…And so I leave you with these stunning images of the mesmerising light tunnel in Japan called ‘Winter Illuminations’. This event takes place each year at Nabana no Sato, a botanical garden on the island of Nagashima in Kuwana. This light show uses millions of sparkling LEDs, and it runs from early November through to end of March. Isn’t it just incredible? I thought it was the most fitting way to mark this silly season, and wish you a sparkling New Year and Extremely Happy Holidays…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Scandinavians do it better. And in case you are not already convinced (yeah right), perhaps you will be after this post. Läderfabriken is the latest project from the Oscar Properties, who are responsible for number of superb residential refurbishments in Stockholm – one of which I wrote about last year. Housed in a late 19th century factory building by the shore of Järla lake, the design for the contemporary apartments embraces the original industrial details of the building…

Portland-based photographer, Foster Huntington, had an interesting idea to invite a bunch of people to lay out the belongings they would bring with them in the event their home was on fire. This is an intriguing concept and it poses a question about what are the most important “things” that define us. Having said this, I’m not entirely convinced some of these people understood the seriousness of the situation they were asked to “curate” for…

Few things in life excite me more than seeing architects and designers thinking about places they design – taking their time to distill the essence of their client, the context, the purpose of the space etc, before setting out to package all of their thinking into a beautiful, elegant and cohesive interior. I truly believe these types of spaces have the ability to move people, or at least make them feel something, even if those people may not be massive design tragics such as myself. These interiors simply feel right, make sense, and people want to spend time in them. In other words – they are the shit! Enter RED Pif…

Dearest, dearest readers! Guess what? Yellowtrace is going to be 3 years old tomorrow! Can you seriously believe it? I am honestly struggling with the concept… Today I would like to ask you for a little bit of your time in hope that you will help us improve the site for next year by completing our 2012 reader survey. As a reward for your efforts, you will be given the chance to win some incredible prizes. Since tomorrow is our 3rd birthday I thought it would be fitting to throw a little Yellow Party to celebrate this milestone! In honour of our signature colour, yellowtrace has partnered with 9 of our valued sponsors who are generously offering you the chance to win 13 fantastic prizes valued over $3,000 AUD! Totes amaze, no? Why don’t you move a little bit closer so I can tell you a bit more about the prizes…