Hooray! Est Magazine Issue #7 – The Grand Tour Issue – is out today. Love Est. I think it has to be my favourite online magazine and not just because it is Australian. The Grand Tour Issue is a visual escape to far off isles and destinations. From a cliff top villa on Capri, to an idyllic sanctuary in Mallorca and an eclectic townhouse in Bordeaux – Est will have you conjuring up dreams of far flung places and lifestyles.

Lynda Evans, Creative Director, emailed to let us know that Est is moving to a new home.

“On Friday 16 we officially launched our new look website giving readers more access to inspiration, images and features to save, pin and share. Only Est subscribers will still be able to view all 7 issues in our archive – and the best part is its still free to subscribe! As the year comes to an end its time to start dreaming of far flung destinations (if only in our head) to regenerate for another busy year ahead – come join us.”

Photography by Julien Fernandez, Tara Pearce, Mindi Cooke and Robyn Lea.

Resting gently on the sand dune just up from a pristine beach on New Zealand’s Coromandel beach is a hut, a simple yet not so simple beach hut. Only 40 square metres it makes the most of every bit of space to provide a beach side getaway for a family of five. It can be closed to the elements yet with the turn of a wheel and the push of glass walls it opens to the view. Oh the view! Worth it don’t you think. What makes this little self contained hut even more special is that it sits on two sleds that, with a little effort from a sturdy tractor, can make repositioning the home in response to the ever changing beachfront easy. It sits lightly upon the land this simple, clever hut. Beach side living stripped back to its elegant basics. It was time to go back and explore the portolio of  Auckland based Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects again. So glad I did.

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don’t know what to do? You’re not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you …. that’s you lot… the readers! This week’s email is from Dmitriy who is really keen to help – 2 incarnations of the space, a plan and some 3D sketch ups.

Hi, I am hoping that the Design Crew can help us with our living room. The main wall is at an angle, so the left side of the room is shorter than the right side. Ideally, we would like to create two distinct areas, a sitting area and a dining area, but we are unsure how to do this without breaking the flow of the room. We are not sure what to do with the fireplace, because the way it is positioned, in the middle, seems to really restrict our options. Right now we have two couches and a coffee table on the right side of the room, and we have a console table and a piano on the left side of the room. We have a TV above the fireplace, but this placement does not work very well, because having to look up to watch it is uncomfortable. We have a small dining table in the kitchen, but would really like to have a dining area in the living room. We are hoping the Design Crew can give some suggestions.

Although we like the couches we have, we are open to replacing them if their size and shape are not optimal for our room. Same goes for the console and coffee tables and the area rugs. The only piece we would really like to keep in the room is the piano.

Plan and 3D sketch ups after the jump.

Will you indulge me with one more house by Bates Masi Architects? Just one, although there are so many in their portfolio to inspire. A smallish home that sits block like on the site but which allows the architects to play with space and voids, bight and dark, in and out. An actor’s house.

“The house became a study in architectural theatre: a series of spaces in a carefully scripted sequence that subtly reflect his professional life.”

Atmospheric. Stylish with that certain something. Oh so French. Interior stylist and trend forecaster Laurence Pasquier has “it”. The eye. The panache. The knowledge. The vision. Her work is like an installation, full of colour and drama.