Chateau d'Or, a dream nightmare come true.

For those of you who are looking for a new home I just found an estate that is available.  Chateau d'Or is a huge mansion located in Bel Air, California, right next to Sunset Boulevard. With that cosy retreat you'll definitely turn to the "Prince of Bel Air" and for 39,995.000 USD it is quite a steal. I mean, look at the photos, you get quite a lot for your money! Well, jokes aside now, if I would have the money, I would consider buying the place and burning it down. ;) Despite its recent fame from beeing the location for Lady Gaga's Paparazzi video. So, enjoy the photos. You're not gonna see things like that very often on my Blog!

Finally for those who haven't seen or don't remember Lady Gaga's Paparazzi video:

Dinner, an arrangement part one.

Once in a while I love to invite guests over for dinner. But as I'm a bit of a perfectionist that requires some serious changes to my apartment. Since it is lacking an actual dining room there is the need to improvise on the layout of my living room. Depending on my mood and the number of guests I figured out two possible changes to the arrangment of the furniture. The first one, that I'm gonna show on the pictures below, is based on a cosy atmosphere that allows to just add a dining table in the left corner of the room. The chairs are usually spread around the whole apartment and are gathered around a classic round dining table with a long white tablecloth. The sofa arrangment is just moved towards the entrance hall but is fully useable and mainly used to drink an aperitif there and also enjoy a casual desert and coffee after the dinner. Of course it also means that every little piece of furniture like sidetables or so and of course all the lamps have to be moved to different places to provide for the perfect atmosphere. To help you figure out the changes the first photo posted below is the usual layout of the room. Enjoy ;)

Arsenal, and it was light.

Since the entrance hall is the first room you see entering the apartment it is quite important. A lot of people tend to not care too much, since you mainly walk through, but never spend a lot of time there. Although a first impression walking into an apartment is almost as important as the one you get meeting new people. And in my opinion it should reflect the owners personality.  In that particular case the owner of the apartment is, as mentioned before, an American photographer based in Vienna. Naturally she isn't only interested in Photography, but collects all kinds of Art. To showcase parts of her collection in the entrance hall I chose to really focus on the pictures and photos. And what better way to direct the attention to the art as with great lighting. Some focused spots will light up the pictures on the walls while a vintage lamp highlights the center table that will show parts of the African collection the photographer brought home from one of her many travels.

Arsenal, as time goes by.

Months have past since my last post, but work at the apartment at Arsenal has of course developed a lot. Let's start with the entrance hall, for which I promised a surprise treat for the floor. To remember you how it looked like before here's a photo.

After we ripped out the cupboards that lined the hall it looked quite messy. But after a new white coat of paint for the vaulted ceiling and after painting limegreen sectors that are inspired by classical wall treatments it was time for the biggest change. Since the two main rooms still have great original Viennese parquet flooring this very used wooden board floor stood out. But not in a positive way. So we got some English floor paint and just painted the floor boards in a very dark chocolate brown. The result was just amazing. The wooden structure is still visible, but the new colour gave the room a totally elegant feel, that is brightend up by the fresh limegreen of the walls. But see for yourself.