All Stories

Architectural Apartment Mid Century Minimalist Family Country Tiny Coastal Victorian Renovated

Small Garden Suburban Garden Country Garden Public Garden Vegetable Garden Coastal Garden

Aboriginal Art Exhibition

Illustration Lighting Interior Design Graphic Design Styling Textiles Furniture Jewellery Photography Craft Floristry Architecture Industrial Design Woodwork Quoted Art Aboriginal Art Ceramics

Lunch Dinner Snacks Salad Vegetarian Breakfast Sweets Gluten Free Drinks Julia Busuttil Nishimura

Fashion Kids Art Ceramics Furniture Gifts Lighting Plants + Flowers Rugs Soft Furnishings In Print Sustainable Design Homewares

Guides Stays

Homes

Australian houses, from architectural masterpieces to suburban family homes, Victorian terraces, mid-century marvels, coastal shacks, city apartments, and everything in between.

Architecture

Award-winning Australian architecture, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top architects.

Interiors

Award-winning Australian interior design, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top designers.

Gardens

In depth features on Australia’s most beautiful gardens and landscape design.

Creative People

Studio visits with Australia’s most talented creatives, from artists to architects, ceramicists to stylists, furniture makers to lighting designers.

Art

Studio visits with Australia’s top artists, and unmissable art exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and beyond.

Food

Weekly recipes and meal ideas from our favourite cooks, authors and foodies.

Travel

Unique travel destinations, design-led accomodation and day trip ideas in Australia and New Zealand.

On The Market

Climate

News

All Stories

Architectural Apartment Mid Century Minimalist Family Country Tiny Coastal Victorian Renovated

Small Garden Suburban Garden Country Garden Public Garden Vegetable Garden Coastal Garden

Aboriginal Art Exhibition

Illustration Lighting Interior Design Graphic Design Styling Textiles Furniture Jewellery Photography Craft Floristry Architecture Industrial Design Woodwork Quoted Art Aboriginal Art Ceramics

Lunch Dinner Snacks Salad Vegetarian Breakfast Sweets Gluten Free Drinks Julia Busuttil Nishimura

Fashion Kids Art Ceramics Furniture Gifts Lighting Plants + Flowers Rugs Soft Furnishings In Print Sustainable Design Homewares

Guides Stays

Homes

Australian houses, from architectural masterpieces to suburban family homes, Victorian terraces, mid-century marvels, coastal shacks, city apartments, and everything in between.

Architecture

Award-winning Australian architecture, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top architects.

Interiors

Award-winning Australian interior design, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top designers.

Gardens

In depth features on Australia’s most beautiful gardens and landscape design.

Creative People

Studio visits with Australia’s most talented creatives, from artists to architects, ceramicists to stylists, furniture makers to lighting designers.

Art

Studio visits with Australia’s top artists, and unmissable art exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and beyond.

Food

Weekly recipes and meal ideas from our favourite cooks, authors and foodies.

Travel

Unique travel destinations, design-led accomodation and day trip ideas in Australia and New Zealand.

On The Market

Climate

News

These Are Officially The BEST Rooms In Australia!

Interiors

For 21 years, Australian House and Garden’s Top 50 Rooms has celebrated the best of Australian design talent, and the 2019 winners continue this impressive legacy.

Sit back and scroll through these winners in residential architecture and interior design, and build your imaginary dream home of many parts, piecing together the best living room, best kitchen, best bathroom and more! And for an exhaustive look at all Top 50 shortlisted rooms, check out the November issue of Australian House and Garden.

17th October, 2019

Room of the Year: Arent & Pyke. Photo – Anson Smart.

Left: Best Use of Soft Furnishings: Cameron Kimber Design. Photo – Pablo Vega. Right: Hall of Fame – Thomas Hamel & Associates. Photo – Matt Lowden.

Best Use of Technology in the Home: Doherty Design Studio. Photo – Derek Swalwell.

Left – Best Use of Colour: Armadillo & Co. Photo – Anson Smart. Right – Best Use of Materials: Carter Williamson Architects. Photo – Ben Guthrie.

Best Kitchen: Studio Ezra. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Best Outdoor Room: Madeline Blanchfield Architects. Photo – Robert Walsh.

Best Bathroom: Decus Interiors. Photo – Anson Smart.

Best Indoor-Outdoor Connection: Hare + Klein. Photo – Jen Wilding.

Lucy Feagins

Thursday 17th October 2019

This year, over 100 rooms around the country were entered into the Australian House & Garden’s Top 50 Rooms competition, an award that has been running for 21 years to celebrate the best of Australia’s design talent. Think bling, think colour, think lux marble surfaces, as well as many unexpected moments of delight!

Australian House & Gardens editor Tanya Buchanan highlighted ‘the jury recognised new directions in interior design in these projects, including the clever use of raw materials, a love of simplicity and restrained approach to design. We are truly honoured to showcase the very best rooms in Australia.’

The judging panel was a line-up of home and interiors experts, including Harry Bolanakis of King Living, Kirsten Stanisich and Jonathan Richards of Richards Stanisich, Richard Unsworth the founder of Garden Life, Saskia Havekes founder of Grandiflora, and Kate Nixon, Australian House and Garden’s interiors and houses editor.

This houses-brains-trust have selected the winners across eleven categories, and you can view all of these incredible rooms in the November issue of Australian House and Garden.

King Living Room of the Year

Blum Best Kitchen

Parisi Best Bathroom

Decus Interiors

PGH Bricks Best Use Of Materials

Carter Williamson

Armadillo & Co Best Use of Colour

Greg Natale Design

Wynstan Best Indoor-Outdoor Connection

Zip Best Use of Technology in the Home

Doherty Design Studio

Best Outdoor Room

Madeleine Blanchfield

Best Use of Soft Furnishings

Samsung Hall of Fame

Cover Room

Stacey Kouros Design

This Week

Gardens

A Boundless Garden Immersed In Native Bushland

A new coastal home on the Mornington Peninsula buried deep within a native grassy woodland, with stunning gardens by Plume Studio.

Amelia Barnes

On The Market

An Idyllic Homestead With Country Views For Sale In Gippsland!

This 1890s homestead is the ultimate treechange opportunity, with a rambling garden, sprawling views, and it's already been renovated!

Christina Karras

News

Terrazzo Queen Tantri Mustika's Closing Down Sale!

Pop down to Collingwood Yards Saturday 11 February, 12pm – 3pm, to support Tantri Mustika’s closing down sale.

Bea Taylor

Studio Visit

Local Artist Hannah Maskell Creates Mesmerising Grids Of Colour

The Melbourne-based artist's geometric drawings and wooden sculptures are a cross between 'colour theory and colour therapy'.

Christina Karras

A Day In The Life

A Day In The Life With Local Icons + TikTok Stars, Ginger And Carman

Get to know the fashionable, dynamic duo, whose fun-filled adventures (and inspiring approach to life) have made them Internet famous!

Christina Karras

Climate

Designer Style Meets GreenPower In The Sydney Apartment Of Jono Fleming

How interior designer Jono Fleming made his home more sustainable, in just three minutes.

Lucy Feagins

13 hours ago

Gardens

A Coastal Garden That Revives The Native Landscape

House Revisited brings the natural landscape of Macmasters Beach on the NSW Central Coast, into a stunning residential property.

Amelia Barnes

Creative People

The New Small Business Making Mid-Century-Inspired Furniture In Australia

Culture Cush are making velvet-covered modular lounges inspired by retro designs, with the best materials of today!

Christina Karras

Homes

A Quirky Redfern Terrace With A Hidden Green Roof

The unconventional family home of designer Sacha Coles, split over 4 levels!

Lucy Feagins

Art

A Look Inside Abbey Rich's Mesmerising New Exhibition

See the Melbourne artist's beautifully bold abstract pieces at MARS Gallery, filled with playful patterns and hidden meanings.

Christina Karras

Gardens

A Lush Secret Garden, Inside A Converted Melbourne Church!

This surprising garden in East Melbourne has its own lagoon pool, a natural fish pond and 10m-tall walls covered in ivy.

Christina Karras

Studio Visit

The Sydney Sculptor Creating Striking Pieces From Centuries-Old Sandstone

Sculptor Tom Butterworth creates striking tables, stools and vessels from recycled Australian sandstone, with beautiful results.

Christina Karras

Climate

Everything You Need To Know About GreenPower (+ Why You Should Make The Switch)

The easiest way to invest in in Australia's renewable future - and it's simpler (and cheaper) than you think!

Amelia Barnes

Homes

A Vintage Farmhouse On Sydney’s Upper North Shore

It looks like an authentic country farmhouse, but Alexandra Nea Graham’s family home is an almost entirely new-build!

Lucy Feagins

Art

How Darwin’s Coolest New Art Gallery Is Championing Indigenous Stories

Laundry Gallery is an exciting Aboriginal-owned creative hub, based inside a converted 70s laundromat!

Christina Karras

5 hours ago

Similar Stories

Sustainable Homes

An Off-Grid, Modern Country Farmhouse In Regional Victoria

Step inside a newly built farmhouse that's fully off the grid, with all the classic features of an old country home.

Christina Karras

Interiors

Before + After: A Dated Brick Home Turned Coastal Holiday Pad

Dark timber and dated tiles have been replaced with light and bright interiors in this Mornington Peninsula beach house.

Christina Karras

Design Eye

How to Create Fun + Playful Interiors, With Studio Joy’s Kristel Marshall

The Melbourne designer shares how to balance minimalism and maximalism with playful colours and bold furniture – in a way that won't date!...

Christina Karras

This Week

Homes

A Quirky Redfern Terrace With A Hidden Green Roof

The unconventional family home of designer Sacha Coles, split over 4 levels!

Lucy Feagins

Gardens

A Coastal Garden That Revives The Native Landscape

House Revisited brings the natural landscape of Macmasters Beach on the NSW Central Coast, into a stunning residential property.

Amelia Barnes

News

Terrazzo Queen Tantri Mustika's Closing Down Sale!

Pop down to Collingwood Yards Saturday 11 February, 12pm – 3pm, to support Tantri Mustika’s closing down sale.

Bea Taylor

Gardens

A Lush Secret Garden, Inside A Converted Melbourne Church!

This surprising garden in East Melbourne has its own lagoon pool, a natural fish pond and 10m-tall walls covered in ivy.

Christina Karras

Studio Visit

The Sydney Sculptor Creating Striking Pieces From Centuries-Old Sandstone

Sculptor Tom Butterworth creates striking tables, stools and vessels from recycled Australian sandstone, with beautiful results.

Christina Karras

Studio Visit

Local Artist Hannah Maskell Creates Mesmerising Grids Of Colour

The Melbourne-based artist's geometric drawings and wooden sculptures are a cross between 'colour theory and colour therapy'.

Christina Karras

Art

A Look Inside Abbey Rich's Mesmerising New Exhibition

See the Melbourne artist's beautifully bold abstract pieces at MARS Gallery, filled with playful patterns and hidden meanings.

Christina Karras

On The Market

An Idyllic Homestead With Country Views For Sale In Gippsland!

This 1890s homestead is the ultimate treechange opportunity, with a rambling garden, sprawling views, and it's already been renovated!

Christina Karras

Creative People

The New Small Business Making Mid-Century-Inspired Furniture In Australia

Culture Cush are making velvet-covered modular lounges inspired by retro designs, with the best materials of today!

Christina Karras

Climate

Designer Style Meets GreenPower In The Sydney Apartment Of Jono Fleming

How interior designer Jono Fleming made his home more sustainable, in just three minutes.

Lucy Feagins

13 hours ago

Art

How Darwin’s Coolest New Art Gallery Is Championing Indigenous Stories

Laundry Gallery is an exciting Aboriginal-owned creative hub, based inside a converted 70s laundromat!

Christina Karras

5 hours ago

Climate

Everything You Need To Know About GreenPower (+ Why You Should Make The Switch)

The easiest way to invest in in Australia's renewable future - and it's simpler (and cheaper) than you think!

Amelia Barnes

A Day In The Life

A Day In The Life With Local Icons + TikTok Stars, Ginger And Carman

Get to know the fashionable, dynamic duo, whose fun-filled adventures (and inspiring approach to life) have made them Internet famous!

Christina Karras

Gardens

A Boundless Garden Immersed In Native Bushland

A new coastal home on the Mornington Peninsula buried deep within a native grassy woodland, with stunning gardens by Plume Studio.

Amelia Barnes

Homes

A Vintage Farmhouse On Sydney’s Upper North Shore

It looks like an authentic country farmhouse, but Alexandra Nea Graham’s family home is an almost entirely new-build!

Lucy Feagins

Similar Stories

Sustainable Homes

An Off-Grid, Modern Country Farmhouse In Regional Victoria

Step inside a newly built farmhouse that's fully off the grid, with all the classic features of an old country home.

Christina Karras

Interiors

Before + After: A Dated Brick Home Turned Coastal Holiday Pad

Dark timber and dated tiles have been replaced with light and bright interiors in this Mornington Peninsula beach house.

Christina Karras

Design Eye

How to Create Fun + Playful Interiors, With Studio Joy’s Kristel Marshall

The Melbourne designer shares how to balance minimalism and maximalism with playful colours and bold furniture – in a way that won't date!...

Christina Karras

The Design Files acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

First Nations artists, designers, makers, and creative business owners are encouraged to submit their projects for coverage on The Design Files. Please email bea@thedesignfiles.net

The Design Files’ original content and photos are copyright protected. Please email us before reposting our content on other publications, personal websites, or Instagram. Feel free to share our images on Pinterest using the credit ‘via thedesignfiles.net’. Thank you!