Vancouver and Chicago Interior Designers - Kalu Interiors Blog - All About Interior Design

Finally…..Project Updates!

phyllis — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:10:06 +0000

Wow….long overdue but better late than never I guess! It’s been a whirlwind of a year with lots of projects finishing up. We’d like to share with your some of our favorites!

False Creek Apartment

This is one of those projects that looked like a totally different place in the end. Client wanted to update their apartment to a modern sleek place to entertain. This one was fun because it is so our style. We were ecstatic with the results!!

Kitchen Before

Ensuite Before

Powder Room Before

Powder Room - After

Ensuite - After

Ensuite - After2

Vancouver House

This was a new build and the client took a leap of faith with us considering it is nothing like anything that we’ve ever done. They wanted a traditional house with some contemporary and youthful elements. Now that is is completed, it’s absolutely stunning!

Kitchen1

Kitchen2

Living room

Girls Room

Master Ensuite

Richmond Home

This one was fun!! Mainly just furniture and prettying it up. Clients wanted a modern space but were restricted by the elements of the house. Using textures and colours we worked with the existing paint to pretty up the space.

Living Room - Before

Dining Room Before

Kitchen Nook - Before

Living Room - After

Dining Room - After

Kitchen Nook - After

West Vancouver Home

This one actually just wrapped up. It was a house that much needed updating and some rethought. We opened up the kitchen wall and changed the shape from a galley style kitchen to an L-shape with an island. The result was much more efficient and overall it looks much bigger.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Before2

Ensuite Before

Kitchen After

Kitchen After2

Ensuite After

Ensuite - After2

Downtown Condo

This project is still ongoing but just a sneak peak at the completed second bathroom.

Bathroom - Before

: Bathroom – Before2

Bathroom - After

Bathroom Vanity - After

Please feel free to let us know what you think!

Mention Worthy

Annie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:49:31 +0000

Simple, clean & modern – 2modern
Bivouac Exhibition – Contemporist
West coast with a touch of industrial – Desire to Inspire
Luke Lamp – Design Sponge
Fridge with eyes – Yanko Design

The Glass Box – AIKYA by Cadence Architects

Annie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:49:18 +0000

The AIKYA commercial building located in Bangalore, India is designed by Cadence Architects. The building is unique in its modern angular shape with a large glass façade to facilitate its retail space. The building houses an atrium in the centre, connecting each level. The interior is constructed through laser cut fiber cement boards.

“Typically a commercial complex is conceived as a generic glass box or clad with materials like ACP. The consequent result of such surface articulation results in the clichéd result that we mostly see around us. When we set out to conceive the project, which was situated on a tight site measuring 60’ x 40’, we were interested in issues of identity and experience. The idea was to conceive an envelope that rose above the glass box while it established a new identity and visual experience.
We understood the importance of the glass façade to enable successful functioning of a retail facility with high visibility. We set out on a process of distorting the glass box with a solid edge around it, we further conceived the transparent edge as a void in a solid as opposed to a two dimensional transparent edge. The object was further articulated as a chiseled object which is multi faceted. A staircase connecting ground to the first level was further fused with the faceted object. The crystalline form was realized using Ferro concrete whose end result was an animated box, frozen while evolving.
Functionally, the ground was set free for parking and the building hovers above. A staircase and lift core connects all the three floors of the commercial complex and the penthouse above. Keeping the faceted feel of the outside consistent with the inside, a figural void is carved out as an atrium that spatially connects the floors of the commercial complex. The inner surface of the faceted box is given a different effect by using laser cut compressed fiber cement board. The penthouse above is programmatically detached from the commercial establishment below.” – Cadence

image from www.clarearni.com

HI-MACS House

Annie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:49:02 +0000

The HI-MACS house is a villa located in Bavaria, Germany and designed by Karl Dreer and Bembe Dellinger Architects. The house is made entirely of HI-MACS Solid Surface, including the entire exterior and interior, from the terrace to the countertops and the sinks. HI-MACS material consists of 75% natural minerals and pigments, and 25% acrylates. The 1200 square meter home is entirely white in exterior and interior. A soft ambient lighting warms the otherwise cold interior.

image from www.dirkwilhelmy.com

Quarry Lamps

Annie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:45:50 +0000

British Designer Benjamin Hubert collaborated with Spanish furniture brand De La Espada to develop a collection of furniture, featuring seating, tables and lighting. One feature in this collection includes the Quarry Lamps, a skillfully crafted hand-turned thin-walled marble pedant light. The interior of the shades are left rough while the exterior is buffed to sheen. As light is diffused through the marble shades, the texture and veining is exposed, adding a sense of individuality.

image from www.benjaminhubert.com.uk

BloomX Collection by MTH Woodworks

Annie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:45:29 +0000

The BloomX Collection from Vancouver based MTH Woodworks features a series of tables made from salvaged birch inlayed in organic resin. This minimalistic approach of expressing the West Coast flavor in combination with the designers’ environmental ethics gives a direct sense of the evolution of design in the modern world. The juxtaposition of nature and man has a simple, yet strong appeal.

image from www.mthwoodworks.com

Mention Worthy

Annie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:45:07 +0000

A little modern art – Contemporist
Modular seating – Design Milk
Romance for your interior – Desire to Inspire
Floating lamps – MoCo Loco
Toggle light – Yanko Design

Mention Worthy

Annie — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:45:32 +0000

747 transformed – Apartment Therapy
A little something on Frank Gehry – 2modern
Reception and bar in one – Contemporist
Divide in style – Design Milk
Minimal table – Yanko Design

Thurston Wine House

Annie — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:20:03 +0000

The Thurston Wine House, designed by Eddie Jones of Jones Studio Inc, is located in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Recognized for excellence in masonry, the 883 sq. ft. structure features a winding staircase of terracotta bricks to an open bottle room below for more intimate parties. The project takes advantage of the beautiful views of the northeast valley and the McDowell Mountain views by minimizing the external impacts of the structure on its roof terrace, providing the perfect setting for wine tasting experience. The design was awarded the 2009 Arizona Masonry Guild – Excellence in Masonry – Merit Award.
“One of life’s greatest opportunities is the chance to find something you can be passionate about. If one is lucky, the ability to share that passion with others generates even greater enjoyment. Being given the opportunity to design a space exclusively around the unconventional experience of ‘a passion’ – versus the conventional idea of a ‘wine house’ – is an exceptional task. Designing a space which exists only to enhance this experience requires a designer to surrender any alternative agenda to the passion itself, for any other solution only undermines the outcome.”

image from www.taubephotography.com

The Coral Lamp

Annie — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:00:20 +0000

The Coral lamp by industrial designer Marko Vuckovic adds an aquatic theme to any environment. The sustainable glass fixture is set on solar panel, and harnesses solar energy from the sun to power itself. This innovative lighting is inspired through endangered coral species and adds a dynamic statement to any room.

image from markovuckovic.com