Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom – August 2015

I don’t know about you, but when I get back home after the holidays I’m always struck with just how much ‘stuff ’ there is in my life. Having spent a few weeks away from everyday luxuries, we’ve learnt as a family to slim down to a minimum and revel in the simplicity of daily grocery shopping and re-washing clothes as needs desire. So it feels a little desperate when we get back to mounds of laundry, packed-full wardrobes and overflowing cupboards of kitchenalia, sports equipment and toys. As well as de-hoarding, the key to a well designed house is, of course, to make the best use of storage and create a designated utility room, so this issue felt like the perfect time to look at this oft-neglected space. See Domestic Bliss on page 68 – I know I’ll be taking notes! Following in this theme, we look at the beautiful utility of a kitchen in a Perth family house and see how one hardworking family have put their own ‘mud room’ to best use in our cover story Barefoot Luxury on page 22; think two active boys and a dog and still no clutter in sight. The minimalist mood for natural and sustainable materials in kitchens is explored in Back to Nature (page 90). We also feature the new luxury for dressing areas in your bathrooms in Dress it Up on page 118 and shop for bedside tables in Side by Side on page 140. September is always bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s back to work, back to school, back to routine, and on the other, it’s a time when your creativity starts gearing up and when you reunite with friends and find your groove again. In fact, as the season shifts to last-days-of-summer mode, it sometimes feels like the best and most sociable times are yet to come. So we’re seeing out the issue with tips on food and living well with bon viveur food writer Rosie Birkett (page 102) and colour-happy New York designer Jonathan Adler (page 162).