Rough luxe, rustic yet modern, traditional married with minimalism. Indoor melds with outdoor, concrete and stainless steel, glass and pebbles and everything washed with beautiful natural light. The gallery and dwelling of Valerie Traan in Antwerp, Belgium by LENS°ASS Architect. Subtle beauty, the preservation of the old and the juxtaposition of the modern in a sympathetic way and always the presence of repeating patterns of brick or herringbone or block. After the jump a few more images from the firm’s design of a GP surgery in an old brick barn like structure.

Delicious. Divine. Dinesen. A Danish flooring company that sources floor boards that are so beautiful, so perfect that the best in the business must have them in their designs. Think Anoushka Hempel, John Pawson and almost any Scandinavian architect you can name. I stumbled across them when I found the MacDonald Wright Architects website. There, lurking in the links, was a company that puts the wood in my flooring love. Oh bad, bad pun but folks if I could marry a piece of oak or Douglas fir I’d tie the knot with these planks.

Common in the inner city areas of my part of the world are small wooden worker’s cottages from the late 19th century. Four rooms with a central corridor wrapped with a verandah. This extension by Brisbane based architects Owen and Vokes adds areas to eat and meet and bathe but orientates them to the outdoor spaces. The lovely old garden with its spreading frangipani is now a part of the indoor outdoor lifestyle along with an outdoor fireplace for entertaining and cooking. Windows and openings allow the light to penetrate the building and a modern take on the lean-to or enclosed verandah is given a new lease on life. A relaxed and stylish family space that respects the heritage of the building but lets the home re-invent itself for the present.

 Photography by Jon Linkins.

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don’t know what to do? You’re not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you…. that’s you lot… the readers! This week’s problem is from Kylie.

Help me I can’t take it anymore! I hate my kitchen and the family room is just BLAH. We live in a rental and I can’t paint the walls or damage the kitchen in any way (the landlord’s words not mine). The furniture is all hand me downs and the room is where the two older kids do their homework while I get dinner ready. We like to keep an eye on their computer activity as well. My youngest uses it as a playroom. I don’t have much money to spend. I really need your help. I want something light and bright and beachy. Can I do beachy in a room like this?

It’s in the air. A promise. A promise that winter is over and spring is here. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to share the work of interior designer Allison Bloom of Dehn Bloom Design. Liveable and lovely, neutral with flashes of colour through accessories, texture on texture and loads of natural light. Fresh and fabulous just like the coming season.

Photography by John Merkl.