Can’t believe we have been in our new old house for almost a year and it seems like we have barely scratched the surface of what needs to be done. Not that I’m worried. I have come to know this 150 year old house intimately during that time. We are comfortable with each other. If it takes time then it takes time. I took a couple of shots in my living room this morning. The light cutting into the dark chocolate room was beautiful. There are a couple more over on my page with some explanations of (and excuses for) what you can see.

Steendyk is a Brisbane based design studio that brings a sculptural quality to their work. The practice is passionate about sustainability but also about exploring the beauty of a space. Elegant solutions to subtropical design problems. The first home is an inner city timber cottage that explores the past and contrasts it with the needs of the future. Indoor and outdoor boundaries are blurred. The second house also explores the concepts of in and out along with shadow and light, screen and privacy, penetration and passive solar orientation at the same time embracing Steendyk’s love of the sculptural.

Formal hedges, luscious green. Like cut and polished precious emeralds. Sparkling pool, stone and tile. Manicured loveliness in suburban Hurstville, Sydney. A magnificent urban oasis by foremost Australian landscape designer Paul Bangay.

… and damn clever. Found in the portfolio of photographer Lesley Unruh. (Don’t you just love the simplicity of this shot?). From Home from the Hardware Store: Transform Everyday Materials into Fabulous Home Furnishings by Kathleen Hackett and Stephen Antonson with photography of course by Lesley.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I’m packing my bags. I’m home invading. You’ll never get me out. This bijou bluestone worker’s cottage in Fitzroy, Melbourne is just about perfect. By one of Australia’s leading design firms Hecker Guthrie.