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Welcome to 2019 – how did we get here? Sometimes I feel like I am still in 1999 typing away on my cutting-edge ‘grape’ imac with my bespoke lavender powder-coated industrial filing cabinet next to me completing the whole techno industrial scheme. Yet the past two decades have zoomed by incredibly quickly and here we are again at the fresh start of the year full of excellent resolutions: ideas for world domination, intentions for extreme mindfulness and kindness – definitely no swearing, only gentle lingo – and aspirations of going fully teetotal and never touching caffeine or a grain of sugar again. Let’s see how all of that goes!
So much has changed in the past few years with an expectation that all demands can be met at breakneck speed – we don’t really even have a chance to reflect on how our lives have moved on. Now I have a 20-year-old son, I look back and can’t fathom where the time went and wish I could remember all the moments over those precious years. Perhaps the key really is living a simpler life – not a less fabulous one – just a less complicated and cluttered existence. So again we dedicate lots of pages to Smart Spaces, a collection of luxe and elegant abodes that consider design and storage and the lifestyle of their owner/s who want to seize every moment and entertain, travel, work, dine out, go to the theatre, visit galleries and have a home maintenance-freeish life. For a selection of exquisite sanctuaries designed by names like Poco Designs, Alexandra Kidd and Amber Road, see p89.
Speaking of beautifully crafted spaces, we reveal the winners of our second Belle Luxury Home Building Awards, see p81. The winners were celebrated at a recent event at the Australian Museum and it was really gratifying to meet these talented craftspeople and hear them speak with pride and much emotion about their projects and clients.
The creative talents of the west feature prominently in this issue with acclaimed Perthbased interior designer Christian Lyon’s stunning work on a Melbourne home showcased on the cover and on p138. And the work of architect Neil Cownie features in a sophisticated design for a family home in Perth, p154.
Gardens have been on our minds at Belle recently as we just pressed the print button on a weighty tome, Australian Landscape Designers, featuring 26 of our most creative landscapers and their work. One of the gardens that features in the book (pictured, above right), which is set for release in March this year and was conceived by Belle’s creatives, is the Chinaman’s Beach project designed by Matt Cantwell and team at Secret Gardens, see p172.
We hope you enjoy spending some generous quiet time with the dapper designs on the following pages. At least there’s one resolution that’s easy to adhere to – keep on reading Belle!