Australian House & Garden March 2022

“The kitchen is the natural stage for many of LIFE’S DRAMAS - all of the wins and the woes.” Pinpointing the current vibe is proving tricky. I naively thought that by the time I was welcoming you to the March issue of H&G, we would be embracing post-pandemic life with a passionate zeal after all those hours of worry and the ‘Groundhog Day’ living of the past two years. Well, Covid, the great disruptor, was not going to let us resume regular programming that easily. Everything feels very stop-start now. We might be out of lockdown, but many people are imposing their own set of life restrictions as they try to avoid catching or transmitting Omicron. This constant focus on health and safety has added a significant yet invisible mental burden…

YOUR H&G The first magazine I picked up for 2022 was H&G. Lying back on my sunlounger, with an ocean view, a reader reminded me that there is no simpler pleasure than being inspired by others’ creations. Adapting to changes in life as result of Covid meant that I stopped buying H&G for myself. But not this year! Sitting here reading H&G, amidst the increasing case numbers, has made me slow down and enjoy sitting and reading a magazine again. As Tanya wrote in her editorial, I’ve got nothing to do today but smile… Sharon Anderson, Balgownie, NSW PICTURE PERFECT The inspiration afforded by H&G is endless. It’s the details captured by your talented photographers that make the homes shine – the pop of red foliage outside the bedroom and bathroom in ‘Peace…

Set among manicured box hedges and plum trees that explode into extravagant pink blooms, the villa is almost invisible from the street. Secret paths meander through its surrounds, where there’s even a creek that’s traversed via a small bridge. This house might be nestled into the arts hub of Darlington, in the Perth Hills, but with its arched portico and arcaded architecture it would look equally at home in a Tuscan village. Bronte Taton-Boulet and her husband, Josh Casey, spotted it for sale in June 2021 – on the weekend that Perth went into a snap lockdown. “We saw the house just as inspections were being cancelled,” she says. “Almost nobody came, because everyone was terrified of Covid. So we put in an offer straightaway and just got very lucky.” The…

“I LOVE ANYWHERE WITH A RICH CULTURAL HISTORY AND LIVE MUSIC.” FIRST ADULT HOME? An inner-city semi-detached Victorian cottage in Perth, with high ceilings, jarrah floorboards and decorative ceiling roses. DREAM RESTAURANT TABLE? It would be in Capri and shared with designers Rose Uniacke (6), Gabriella Crespi, Jasper Conran and Kelly Wearstler. DREAM CAR? A 1960s Triumph Spitfire convertible in green. FAVOURITE DOWNTIME PURSUIT? Perusing antique markets and stores, and painting or drawing with a good coffee to hand. FAVOURITE ARTISTS? Perth artist Ella Holme. Henri Matisse, Giorgio Morandi (2) and William Merritt Chase – his At the Seaside painting in particular. WHO INSPIRES YOU IN THE WORLD OF DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE? Rose Uniacke, for her use of antique furniture and Italian glassware in the home. Villa Magnan (1) in Biarritz, for its architectural arches and…

As the scene of many of life’s most memorable moments and the engine room of the home, the kitchen occupies prime real estate. When designing a new kitchen, renovating a tired one or simply giving what you have a lift with styling, make sure you provide a detailed brief to ensure the end result reflects your style. We have turned to the work of seven leading Australian interior designers – Onefour Interiors, Space Grace & Style, Handelsmann+Khaw, Coco Republic Interior Design, Alexandra Brown Interiors, Katie Sargent Design and The Unlisted Collective – to glean chic insights on creating a fabulous, well-designed kitchen. Whether it’s scalloping and sconces, marble and metal, the warmth of timber or the calm of classic white, these looks will help inspire your kitchen epiphany. CUTTING-EDGE KITCHENS WITH…

Art Ryan has long been a familiar face in Newcastle, the beachside city about two hours’ north of Sydney. He fronted a much-loved children’s program on local TV station NBN in the late 1970s and later established a successful advertising agency. So it was fitting that he and his wife Christa Papworth chose a building as equally iconic and individual to live in. Since the 1900s, the North Wing had been part of the Royal Newcastle Hospital, but it underwent its own resuscitation in the early Noughties when design firms Tzannes and Suter Architects collaborated to convert the hospital into 12 smart apartments. Blessed with the proverbial ‘good bones’, the unit Christa and Art bought off the plan in 2003 had many covetable qualities – what once were wards had been…