Wonderful Homes Archives

September 1, 2016September 4, 2016

Commissioning Art

At Kia Designs, previously blogged about how to design a room around a piece of art, now we’re going to focus on the opposite – commissioning a bespoke piece to match the room.

A Kia Designs living room. Our colour scheme was based around this stunning piece of fabric. To pull everything together we then had it stretched like a canvas and hung to add a focal point to the room.

Finding art to dress a room after you’ve completed the design can be one of the most pleasurable parts of finishing off your interior. You might want to hold out and look for it on your travels, or go browsing in in the glossy galleries around Mayfair (they sell prints too, so even if your budget doesn’t stretch to a Rothko canvas, you can pick up something like a Henry Moore print for around the £2000 mark. It’s be a great talking point and will be an excellent investment!). You could head to an auction house to see check out the offerings (after Christmas is always a good sale time) or you could look at online site such as Artfinder.com which displays 1000s of artists, with easy to use search functions to narrow down the hunt.

July 12, 2016December 21, 2016

A Kitchen That Isn’t a Kitchen

We recently had a brief for a client who seldom cooked, and had no interest in the kitchen. The property is also a 2nd home, rarely used. The problem was we were planing on changing the layout of her property, from a 2 bedroom to a 3 bedroom and required the room currently housing the kitchen to become that 3rd bedroom. The dead entrance space was perfect for the new kitchen, but would then be open plan and become the main view from the front door and living room. So in order to please the client, and not drop a conspicuous kitchen next to her lovely lounge, we teamed up with the talented Magnus at Roundhouse to help us disguise the kitchen so that it fit seamlessly into the room.

roundhouse kia designs

September 30, 2014February 9, 2017

Interior Designers Islington

I lived in Islington for most of my adult life, it will always have a special place in my heart as will the houses that you find there. I first started designing in Islington and the townhouses there were some of the first projects I ever took on. Understanding how best to use space is always extremely important.

We like to be a little bit different, we state our prices and charges here on the website so you can see exactly how much you will be paying. No extra charges, this means that we can all sit back and relax from the beginning of the project knowing that we are not going to be going over budget due to our design fees! They are all done and dusted right at the beginning of the project.

April 3, 2014November 3, 2016

Marble Shower Room

The wonderful part about being a designer is the amount of different people you get to design for, from all around the world, living in all different parts of the world. It’s fantastic but sometimes you forget how beautiful a design can be till you revisit it. In searching through old folders I found these very quick snaps of a marble shower room we designed for clients in Baker Street.

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The bespoke hand made bathroom units mean that the room has a sleek look but still has ample storage.

October 8, 2013July 29, 2016

How to use lighting in a bathroom

Design Essentials – Lighting

Lighting is literally the life blood of a design; it can make a design shine (pardon the pun!). Interior Design is all about making the absolute best of every space, and bathrooms can unfortunately be sadly overlooked when it comes to lighting. This is a huge shame as it can create some of the most dramatic bathrooms.

This bathroom was designed for a gorgeous town house Interior Design in Mayfair. It needed to work within the more traditional design of the house, but with a slightly more contemporary feel. We needed to replicate the original cornice that we had retained throughout the rest of the property; this had unfortunately been removed from these two levels during a 1970s renovation, however was still present on the other 4 floors of the house.

September 2, 2013July 29, 2016

Behind the white on white design

This design was the Finalist in the Living Space design of the year only recently and we are constantly getting questions on how to re-create parts of this wonderful white on white design. Here we break down a few of the amazing features of this design

The aim of this bathroom was to have some glitz and glamour whilst still having a completely usable space…and of course it HAD to be white! Mosaic by Bizazza Floor tiles by Surface Bath and toilet by Living House.

1. Did you used the same tile on all walls?
The wall tiles are two different colours of Bizazza Tiles, the beautiful splash back is actually inlaid with white gold to create an extremely glitzy finish. They are called ‘Narcisio’ part of the Shading blends

August 30, 2013May 14, 2015

Why bespoke wardrobes are best for busy people

Wardrobes are wardrobes, right? Wrong! Bespoke wardrobes add value to your property, make your rooms look gorgeous and they even save you time! They are a fantastic investment for you and your property.

Most of our clients are extremely busy people who run their own businesses, they are CEOs and Directors, they don’t have time to waste and, let’s be honest, fashion isn’t always the top priority in the boardroom. However, everyone likes to look their best and creating a wardrobe storage system that is tailored perfectly to you will allow you to look your best and may even give you a few extra minutes in bed (we can’t promise that however!)

This wardrobe system was created for a client that had a teenage daughter, the wardrobe is actually triangular and contains a larger variety of different internal storage so that there is a place for everything! Just the way it should be!

Looking to have your home re-designed? Want a unique approach that doesn’t waste your time and creates a home that not only looking amazing but works for you?

[button url=”http://www.kiadesigns.co.uk/tell-us-about-your-project/” size=”medium” color=”theme” new_window=”false”]Give us a call on +447912-138822 or click here to discuss your requirements[/button]

in Amazing Architecture / Our Service / Wonderful Homes

August 13, 2012

Minimalist home in the backwoods of Finland

I have always been impressed with Scandinavian architecture and design; its minimalistic nature is a refreshing change from more conventional Western designs in which more storage is a necessity to house the assortment of items that one collects over time. The dining room, in this case, is undoubtedly catering to a certain taste:

For me this is a refreshing clearing of the palate that, although I would not want to visit too often, holds the almost forgotten virtue of simplicity. I also believe that the beauty of the exterior of the property, along with its surroundings, help to add to the appeal of the property:

Considering that this property does not have running water one can suppose that a more natural and secluded way of living was very much in the architects mind when they created this home – this theme has been continued through the usage of some very nice furs:

I can certainly understand many people’s aversion to a property of this nature: within it one would feel very alone but that is the idea perhaps – meeting oneself through seclusion …

Credit: Freshome

in Amazing Architecture / Eco Friendly / Wonderful Homes

August 6, 2012July 29, 2016

Brazilian home with Thai features

I was first drawn to this home as I believed it to be Thai on 1st glance – the surrounding garden in-particular gave me that impression, as did the quaint, almost spiritual natural light:

The home is, in fact, in Brazil, and is interesting insofar as it is smaller than many of the houses that we document. I once heard Jack White say that creativity flourishes within small spaces/small windows of time – after all, with unlimited time/space, anyone can be creative. This home would not have been built on a huge plot but, for me, has a positive vibe that few homes achieve. The garden area is defined by a gorgeous and well defined path and I love how the shrubbery lines the house:

July 30, 2012July 29, 2016

Architecture in a limited space

Most of the time on this blog we look at huge properties which are not slaves (to the same degree) to planning permission and complaints in the way that inner city properties are. This property in London would have been, from numerous personal experiences, a nightmare to plan, build and complete but all the stress was clearly worth it:

July 23, 2012July 29, 2016

California Sea House

Sometimes a house just has a positive energy about it and that is the precise impression that I got upon viewing this sea-front home in California:

It is funny how you sometimes notice the small things – in this case I love how there is a drop at the edge of the porch – it gives the entire property an elevated and isolated feel. Also, as far as views go, it doesn’t get much better than this:

July 9, 2012July 29, 2016

Splendid house overlooking the alps in Austria

Having been in this part of the world quite recently I can certainly state that the alps (along with their surrounding area) boast a very unique beauty and serenity. This home in Austria seems to be the perfect spot from which to enjoy such natural beauty:

I obviously do not know what strikes you most forcefully (it is very hard to get overt the view which is magnificent) but it is the windows which really interested me. I love the way that the architect has the wooden beams encasing the glass – it is seamless and rustic simultaneously and has a massive impact. This is an architectural feature throughout:

July 2, 2012July 29, 2016

Caribbean residence with subtle hints of the Far East!

When a person is building a home in a stunning part of the world (like the Caribbean) it is often the job of the architect to simply design a home that caters to the stunning natural surroundings. Given the weather in the Caribbean it is obvious that a generous sized pool area is a priority:

I am impressed with the stone that has been chosen for the poolside area: their light nature gives the entire poolside area an airiness which very much reflects the surroundings. One aspect of this design which really caught my eye was the fact the architect has provided the property with 2 pool areas; this is very useful in the case of bringing children on holiday as it allows them to indulge in horseplay whilst you relax in the sun!

June 25, 2012July 29, 2016

Sustainable home is Costa Rica

Sometimes the positioning of a home makes it very difficult for it not to be spectacular: this home in Costa Rica certainly fits that particular bill:

I particularly like how the architect has provided an enormous decking area from which one can view the incredible surroundings; I am also very impressed by the water feature (as always, understated water features add such a subtle atmospheric edge to a property) and by the decking which is clean and contemporary and contrasts well with some of the properties more rustic elements, like these tiles:

June 18, 2012July 29, 2016

Interesting home from the Netherlands (stunningly photographed!)

Sometimes a photo of a property says a thousand words: for me there was something poetic, serene and ineffable about this particular shot:

Although this picture doesn’t give you a clear idea of the architecture it does provide an idea of the tone and feel of the property. The property was designed in a ‘Y’ shape in order to capture as much sunlight as possible. This picture really emphasises the airy feel that the property has as well as the amount of light that it captures: