Deisgner Liz MacPhail embraced history and cherished family heirlooms in this redesign of a 1920s home in Austin. With the addition of some elements of colour and lots of pretty patterns, this home is welcoming, timeless and an absolute delight to the eye. Architect: Rick + Cindy Black; Photos: Stephen Karlisch and Leonid Furmansky

Designer Elena Gorenshtein has a very obvious love of plants/the outdoors and decided to bring the outdoors into her apartment in Moscow by combining 2 apartments into one and created skylights? lightboxes? in the dark centre of the space to allow for a “winter garden”. I would lay in that bathtub, turn on one of those bird videos I play for my cats, and pretend I was bathing in a forest. (Photos: Sergey Krasyuk) *I”m turning off comments because I will not have someone suggest that by me posting this that I think what is happening in the Ukraine is ok. This is simply a blog about interiors.

Originally built in the 1950’s as a two room gentleman’s hunting cabin, this house had been added to over the decades. Our clients decided they wanted to renovate and more significantly expand its footprint to suit their young family’s needs. Self-professed home bodies who love to cook and entertain, they wanted the house to have many cozy nooks where they and their daughters could curl up with a book. Fearless in their pursuit of a colorful, layered home, their love of pattern and saturated hues drove the whimsical story from room to room.
This 8000 sq ft, 22 room home filled with no less than 77 patterns could not be more family-friendly and cozy to the max. There is at least 18 spots where I too would want to curl up with a book, a cat and a coffee. Designed by McGrath II. (Photos: Joshua McHugh)

Blue might be one of my least favourite colours but this home designed by Laura Stephens has several pretty shades that I could get behind. Especially that Oval Room Blue library/living room, and with accents of red against it it’s even more special. Though could be because I’m so smitten with those beautiful built-in bookcases. (Photos: Chris Snook)

How do you take a historic 1870’s home and create an addition and gut remodel, yet have everything look as if it has always been there?
Inspiration: The romance of New Orleans courtyards, 1870’s victorian architecture, a healthy dose of color, and a splash of modernity come together to create a family home that’s steeped in history yet totally fresh.
I am sooooo in awe of the unparalleled and glamorous approach Summer Thornton took to her historic home. That peach/pink library is soooooooo gorgeous I am going to go out on a limb and say it’s one of my all-time favourite rooms. Photos: Melanie Acevedo and Werner Straube