I found a world of treasures yesterday … view more on my Charm of Reading tumblr site.

It’s always been a fascination of mine, shop fronts. Today I wandered around the downtown area of Hamburg, Pennsylvania looking at store fronts for a dream of mine. Here you’ll see many of the ones I would consider for a business. Thanks to Ellie at Mint for the inspiring post yesterday.

#1 – This building would be my number one pick, mostly because of it’s size and it’s potential. Named after it’s owners Jacob & Anna, the Balthaser building would be perfect for a collective of creatives.

#2 – Next would be this lovely building on Fourth Street which is in a much more active area and has a beautiful facade, don’t you think?

#3 – This one I love strictly for it’s windows. My husband tells me it was a bakery not too long ago and I think it would be a great space but it’s much further away from the most active parts of the town. I’m not sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. But boy do I love those circular windows. Ooh! Oh, and I forgot – although you can barely see the garage doors to the left, it would be great to be able to let those open on fair weather days to let wanderers enter or maybe even for an exhibition space.

#4- This building is right in the middle of the action, next to a completely restored Strand theater and has the space and window front but it’s just not as appealing to me as the others.

#5 – And lastly, this building is closer to the entrance of the town, has the size and window fronts – but again – is not appealing to me as the others.

Some additional pictures from around town, some are close-ups of the buildings that I long for. As you can see this town has lots of potential, it’s just 15 minutes from Allentown, 2 hours from New York, 1-1/2 hours from New Jersey and 1-1/2 hours from Philadelphia.

Today I just received my first issue of Dwell after re-subscribing. and one story (among many) that caught my eye was a story about two childhood friends who grew up in the Philadelphia area and moved to D.C. to open up a deli. They are not designers, but they have designer’s eyes. Together they created Taylor Gourmet Deli, a hoagie shop featuring an industrial style with chain link fencing, skid pallets, exposed brick, and a roll-up aluminum garage door with many more reusable materials that makes for an amazing space. And that’s not all, above the deli is their living spaces that are just as impressive.

Casey Patten and David Mazza are the creators of this wonderful space and they use authentic Philadelphia breads on their hoagies which are named after streets in – you guessed it – Philadelphia! You can view the slideshow of images and the story over on dwell.com. I love hearing about success stories of those from Pennslvania who follow their passion to create something amazing! I will be making a trip to D.C. so that I can visit this location in person, I will take the 9th Street Italian please.

What is it with Amsterdam ad the environmentally-conscious agencies? I’m not sure but I’m loving the interiors that are being created due to it. In the theme of Amsterdam and sustainability, as in today’s earlier post here’s another one. i29 has created a new work space for the agency Gummo by repurposing secondhand furniture. They painted everything black using polyurea hotspray (a paint that is environmentally friendly), the result? A gorgeous space that reduces their footprint on the world. A little move can make a big difference, am I doing my part? How about you, are you doing yours?

Thanks to Form Fifty Five.

Nothing is made mostly of cardboard. What is Nothing? It’s a newly formed cretaive agency in Amsterdam that had their studio structure made from cardboard. The space was created by the designers Alrik Koudenburg and Joost van Bleiswijk who created walls, signage, beams, tables, shelving and even a set of stairs out of cardboard.

Right now the structures are fairly plain except for the illustration work of Fiodor Sumkin. This was encouraged by the folks at Nothing as they want the space to be interactive, and after it’s all filled they can easily and inexpensively replace if needed.

The architects of Iconstrux Architecture have taken on the Vancouver Special, a style of home produced quickly and inexpensively from 1965-1985 and have transformed it into a beautiful new home. Using the existing framework of the previous home they took this challenge head-on and made an amazing transformation. I would love to live in a home as wonderful as this. It has great structure, many windows for great natural lighting, open spaces on the inside and an overall simplicity that is ever-so appealing.

View the post about the transformation and the before photos on contemporist.com

3 East 94 is a historic townhouse that has been renovated into 11,700 square feet of a detailed transformation from townhouse to private home.

Just steps away from Central Park, museums and high-end boutiques, the home is located in the Upper East Side of Manahattan giving the best of both worlds. Refined excitement and a private oasis.

This magnificent home features a 6-story sky lit staircase, a 50-ft. indoor pool with solarium, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, 7 (yes, seven) fireplaces, wine bottle cellar with room for 1,000 bottles, and it’s own elevator.

I love those Arne Jacobsen egg chairs above, I still wonder if they are as comfortable as they look. Anyone have one?

One day we could all be living on lily-pad like compounds. With the deteriorating of the planet, Vincent Callebaut Architecture has designed a self-sufficient floating ecopolis immune to rising water from the melting of icecaps in the polar regions. The Lilypads can house 50,000 people as well as plants and animals and they even have mountains, schools and multiplexes.

The Lilypads are designed to be made of titanium oxide that will absorb atmospheric pollution and the compunds will be carbon-neutral and entirely recyclable. “It is a true amphibian half aquatic and half terrestrial city, able to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants and inviting the biodiversity to develop its fauna and flora around a central lagoon of soft water collecting and purifying the rain waters.”

Their website is not up to the quality of their concepts, but take a look anyway. It’s an interesting idea.

Ace Hotel is coming to New York. They currently have locations in Seattle, Palm Springs and Portland but I am most interested in the soon-to-open Ace Hotel in New York since it’s the first on the East Coast and it’s only 2-3 hours away.

Unfortunately, the images are scarce on some of the rooms but there’s still time before it opens. Much of the site has ‘Coming Soon’ messages but from what I see it looks promising!

Room rates range from $189/per night in the Bunk Bed/Cheap rooms all the way up to $779/per night for The Loft. I would prefer the $239/per night Standard King which has a custom made king-sized bed, a private bathroom, and vintage furniture. They also pack the room with high-speed wireless internets, a fully stocked mini bar and some include a SMEG refrigerator.

Cheap

This leaf shaped home outside of Rio de Janeiro is a fantasy created by Mareines + Patalano. The open air home is intended to create interaction and connection with man and nature. It’s located on a small beach with beautiful blue water, view the breathtaking photos below.