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Lifestyle design stories

Neuroarchitecture: The New Movement at the Forefront of Design

Have you ever felt uneasy or, worse, trapped within a room or building? Perhaps it was a long, narrow corridor without a discernible exit, or maybe it was a dimly lit room with a low ceiling or an oppressive feel. Better yet, have you ever felt a surge of awe and wonder when looking at or walking through a building? If you’ve visited any ancient architecture, from Rome’s Pantheon to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, chances are you know the feeling well…

Could You Live Like a Minimalist?

Some people say true minimalists have 100 possessions or fewer. Others believe you must inhabit a tiny house such as the one pictured here, grow your own vegetables and live car-free. Many people proudly claim to be minimalists if they embrace stereotypical Scandinavian interiors, with uncluttered surfaces and a clean white-and-grey colour palette. And others shudder whenever the term ‘minimalist’ is uttered, squeeze another painting into the last remaining space on their wall, then rush to the shops for some retail therapy to erase all memory of that vulgar word…

Put it to Bed: Could You and Your Partner Sleep Separately?

If you haven’t experienced one of these common scenarios yourself, most of us know someone who has: he likes space to stretch out and kicks the sheets off, his partner wants to cuddle and pull up an extra blanket. She’s a light sleeper, her other half snores. He gets gassy, his partner wakes up fuming. She gets up throughout the night to feed the baby, her spouse starts work before the sun rises. These reasons and others have propelled couples into separate beds and different rooms – with many a happy ending – and according to The Australian newspaper, one in four couples now sleep apart…

Residential renovation articles

My Houzz: Interior Architect Georgia Ezra’s Sublime Home

When interior architect, founder and director of GABBE and Tiles of Ezra designs for her clients, she is careful to reflect their individual styles and needs, not her own. But when it came to renovating the home she owns with her husband, construction manager Richie Morris, the couple had carte blanche to indulge their aesthetic preferences. The result is a rich, tactile interior sanctuary where clean, modern lines are laced with sumptuous Moroccan, Indian and Jewish cultural references…

Stickybeak: An Award-Winning Modernist Home for a Private Couple

After living in their single-storey 1960s brick house for two years, the owners – a young professional couple – decided it was time for an update. What started in 2014 as a renovation finished in 2016 as a brand new build at the creative hands of Albert Mo, director of Architects EAT. The result – named Moving House – is an homage to modernist architecture, a building that makes a statement and a home that gives its owners the privacy they craved…

Houzz Tour: Beach Home Throws a Curve Ball at Typical Coast Style

When the time came to rebuild their beachside family home in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, this husband and wife wanted nothing to do with the typical seaside style we are so familiar with. Instead, they were intent on welcoming a beach vibe into their new home, but wanted the design to give a nod to a more urbane city style as well…

Houzz Tour: A Beachside Grand Dame’s Tender Renewal

At Sydney’s northernmost tip is Palm Beach, a suburb that sits on a slim peninsula of land bordered by water on three sides. This is the backdrop of this 1920s holiday home, a grand dame of a house that stood largely unattended and hidden by trees and shrubs until a family spotted it, bought it and undertook a massive renovation…

Houzz Tour: Punchy Patterns and Bold Colours Find a Home in Sydney

When Jacinta Woods and Sonia Warner, co-directors of Woods & Warner, were asked to design the interior of this Rose Bay home in Sydney, it was the start of a bold artistic collaboration that resulted in a fearless finish. The owners – a husband and wife with two grown-up sons – love mid-century design and were not afraid to go with punchy patterns and bright splashes of colour throughout the interior…

Ergonomic design stories

10 Top Design Tips for an Ergonomic Kitchen

Good ergonomics are more important in the kitchen than any other room in the home. Get it right and you’ll create a smart space with good flow where every meal is cooked smoothly and in style. Get it wrong and you’ll be frustrated on a daily basis. Here are 10 clever tips – as well as mistakes to avoid – to help design a fit-for-purpose kitchen…

10 Top Design Tips for an Ergonomic Bathroom

Ergonomics are key to clever, contemporary design and the bathroom is no exception. If you are renovating or dreaming of redesigning your bathroom, here are 10 smart tips – as well as mistakes to avoid – that will ensure your bathroom boasts form as well as function…

10 Top Design Tips for an Ergonomic Home Office

Regardless of whether you work at a desk, on your feet, behind a wheel or in the fields, ergonomics are vitally important. If you get these key measurements right then you can mitigate the physical strain of work. But get them wrong and after 40 odd hours a week your spine and muscles will be sure to complain about it. If you use a workstation, desk or table to perform your tasks, these 10 tips will help you straighten things out. So read on to discover the top dos and don’ts in Houzz’s latest article in our ergonomic series…

Designer interviews

Candid Company: A Q&A With the MD of Decus Interiors

In this interview with leading industry professionals, we pick the creative brain of Alexandra Donohoe Church, founder and managing director of Decus Interiors, and discover how she built her successful and highly sought-after business from the ground up…

Candid Company: A Q&A With Bathroom and Kitchen Designers, Minosa

Ask Minosa‘s charismatic co-founders if they predicted the success their design studio enjoys today, and the answer is likely a flat-out ‘no’. After meeting in 2001, the creative pair wasted no time founding a friendship, partnership and then a business. However, their original vision for Minosa was that of a luxurious retailer of bathroom furniture and accessories, not a sought-after design practice specialising in bespoke bathrooms and kitchens. Yet almost two decades and a few professional pivots later, this Sydney-based design studio is now famed for its creative approach. The rest, as they say, is history.

Candid Company: A Q&A With the Founders of Evie Group

Houzz goes behind the scenes with Alex Gilmour and Dominic Chong, industrial designers and founders of Sydney-based Evie Group, which turns heads with its eye-catching homewares, furniture and lighting design as well as its graphic, branding and logo work.