The Design Files

9 stories

The Design FilesBefore + After: A Colourful Transformation Of A 1950s Beach Shack Before + After: A Colourful Transformation Of A 1950s Beach Shack Interiors by Gabbi Lobo The kitchen before the renovation, originally tucked away behind a wall.

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The Design Files13 Of Our Favourite Laundries That Are Anything But Boring 13 Of Our Favourite Laundries That Are Anything But Boring Interiors by Christina Karras Home of Carmel Wylie by GIA Renovations.

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The Design FilesHow This Bellarine Peninsula Home Makes The Most Of Its Striking Sea Views How This Bellarine Peninsula Home Makes The Most Of Its Striking Sea Views Architecture + Interiors by Christina Savopoulos Blackbutt wall cladding + timber decking.

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The Design FilesInside An Artist’s DIY-Renovated Family Rental, Filled With Colour Inside An Artist’s DIY-Renovated Family Rental, Filled With Colour Interiors by Christina Karras Paddo Sofa Bed in Velvet Moss and Torquay Modular Armchair in Pearl Moon by Koala.

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The Design FilesHow A Former Tennis Court Became This Wild Suburban Garden How A Former Tennis Court Became This Wild Suburban Garden Gardens by Christina Savopoulos This outdoor seating area comfortably hosts large groups. The home’s windows offer views of the lush garden.

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The Design FilesRenovation Diaries: A Clever DIY-Stainless Steel Kitchen, Created For $8k Renovation Diaries: A Clever DIY-Stainless Steel Kitchen, Created For $8k Interiors by Christina Karras Mike Trappett and Sarah Godden. The impressive kitchen. Cabinetry and handles from IKEA.

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The Design FilesAn Artist’s Mediterranean-Inspired Home In The Heart Of Fitzroy An Artist’s Mediterranean-Inspired Home In The Heart Of Fitzroy Homes by Christina Karras Art by Gabrielle Penfold . Wall sconce by McMullin . Lamp from Curated Spaces . Vintage coffee table.

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The Design FilesThis Mid-Century Canberra Townhouse Has Just Been Renovated + It’s For Sale This Mid-Century Canberra Townhouse Has Just Been Renovated + It’s For Sale On The Market by Christina Savopoulos This recently renovated mid-century townhouse is located in Canberra’s Wybalena Grove…

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The Design FilesThis Coastal Home Uses Tiles In Colourful + Unexpected Ways This Coastal Home Uses Tiles In Colourful + Unexpected Ways Interiors by Christina Savopoulos Joinery by Dezzine Kitchens . Tetris Tiles by Classic Ceramics.

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A room is a decision about how you want to be tired at the end of the day.

I live in forty-eight square metres in Tokyo with one good chair and far too many bowls, so I have had to mean that. I trained as an architect and left to write, which my teachers took badly. Uchi (内) means inside, and it means home: the room you come back to. The palette comes after the tiredness. So does the name on the lamp.

This is where I keep what the world's rooms are doing. Around seventy sources, read in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, French and English: an apartment in Seoul, a house outside Taipei, a Copenhagen showroom seen from here rather than from Denmark. East first, because east is where I am sitting.

Each story is a headline, an excerpt of a few lines, one photograph and a link to whoever did the work. We never reprint the piece, and the photograph belongs to the person who took it. When a room was written up in Korean or Italian it stays in Korean or Italian here; the link takes you to the writer's own words.

I am not trying to be complete. I am trying to notice.

— Mio Tachibana, Tokyo