One month till… cough, cough, gurgling noise in the back of the throat… Christmas. There I said it. Christmas. Christmas! CHRISTMAS! That’s me screaming. Why does the year slide past for quickly? Why does it feel like I packed away last year’s Christmas decorations only yesterday? Perhaps because there are still a couple of snow-dusted bottle brush trees sitting on the top shelf where I can’t reach them without some effort and no one has noticed and I convinced myself months ago that they go with the decor. No hiding from the encroaching holiday season now. Oh no! The monthly email from Inside Out magazine’s Managing Editor Lee Tran Lam has dropped into my inbox and (insert Bing Crosby crooning) “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”.

I’ve got for you the cover story, which is about the Christmas-friendly home of cook and food stylist Mish Lilley. She’s already got a head start on creating holiday-worthy dishes, given her recipe-savvy background (we feature some of her festive feast suggestions in the mag). But the fact she has a pretty amazing kitchen doesn’t hurt – she is definitely in no danger of running out of bench space (check out that lavish marble island she has to prep from!). How great is this bright strip of storage mounted along her ceiling-high mirrored splashback, too? It’s definitely the kind of dream kitchen you could imagine on a TV cooking show. Also, the rest of her home is pretty appealing, too – from the ensuite’s black clawfoot bath with that postcard-perfect view of the cactus springing from her garden to the pegboard-like fun of her children’s bedroom. I hope you enjoy seeing all these great corners of her home. Styling by Heather Nette King. Food styling by Mish Lilley. Photography by Mark Roper.

Can’t wait to flick through the pages of the December issue out tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get my Christmas mojo on. Don’t fret if you aren’t in Australia though. You can read along on  Zinio, Google Play, the Apple Newsstand and Nook.