The Indoor/Outdoor Life in Sydney

When Bree Claffey peered into the ceiling space of an upstairs retail spot in Brunswick, the covered-up skylight was the deciding factor. "I really like light. I always had in mind to sell indoor plants as part of the shop, and the upstairs position made for heaps more natural light for the plants than would normally get in a shop."

We're not sure how an Australian company swept the skincare world with its amber bottles, simple graphic labels, and botanical based ingredients like parsley seed, rose geranium and camellia nut, all made in Australia but we're chalking it up to good design, great products, and compelling stores.

A Melbourne-based online magazine comes to life as a pop-up hotel, featuring the work of local artists and creatives.

A Sydneysider and a New Yorker team up to bring a curated collection of houseware classics to Australia (and beyond).

Working with a minimal budget, French graphic designer and visual artist Anne-Sophie Poirier of Sasufi designed the interiors for Melbourne, Australia, cafe Slowpoke Espresso.

New from Thames & Hudson: Mitchell Oakley Smith's compendium of the best of contemporary Australian and New Zealand interior design, featuring some of our favorite antipodean firms (Arent & Pyke, Alwill, and Justine Hugh Jones).

Australia is the driest inhabited continent, a fact that might scare off some gardeners. Not David Glenn.

In the somewhat sleepy Double Bay neighborhood comes a restaurant that draws Sydney's in-crowd eastward.

What's a sculptor to do when she can't find shelves large enough to house her mammoth Leonardo de Vinci volumes? Create her own. That's how Laura Woodward, one half of Melbourne design and fabrication duo Like Butter, came up with her ingenious shelves that can be fashioned into numerous shapes, sizes, and configurations.

As summer heats up, we've revisited our top ceiling fan choices (ceiling fans aren't just for summer, of course; in the winter months they recirculate ceiling heat to the floor areas). Here are some good options:

An architect and a design editor transform an 800-square-foot industrial shed in Sydney into a sustainable home, inspired by Japanese small-space living.

Sibella Court, Australia's queen of disheveled chic, teamed up with Anthropologie a while back on a line of handmade hardware for the home inspired by her own collection of aged wood and tarnished metal hardware.

When Sydney-native Melissa Bombardeire isn't working her day job as a graphic designer, renovating her home, or raising her two adorable girls, she spends her free time designing custom fabrics.