The temperature has risen here about 30°C and I am dreaming of all the things I would love to do in my yard once the piles of snow melt away. My husband has made an absolute mess of the front yard by parking his work pick-up plow truck right on the front lawn so I am preparing myself to die of embarrassment when the snow is gone and we are left with a mud pile (not helping at all that we live on a very busy road). As soon as I get this post completed I am stashing a bunch of these photos away for reference. These gardens, walkways, backyards and rooftop patios by landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz (located in Charlottesville Virginia and New York City) are soooooo beautiful. The outdoor space above is magical – I love grasses and very “feathery” plants that look like cotton candy.  

Today’s daydream involves a cool drink by the pool then a saunter through the stylish rooms of this house in the south by Madrid-based design firm Melián Randolph. Mediterranean chic.

Good design doesn’t need to be pretentious nor bankrupt you. These spaces by California designer Christie Hausmann are about durability and practical living, and she loves hunting for treasures at flea markets and thrift shops. Which means you can afford this. And you can put your feet up on the coffee table and no one will yell at you.

Living off the grid has never been so fabulous… except this isn’t the main house. It’s the guest/pool house to Wolveridge Architects award-winning Hill Plains House in country Victoria. (You can see our previous feature here.) Stylish sustainability in the middle of a wide brown land with a natural, chemical free pool by Natural Swimming Pools. If I was a guest I’d never leave.

Photography by Derek Swalwell

Stalking a warehouse down a private lane in Sydney’s Waterloo. Industrial and a touch of Mediterranean. Check out the copper in the kitchen. Link here while it lasts.