Just in from Canadian photographer Brenda Liu, this beautiful garden pavilion she shot for Toronto based Shawn Freeman Architect.

“This pavilion is designed as a three-season living room from which to enjoy the views of an exquisite urban garden. The room opens fully to the garden surrounding it, and frames views back to the house, pool, great lawn, woodland, and fire circle. It is purposefully built in a simple elegant palette of materials including polished concrete floors (with concealed radiant heating), zinc clad exterior in a black patina, simple plaster ceiling, and an aluminum & stone bar. A dark exterior helps it blend quietly with the surroundings, and also contrast to the light Indiana limestone and stucco main house. In every respect the pavilion is a quiet retreat from the main house; there you can feel as if you have left the city behind, and relax surrounded by a beautiful woodland garden, and the sounds of nature.”

A woodland retreat at the end of the garden. How perfect! As are Brenda’s evocative shots!

Very little is revealed from the street. Hints are glimpsed along garden beds and walls. Once inside, the public areas of this Melbourne house open to a sunny courtyard blurring the boundary between in and out. A bluestone ledge runs around the room from courtyard to kitchen providing hearth, shelves and seating. Private areas look out to raised garden beds, screening and sheltering the spaces within. The Toorak House by AM Architecture.

… and fun and graphic and bold. The showroom for KCL Agencies by Sydney based Designers in the City is big on impact. Pantone’s 2013 colour of the year is the star in this monochromatic scheme with the emerald green playing perfectly against the black and white backdrop. Bold pattern wows on arrival but the showroom is relatively calm after climbing the stairs, allowing the company’s product to shine. I think this time I really am allowed to say the colour pops.,. and punches and hits and zings.

In the inner city Sydney suburb of Lilyfield a garden grows. Behind an old brick facade in a building that once housed the “Oh Boy Candy Company” is a sweat treat, a green oasis. In the heart of a warehouse conversion by Virginia Kerridge is a space to breathe, to grow, to play, to see the sky, to connect. Solid and void, old brick and beam, sleek contemporary finishes, history and family home.

Stop it! Stop it! I really must stop stalking on the Domus Nova site. Just two more to share and then I’ll walk away from the computer. The first house has such fabulous bones. I’d be happy living there with just a box to sit on. That’s a lie but you know what I mean. The second is perfect for the stylish book lover. Stealing the bookcase at the end of the bathtub idea.