Last year I featured the pattern-a-licious Guatemalan home of designer Rodman Primack. It seems he has since packed up and moved to Mexico City where his new home is awash with colour and patterns and some groovy mid-century furnishings. So much fun!!! (Photos: Stephen Johnson)

I want to give this post-war townhome in London a great big hug. It is so serene and thoughtfully designed, which only makes sense as it is home to interior designer Sheena Murphy, founder of London-and-New-York-based studio Nune. Her signature style is calming, minimal, modern and bright. I prefer a bit of contrast in my interiors but this is too pretty to argue. Photos: Renée Kemp.

Be still my heart. This 15th century manor home in the countryside of Normandy, called La Carlière, is home to British fashion designer Peter Copping and his French husband Rambert Rigaud. The 6 year renovation of this spectacular home transformed it into a liveable, comfortable home that is an absolute dream. (Photos: Alexis Armanet for Architectural Digest France and Billal Taright for the Financial Times)

A gut renovation and exterior restoration of a landmark Brooklyn brownstone in the historic Clinton Hill neighborhood. Abandoned to decay for twenty years, the building boasted generous ceiling heights and a faded but undeniable grandeur that is uncommon for a brownstone of its size. The design of the house balances stabilizing the building and recapturing its original details with efforts to create a new home in an adventurous, innovative manner, producing an appealing aesthetic tension between the historic elements and the sleeker additions. Color is an important component of the design, and it is treated in a three-dimensional, spatial manner. Across the redesign, a rigorously uniform yet distinct palette washes over each room, retaining the boldness and vibrancy of the original hues, while rendering the spaces more modern, cohesive, and calm. The large rear garden was also reworked, in collaboration with Brook Landscape. Love this whimsical renovation!!! Designed by MKCA. (Photos: Alan Tansey)

(it was looking a little rough before the renos began)

I have always had a love for dark and dramatic interiors and find that the bright/warm/neutral trend seems to overwhelmingly be the norm these days. So hats off to Brianne Bishop Design for this modern, moody, grey, dramatic design for a new build in Bucktown, Chicago. Edgy and fabulous.