*Designer Review* -abode- Sephia Lake House

Aya Liotta is reopening her prefab home store, -abode-, and that happens today! She sent me a copy of her newest release, the Sephia Lake House, and so, dear readers, I share that with you. I’m a giver.

The house is a nice medium size, with great rustic textures, and very nice details in the windows and trim work. I really like how Aya has mixed brick wall sections in with wallpaper and panelling – it’s subtle but goes a long way to keeping that rustic feel. Just inside the front door is a large living area, partially divided into two rooms – the room with the fireplace and picture window would make a great dining room! To the left of this main area is the hall to the bedrooms – it’s a very nice wide hall, with a great window, so it’s definitely another area just ripe for decorating. 😉 Never neglect your hallways!

Before we move to the bedrooms (oh my!), I want to show you a close-up of the fire place. I love a large brick fireplace, just in general – what I really like about this one is the texturing on the back interior wall. The little flourish pattern is a great touch!

The house includes 2 bedrooms, both a nice size with great wall textures and beautiful windows for lots of sunlight. The first bedroom opens onto the back deck, as well.

Be sure to swing by -abode- today – I’m not sure what time the grand opening kicks off, but I know it’s today, and I know that Aya plans to offer the Sephia Lake House at a discounted price for the first 48 hours! Going forward, as well, she plans to offer each new release at a discount for the first 48 hours…which means you need to be sure to join her subscriber group so you always know when the new stuff is coming out!

-abode- [SLurl]

*Designer Reviews* Ambiance Furniture and O-Magine HomeWorks

Two quickies today!

Desiree Bisiani of Ambiance Furniture recently released the Athena Living Room, and it is gorgeous! Chock full of options and details, it’s perfect for a larger space, and it’s texture-changeable! Click any of the tables, the hutch, or the bookcase and you’ll get a menu option for 4 different color schemes; I used several for my pictures so you can see a sampling. The upholstered pieces are yummy, too – very plush texturing – and also packed with animations: singles, friends, and couples. I’m very proud to say that several of my furniture animations (available at Pulling Strings) are also included in the set, which makes it just that much cooler. 😉 Be sure to get over to Ambiance to see it for yourself!

From O-Magine HomeWorks, Omaire Abattoir sent me a review copy of the Astoria, a modern Mediterranean villa. From the outside, this looks like quite a large house – the inside, though, still feels cozy, not cavernous. I like that alot — there’s plenty of space, but not TOO much space that you’ll never be able to fill it up! The first floor has a nice, open gallery feel – great for little vignettes like a sideboard and chair, a bookshelf, large floor plants…lots of great ways to use a space like this, especially with the little nooks and rooms off the main hall. The back of the first floor is open to the back deck, as well, which is great to catch those ocean breezes. I love the tiled floor Omaire used in the gallery – and the wall textures are very nice, a sort of linen wallpaper feel to them, which is one of my favorites in RL, too. Upstairs is a very nice open foyer with an L-shaped bedroom off to the side, just the right size for a large bed and a cozy sitting area. I adore the little wall lamps that are included throughout the house, too. Very nice touch!

O-Magine HomeWorks

*Second Spaces* 9 more places!

Following up on my previous Top 12 series, I’m happy to welcome you to the “9 More Places Everyone Should Know About in SL, Especially If You Own a House or Land, and You Like Cool Stuff” series…henceforth known as “9 More Places!”.

This is not a stack ranking or countdown of best places – these are places that I have found over the years that I really enjoy, LMs that I pass out when folks are looking for decorating goodness, and places that everyone should check out at least once, as decided by me. Ready? Ok!

Ingrid Ingersoll’s Homestore

Let me start by saying that I consider it a huge shame that I have never blogged Ingrid before. It was not an intentional oversight by any means — Ingrid Ingersoll is one of the designers I found very early on when I began to really dig into SL design, and one who fanned the flames (oh my) of my passion for SL furniture, architecture, and decor. I’m going to share just a few of my favorites with you, and then I want you to go check Homestore out yourself! I can’t do all the work for you!

*Designer Spotlight* The Loft

I attended the opening of The Loft’s new sim last night – and I was like a giddy schoolgirl in the hours leading up to it. 🙂 As I expected, it was beautiful. The shop is centered around a gorgeous courtyard; there’s a lot of empty space right now, but I’m sure that will be filled up soon enough. Check out the shadows from the trees – I love that!

The party was nice – The Loft folks had set up one of the empty spaces with a dance floor, tables, and a stage for the live performers. Phemie Alcott started the night with an impressive acoustic set – she did a soft acoustic cover of Umbrella by Rihanna which was just beautiful. Next up to the mic was Kafka Dinzeo who took us through a pounding set of live rap mixes, including one he made just for The Loft which was really fun. It was great to finally meet Colleen Desmoulins and Bethany Heart in person; Kingston Augustus, the third designer, was not in attendance.

I did wander around, of course, but I didn’t take a ton of pictures because I want you to go there and see it for yourself. Yes, you, dear reader! There were two new sets displayed that looked awesome:

AND there were pre-fabs, which is what I was most excited about. There are three displayed on the perimeter of the sim, and they’re all fantastic. My parting words, as I said my goodbyes and gave my thanks for the invite, were “Colleen, I’m going to marry all three of your prefabs.” I am. Seriously. You have to go see them — the details and the depth we know from The Loft’s furniture is all over these houses. The little details, the awesome textures – gorgeous. Here are exterior shots, just as a tease! From left to right, the Pusa Hilton, the Hattan Skybox, and The Bago:

I also loved that The Loft crew used the lighted tree from Heart Garden Centre as decoration in the party room. It IS the best tree ever!

Get over to the new sim to check it out, here. Go buy yourself one of those lighted trees at Heart Garden Centre, too, while you’re hopping around the grid. 🙂