  And the glass underneath is so much more chic that a tiled, built-up hearth.  Wittus, a US company has a large range of very hip fireplaces that they can ship to your door.  This one, called the Shaker is made in Germany and designed by Antonio Citterio – of course, something will always catch my eye when it’s near the Woods wallpaper by Cole and Son.  The kicker (always one when a designer is involved; it weighs nearly 140kgs and costs US$4,280 – that’s NZ$6000)!  Those long lovely legs almost makes it worth the price, but then there’s all that wood to put on…

Next time you are thinking about re-doing the carpet, or just because the kids running up and down the wooden stairs is such a dreadful noise…..then think about a bright colour.  These green carpeted stairs are awesome. This is totally going in my ‘when I get to reno again’ folder.

image [Richard Birch Photography]

We have a bunch of boat sheds on the Orakei basin looking rather dilapidated and in need of a good spruce up, so when I spied these over at Inhabitat, I thought they would be a fantastic replacement.

The Crib prefab can be used anywhere – from your backyard, to a spot on the water to house the boat and chill-out upstairs. It’s inspired by the traditional American architecture of corn cribs, a common farm building used to store and dry corn. The smallest is 175 sq feet upstairs with an ideal garage style front opening (for those water views). Then there’s the additional 125 sq feet of exterior deck space. The larger of the two has 250 sq ft upstairs!. Of course, it’s only in the US, which would make these super exey to ship out and there are no prices on the website. And I should not forget to add, the Orakei boatsheds are privately owned – so perhaps the owners are happy with them just as they are.

The colours of this house caught my eye today.  I really like the modern charcoal panels with a rich coloured wood.  I think it softens a hard, modern design.  And who wouldn’t love a bright orange door!  To see more of this place, take a look at Shed’s website.

via [Inhabitat]

Now winter has arrived, it’s skiing time again, so I went hunting to find property in the ski area of Queenstown in New Zealand.  This beauty sits on 3.2 hectares of land, and has wide views of Coronet Peak ski-field, the Crown Range, the Shotover River and The Remarkables mountain range.  Wow, those alps will have snow all over them now.

I love the amount of land to run around on with family and friends on those crisp clear days, and no one would get sick of that view. Plus, the living areas look really inviting after those long days on the hill.   Click here to see more of the property or to contact the real estate agent.

As I try to find clever ways to store ‘stuff’, I had to go through my library for these images to inspire you in your home reno. Clever systems that utilise space that we often don’t think of.  The top left image shows how the top of the steps open up to use the deep cavity underneath.  It’s not often I wish we had stairs, but these would be cool.

second images via [AT]

I can’t tell you much about this house as I don’t speak spanish and the website is well..spanish.   It is in Gandario, Galicia, Spain and the architect is Carlos Quintáns.  It’s a stunningly simple home blending the new form with old stone – striking and visible from inside the home.  In one of the photos, I love how the wooden floor vents are not in metal, but are seamless with the wooden flooring.  Of course the glass across the entire front is always a winner for me, and check out the view!

via [Materialicious]

Ok, I got a little carried away looking at all the houses at Sagaponac and only because I wanted to show you this one. Now there are several I like that are totally cool….go take a look sometime.  This home is the Ban + Maltz Furniture House inspired by Mies Van der Rohe’s unbuilt Brick Country House.  It has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms over 3800 square feet.  What’s clever about it is the primary structure – the house is made of modular cabinet units providing loads of storage, supports the roof, and encloses heating and cooling systems. What I would give for that much storage!

via [Apartment Therapy]

Do you need to add an extra room without renovating, or a little temporary home for the bach site?  Based in Auckland, NZ, Mobile Habitats have a full range of portable accommodation solutions, with some offering kitchen and bathroom facilities.  Because they are portable, you do not need a permit, with prices starting at about $10k to purchase. Or if you only need a temporary space solution, they even rent them starting at NZ$58 per week. Go take a look at their website for more info…they come in cool colours and are super mod looking.

Over at Desire To Inspire, I came across these pics, plus more of some of the most inspiring and colourful interiors.  The man behind the lens is Mark Lund, who’s website sends you into major time wasting territory just looking at all the great photos.  He also has a blog with updates of his current work and cool snaps of his beautiful family.  

This house was designed and built by Bevk Perović Arhitekti’s in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  I really like the simplicity of this from the street.  And although I wouldn’t choose to live in it, as it looks just a little to cold for me, it would be a perfect office space for Mr Bohaute and I.  Just adding some colour and comfy furniture would make this quite an inspiring working space.  

via [NotCot.org]

One image to inspire a little fun into your reno or new house build.  How about a slide beside the stairs? Actually, I had to add a few more pics for you. This whole place is cool because it’s under ground mostly and sits right smack bang in hip Notting Hill.  The home belongs to Alex Michaelis, an architect at Michaelis Boyd Associates, so of course his home would rock.  Click on the link to go see a few more images on their website under Residential, Oxford Gardens.  Master Four (and three quarters) would love it!

via [Bloesem Kids]

This Remuera, Auckland house recently sold around the NZ$5.5m mark.  Whoever ‘snapped’ it up must be pretty chuffed, and have a load of wine!  I have cellar envy.  We don’t even have wine in the house right now, so could not imagine what this would look like full.  I love that you can see part of the cellar from the dining area as well (image second row left).  This mighty home has 5 double bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, 4 living areas, a home theatre, a games room, a gymnasium, a 1000 bottle wine cellar, a state of the art kitchen with huge butler’s pantry, 3 car garaging, a pool house, an 18 metre gas heated pool, a spa and dedicated utility rooms covering about 800m2.  The house is fully automated to control everything from lighting to irrigation.  Oh, and last – beautiful views through beautiful native trees.  To view more images go here.

images [Open2view.com]

Sooo, this is an uber home if ever I saw one.  Could you imagine waking up and making breakfast in that kitchen.  It’s…..so…..gorgeous, and that’s an understatement.  So the details:  Ultra mod with gorgeous views over KL, it was designed by YTL Design Group in KL and Agence Jouin Manku from Paris, for a wealthy Malaysian family.  

It started out in 2003 and finished in late 2008 – whoa, that’s a long time to wait for a house! The 3000sqm house – COUGH!) can accommodate both private and public functions.  So I guess while you are bathing the kids at one end, your husband could be entertaining royalty at the other. 

The building has nine bedrooms, two family rooms, a family kitchen and a private dining area, a family library, a game room, a study, a public reception area, a formal dining room, a ballroom, chapel, 21 bathrooms, a swimming pool, two guest suites plus indoor private and guest parking.  For more info and images of this wickedly stunning place, check them out here.

images [Roland Halbe]

via [LuxuryLaunches.com]

I love a good gallery site, one that’s easy to use, has large photos and you can quickly update and add your own pics of anything architectural, housey, outdoorsey, etc.  At Houzz.com it’s a collection of the interior and exterior of places……have a browse over it – the site is clever, in that my thousands of inspirational home photos clogging my hard-drive can now be stored here, so I can access them when I am without my notebook. Others can add them to their gallery and we can all share the eye candy of all those lovely places in the world. Free to join, you can tag and make notes, and you can even subscribe to their RSS feed.

If anyone is looking for a home in Paris in the lovely Marais district, then how about Christian Lacroix’s place. For sale for a cool NZ$5million, it has four bedrooms and a mezzanine library – and a courtyard garden. Actually if it came with the furniture, it would rock!  I love a house filled with colour – eclectic colour – I can’t go quite that far on my own – even though I want to.  To sit and have my croissant and hot chocolate for breakfast (I don’t do coffee) in front of those windows would be very agreeable.  Here is the real estate listing should you need to contact the seller (yay for you!).  Mr Lacroix will only be 200m down the road.  

The estate agent says this about the house “…the tall ceilings, elegant windows with shutters and panelled doors are straight out of an 18th-century French genre painting. A staircase with carved white banisters leads from the drawing room up to the bedrooms, which look out over the rooftops of Le Marais, and there’s an enclosed courtyard garden. How perfect in spring and summer to dine outside, or lie on a chair to work on your suntan.” – I want it even more now – hope it’s got central heating for winter.

via [Apartment Therapy]

Ahh, this is lovely spacious and light, and if I were to be moving in – just waiting for a bit more colour and cosiness to be thrown about. I love the concrete floors (hope they’re heated) and the bathroom basins. Take a look here at more images (there are loads) and plans as well. 

Ooh err, I have his Floral brocade wallpaper from Habitat that I adore on my dining room wall…at least I think this is the same guy.  Anyway take a look at his house which is showcased in the latest Elle Decor. What a symphony of happy brightness.  Take a look at a few more images right here.

via [NotCot.org]