Inside Out‘s Summer Entertaining issue has hit the news stands and managing editor Lee Tran Lam has once again sent Desire to Inspire big juicy photos of one of the features. “A weekend with Nikki Gemmell” not only takes us into the celebrated author’s home on the NSW coast but follows Nikki as she hits some of her favourite Sydney haunts. I spy Kitchen by Mike and Doug up on Bourke. Nikki’s home is fun and fresh with wonderful vintage finds. Love the mismatched chairs and the bedroom wall collage.

Nikki Gemmell has written five novels, Shiver, Cleave (or Alice Springs in the U.S.), Lovesong, The Book of Rapture, The Bride Stripped Bare and its follow-up, With My Body. “Every time a new book comes out, I celebrate by buying a piece of furniture,” she says. So that armchair is from Liberty, an Art Deco reading chair with “a little table built into it for a left-handed person – it’s my perfect chair”.

The stylist on the story was Jason Grant and Felix Forest the photographer. I snapped up a copy of the magazine today and it’s great. Full of summer decorating colour and brilliant seasonal entertaining ideas.

Don’t forget if you live outside Australia you don’t have to miss out on one of the best interiors magazines around. You can subscribe through Zinio.

STUFF is a monograph presenting and detailing M(Group)’s interiors and architecture. 

Sound a little “stuffy”? How about this…. STUFF, a clever interactive book exploring the inspiration behind the richly layered design work by Carey Maloney and his team at M(Group). The book takes readers through 40 wide ranging “topics” from designers like Eugene Printz and Billy Haines, to Greek marbles and Maoist art and more.  A free Digimarc Discover app means you can point your smart phone or tablet at any topics page and disappear down the rabbit hole of design discovery. But you’ll have to wait just a little longer. STUFF is due for release in December. In the meantime explore the STUFF website for just a little taste of what awaits.

I always find myself drawn to art deco apartments when I am scrolling through real estate listings. I love a building with good bones, architectural features kept intact, joyfully brought into the present but not hacked apart and modernised until there is no personality left. I love  the streamlined features of art deco homes mixed modern furniture. I love this groundfloor two bedder. Sunny and new with history and style. Need an apartmenbt in Bondi? For sale here while the link lasts.

Interior stylist Pippa Jameson breathes life into concepts and ideas. She takes what is nebulous and embryonic, researches and creates, hires and coordinates, schemes and styles and just when her sets or rooms are almost perfect I’m sure she sprinkles fairy dust for good measure. Just kidding about the fairy dust. It’s all just amazing talent and hard work. Clean, fresh and relaxed. A little vintage, a lot of colour anchored with white.

Just outside Arraiolos in Portugal sits a contemporary building that rises from its grassy base like a minimalist monolith. Inside the high white walls is a welcoming patio and within a wonderful small hotel filled with 50s furniture with a Parisian twist. Want to run away and play in Portugal with me? Fine food, fine hosts, fine house. Very cool in more ways than one. Villa Extramuros.