An architect’s own home. So the real estate blurb goes. Which architect is left unsaid. (A little searching reveals that the design is by Neil Architecture but whose house is it? Does it matter? Am I really becoming obsessed by my stalking? Step away from the Google search Jo.) Four bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a two car stacker and right in the centre of Melbourne in Richmond. Link here while it lasts.

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Light filled alterations and addition to an old house in Annandale, Sydney. As is so often the case in the older suburbs of Sydney, houses sit cheek by jowl on zero boundary lines or are part of a terrace. No chance of light penetrating from sides shared with neighbours. So how to draw light into otherwise narrow, dark spaces? Welcome to the Light Cannon House by Carter Williamson Architects. Light is funnelled into the white, almost industrial interiors by means of sculptural roof towers and a central courtyard.

Photos by Katherine Lu.

A modern take on tradition. Antonio Martins‘ master bedroom for the 2014 San Francisco Decorator Showcase pays homage to his Portuguese heritage but this is no dusty old museum piece. Hand painted, oversized blue and white tiles jumble across the walls while the show stopper is an 18th century rosewood bed. Showcase rooms are always over the top. They push the limit, shock or overwhelm. They are part art installation, part interior design on steroids but they are also great sources of inspiration. The crisp blue and white, the play of oversize images cut and pasted. Did you notice the old letters in the acrylic boxes? The play of the jungle of green against the blue?

I’m always excited when I see an email from Inside Out magazine’s managing editor Lee Tran Lam. It means that the latest issue is about to hit the stands and that we are getting a sneak peek at one of the homes within the cover. And what a home! Be still my heart. Here’s what Lee Tran had to say.

Over the years a jumble of 19th century barns were moved and remodeled, added to and almost disappeared beneath new work. Owners came and went until the current occupants engaged architectural firm Christoff : Finio to add their layer to the buildings. That’s what so many old buildings are… layers. Layers of new work and old, layers of materials, layers of lives and layers of meanings. Creating a new home from this jumble of layers doesn’t always mean stripping back to basics. Sometimes it just means rationalising, reworking, rearranging and revealing to reveal the beauty.