Magazine

Time for change

The great interior designer David Hicks once said: “the best rooms have something to say about the people who live in them”.

Having recently returned from visiting family in Australia, I noticed that from house to house, there was a commonality in the dwellings of my family. It wasn’t a similarity in the new homewares or furniture they had purchased that caught my eye, but rather the curation of things gathered over time – from a bowl full of shells and fossils collected on annual island adventures, to a salon hang of pictures celebrating milestones together, it appeared our sentimentalities were as alike as our noses.

A home is not a gallery, it is meant to be full of the stuff of life. Personally, some of my favourite rooms are those with a sense of organised chaos. But there is definitely something to be said for starting with an ordered approach when it comes to the art of displaying the objects we collect along the way. We’ve explored this idea in our decorating story, on page 34.

There’s a bit of a renovation theme in this issue too – from the rural home of Kip & Co designer Kate Heppell (page 48), to the warehouse apartment of designer Caroline Gomez (page 80), you’ll see ordinary spaces transformed into extraordinary ones by some very clever creatives.

With makeovers in mind, we’ve focused on the kitchen to kick off our new regular Renovation section. Not that long ago, the kitchen was intended merely for the preparation of food, but since the widespread adoption of open-plan living it has truly become the heart of the home. During an interview for this issue, chef Al Brown imparted some wise words on the subject that resonated with me. For Al, the kitchen is “a place that evokes memories, and the only room in the house where all the senses are enlightened”. Pondering this thought, I’m lining up a laid-back lunch, with the delicious dishes and refreshing cocktail from this issue to create some memories of my own around the table.

Whether you’re on the hunt for the ultimate kitchen kit-out, renovating your current abode, or searching tirelessly for a new home, we hope you find the inspiration you need in these pages in your journey to make your house a home.

Alice Lines
Editor

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