An open plan 250 sq m apartment in Barcelona. Overhead lighting defines the spaces with a central, cave like core for bathing. Each space is a vessel with its own identity from sleeping through to bathing, the library, the kitchen and the living area. The rough shell of concrete and brick from the original building envelops the new slick finishes, traditional bones cradling contemporary inserts. The Vessels Apartment by TC-Interiors.

Rising like a dark tower through the dense vegetation is a modest one bedroom house. Changes of level and expanses of glass provide views that slice through the tree canopy while the house seems to tumble down the steep slope. Black cladding helps the structure disappear into the forest. A wonderful getaway, an adult’s cubby house. The Blackpool House at Waiheke, New Zealand by Glamuzina Paterson Architects.

“Hi! Come on through. I’m out here on the porch.” That would be my usual greeting to callers if I owned this Upstate New York home by CWB Architects. I might just never move. A place to daydream and drift off, a place to relax, to listen to the gurgle of the stream that runs by. I think the one thing I love more than that porch is the property’s name… Bug Acres of Woodstock. Now you know the reason for the porch.

Run away! Run Away! It’s Monday. Let’s keep the weekend going with a virtual getaway to the Hospedería Convento de La Parra in the Extremadura region of Spain. We could call it a retreat. It is a 17th century convent after all.

“Sorry. You are not going to find a television set here, not even a radio tuner. Only spaces for reading, a table for playing board games, corridors for reflection, cloisters that will bring back to you the smell of orange blossom, lime, wood, rest, peace, water and sun.”

Aaaahhh! A heavenly cure for Mondayitis.

Older apartments have a lot going for them. They are often bigger and, dare I say, better built but what you gain in extra square metres and solid walls is counterbalanced by tired old decorating schemes and years of use and abuse. Tart the old dears up and that’s a different story. The scope of work in this William St, Melbourne apartment included renovating the bathroom and kitchen and the addition of an entertainment unit in the living area. Shiny, bright and new. The perfect inner city pad by Katherine Wills Design.

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