“… a series of elegant, open plan and light filled spaces conceived as a series of nooks from the scale of a room down to the home for a favourite bowl.”

I love the kitchen in this extension of a Victorian-era terrace house. MDF, cast concrete, cement tiles, stainless steel and birch faced plywood create a modern, practical and stylsih kitchen. Best part? That bench seat and window looking out to the garden. Nook House by London-based Mustard Architects.

There is a little slice of paradise in the rolling hills behind the northern New South Wales coastal resort of Byron Bay. Lush green land with stunning views often with old farm houses poised on top of a ridge. Where once dairy cattle grazed or avocado trees groaned under bumper crops now cashed up tree changers create little kingdoms. As much as I love a good old Queenslander-style house restoration (this one was moved here) it’s the gardens that I’m concentrating on today. A simple, classic layout with emphasis on the house and that view. Such green goodness in Federal by Secret Gardens.

Still stalking. I promise I won’t be tomorrow. Melbourne suburb of Richmond, a restored single front cottage with historic facade and modern extension out the back. A mullet as I like to call it. Business up the front and party down the back. Just what we Aussies love. No backyard as such but you’re so close to the city it’s not a bad trade off. Link here while it lasts.

OK I’ll fess up. I’m still stalking for homes that I love but don’t need to buy and couldn’t afford anyway. I’m smitten by this house. It’s in my favourite Melbourne suburb, Fitzroy. It’s an Italianate-style building from the Victorian era and you can never have enough historic arches and columns on your facade in my opinion. Add to that an instant group of party friends who descend in the evening to indulge in cheese and nibbles while looking covetously at your fabulous home and who seem to be included in the sale. (Check out the video if you don’t believe me.) What more could you want? Perhaps a bigger rug in the living room but I’ll forgive that because, well, that TV room. Hello! Link here while it lasts.

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I’m not sure this would work in my part of the world, especially in summer but now that I’ve seen it, I really, really want to live in a greenhouse. By Philadelphia-based Groundswell Design Group.