I had visitors coming. I had a bedroom in disarray. I freaked out. I cursed, snapped at my husband, almost tripped over the dog and set to work. See more on my page.

Clever! Lease the last remaining block in the hottest street in town but need a budget build? Need to retain existing trees because, of course, you have leased? Containers and polycarbonate sheeting. Brilliant, colourful, fun and down right funky. Retail design done with smarts. The Decameron by Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan of Studio MK27. Inteligente!

It’s still about simplicity, balance, elegance and proportion. The spaces are still clean and crisp. Form still follows function, the modern minimalist feel continues. So what is different from the last time I featured Shareen Joel‘s work? An expanded portfolio and lots more lovely pictures on her website that’s what. Wonderful work.

Nicolás and Jaunita live in Colombia. This is their charming home. Don’t you love taking a peek into homes from all over the world? I know I do. I feel I’ve come to visit on a rainy afternoon. There’s coffee and great conversation and I’ve fallen in love with their Spanish version of the Trainspotting movie poster. Lucky I’m not really there or I’d be tempted to take it down and make a run for it. Not a very good guest am I? Thanks so much for letting us visit and surprise your wife Nicolás!

The latest from award winning design firm Andy Martin Architects. Chevron House, West London. “Inspired by the architecture of the existing elegantly proportioned spaces, the design sets out to exaggerate, by scaling the space by removing walls, and attaching new space to create a large Edwardian warehouse on each of the three levels. The ground floor, the public level is essentially one space which is divided only by the use of colour and material. On the second and third levels, the private floors, bedrooms merge into bathrooms and visa versa. The rear of the property has new extensions off both the living and kitchen reaching into the garden to absorb the light from the south. The client’s brief to use colour extensively was applied in such that the walls and ceilings are left light in colour (off white) and that only elements or interventions (joinery etc) would be strongly coloured giving the house a lighter atmosphere with greater sense of perspective.” Colour. OMG colour! It’s like a zing from tingly fruit candies, the zap from sherbert powder. I think I need a green bathroom!