{loft light}

i happened upon loft life magazine today, which i should tell you is full of gorgeous photos if you have yet to have the pleasure of visiting. even though b & i are hoping (fingers crossed still...no word on the offer) to make the shift from urban to island living, city lofts always provide ingenious ideas for creatively maximizing a small space. so considering we could be working with about 800 square feet, a loft is a close companion. clicking through the photo gallery of loft life magazine, i found myself particularly drawn to the spaces with commanding windows or skylights...

a window's take on french doors...

a wall of windows. definitely easiest to pull off when you are stories high from the ground floor. most people don't care to see their neighbors fetching the morning coffee in their skivvies...

this one might be my favorite. and after admiring this enormous skylight, i fell head over heels for the rest of the space and had to share...

a floating canopy bed with pools of soft linen. has to be a movie set. surely no one can call this their boudoir...

farmhouse style table for all friends meets exposed brick & beams. just pull up a chair i suppose?...

and studio space galore... love.

{all images from loft life magazine...and there are so many more!}

{sky parlour}

in perusing design blogs today, i came across the blog pattern of life and these dramatic before and after photos of the author's attic space transformed. grant it her husband is a contractor, so he certainly has a step-up on the rest of us, but what an amazing space he and his wife carved out of an area of the house most of us see only for storage. if i am ever lucky enough to have a room like this, i'm thinking i'd make it into 1/3 art studio (maybe pop in a few skylight windows for more natural light), 1/3 library & reading nook (hooray for window seats), and 1/3 exercise room. perfect. now b & i just have to add "attic space with lots of potential" to our dreamhouse priority list.


final result - gleaming black floors & generous built-in shelving. the tallest shelf section even has built-in ladder rungs to allow easy access to the loftiest shelf. simply brilliant.

before - closed in walls and low ceilings make the before space your everyday attic.

in process - it's remarkable how much extra space is found just in removing the old ceiling and wall boards. and take a look at those exposed beams.

continued process - adding insulation & soon to be new ceiling panels.

another view of the final project. the attic essentially became two separate rooms. and though you can't see it in the photos, the author mentioned something about a bathroom being installed. so the space could easily double (or triple, or quadruple?) into a guest room. i am also curious about their creative solution for access to the area. still a standard pull-down ladder? or maybe spiral stairs.

yet another view. these photos are making me want to paint my future dreamhouse floors a glossy black. and the exposed beams really tie the space together. all in all, beautiful work.

{you can see all of these images & the designer's note at pattern of life}

open {air} studio

the weather is absolutely blissful in savannah this week. it's a shame my office does not function as this one does. someday though...

{image via peacock feathers, which may or may not be my new favorite design blog...}