Mix me a martini while I kick off my kitten heels. Bossa nova on the turntable and Bitossi on the shelves. Fabulous for more than 50 years this midcentury dame just needs her make up tidied up, her do back teased and she’ll be a smoldering all over again. The North Caulfield, Melbourne house I mean. Not me. Sold hopefully to someone who loves the house not just a developer who wants the block. Link here while it lasts.

I don’t want to work today. I want to be here. Chiswick, co-owned and operated by Matt Moran and Peter Sullivan and designed by Humphrey + Edwards. Perhaps lunch. One of those long, slightly disgraceful lunches that extends into dinner and rolls a little tipsy into a taxi. Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a work day. Join me?

The morning draws on. The muffled thrum of a neighbour’s lawn mower provides the base note to the batting rhythm of a moth against the large window. There is someone somewhere in the house. A staccato of heels, the shudder of an old water pipe. A waft of coffee brewing. It cuts across the scent of gladioli. It is peaceful here. Beautiful. So beautiful. Time hangs still between the slow tock of an old clock. “Do you like my old house?” I turn with a smile and answer her. “Yes. Oh yes, very much.”

A lovely home via jj Locations.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot.   Photos – Mikkel Vang.  Published by Murdoch Books.

Day after day Kim and I bring you inspirational and aspirational homes. At times I wonder if we are peddling an unsustainable dream. The vast majority of us will not live in a large house, on a large block of land with interiors outfitted with a large amount of money. High end is not the real end for most of us. And there is nothing wrong with that. Most o f us will live in apartments. We will share bedrooms and facilities. We will not  have $450 a drop wallpaper or even brand new furniture. But we will all strive to create family homes that are beautiful and sustainable and real. In fact it is liberating to know that throwing money at a house isn’t necessarily the way to go or grow.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

Amanda Talbot is an internationally renowned authority on interiors, style and design. She has worked for some of the biggest decor magazines and design firms on the planet. Think British ELLE Decoration and Livingetc to IKEA and WGSN. She’s a trend forecaster and the author of Rethink: The way you live. Published by Murdock Books in 2012, and know in its second reprint, the book explores and celebrates the way people are starting to live, to redesign and redefine what they need to live well (and well informed). Homes are were we live and create, where we struggle and strive, where we love  and where we celebrate. Ritual, dreams and design. But Rethink: The way you live isn’t a dry and crusty manifesto. Amanda travelled with Copenhagen based photographer Mikkel Vang to Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, London, New York, Japan, and Australia to document global design trends within our homes and our communities. What resulted is a book of inspiring ideas and gorgeous images. A little subversive don’t you think? Beauty and brains and bucket loads of reality. Having already struck a cord with readers in the UK and Australia, Amanda’s view needs to be read by a wider audience. It’s inspiring. So if you can’t find it in your bookstore there is always Amazon 😉

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

Rethink: the way you live by Amanda Talbot. Photos – Mikkel Vang. Published by Murdoch Books.

P.S. The amazing book design is by Kate Dennis of This is Ikon and you can see more on Bettina Winkler‘s site.

Two cool, or should that be too cool, spaces by Brazilian firm Suite Arquitetos. A stylin’ little apartment with a clever movable TV and a patio area with an amazing lighting system. The jury is still out on the astroturf 🙂