I need to be here please… with a cup of tea and soft music wafting in from another room. There needs to be a light breeze softly blowing through that lovely old blue door and a cat curling round my legs would be welcome too. My computer has blown up and I haven’t backed up since May. I’m madly scrabbling to upload and download and survive on a laptop that is so dusty it’s embarrassing. At least I know that any room by Sydney interior designer Karen Akers will calm me, uplift me. This is in the kitchen at The Abbey and you can see more of the project here. (Photography by Thomas Dalhoff.)

On the outskirts of the town of Marble Hall in South Africa, bordered by natural bush, this modern family home references the raw, simple beauty of traditional South African farm architecture. With its solid stone and concrete walls, the house turns its back on the public providing protection for the private areas within. Still with all its solidity and mass the spaces within are surprising light and open. House Kleynhans by Pretoria-based Thomas Gouws Architects.

I couldn’t make up my mind which house by Houston-based interior designer Marie Flanigan to share with you so I chose my favourite rooms from several. Rooms that are timeless and elegantly simple. You can find more inspiration on her website.

It’s Wednesday, the middle of the working week and there is no chance of escaping the everyday drudgery. No chance of running away to the fun and sun of Ibiza… unless you count a little virtual getaway. Nothing too large, nothing overdone. Just a simple casita, an old stables now converted to a contemporary getaway by Dutch architects Standard Studio for Ibiza Interiors.

Photography by Youri Claesens

Yes my love affair continues. Just one more apartment by Emma Donnersberg Interiors. Oh so chic, so elegant with a wonderful collection of global artifacts including three Tiwi Island burial poles. Such an amazing collection my eyes can’t settle. They are flitting from treasure to teasure.