Trendsideas

This studio – once a garage – has built-in collapsible desking and a fold-down bed hidden in the wall – allowing the space to be converted in minutes

This central kitchen celebrates a classic, enduring aesthetic – complete with walnut cabinetry, marble countertops, and steel-framed doors & windows

Style dovetails functional in this easy-upkeep bathroom with a pleasing tactile palette – zones of use mean up to three children can use the space at once 

Downsizing doesn't mean a crimped lifestyle – here a new low-upkeep home on a modest site achieves generous living spaces, a garden outlook and feeling of seclusion

Appealing to both the 'artist kid and the science kid' was part of designer Scott Parker's thinking when creating the colourful new science and technology centre at MOTAT

Given relaxed housing laws, maximising the use of your land makes powerful fiscal sense – GJ's has a range of options, as this Multi-unit Manukau showhome reflects

This indoor outdoor connection is perfect for summer – plus, come winter clerestory windows pick up low-slanting rays for extra warmth

Sterile and disconnected might be old bi-words for highrise living but this luxury apartment tower by Koichi Takada Architects celebrates organic forms, social connection, art and sustainability 

A Progetto Buddy Dual function kitchen mixer in brushed brass PVD, from The Kitchen Hub, adds to the bling factor in this kitchen

This contemporary, clean-lined vanity is enhanced by a back lit mirror, an Elysian Mixer, from ABI Interiors, and a Projections 40 Basin, from Plumbline

Soft corners predominate in this bathroom with vanity, window, mirror and Hamilton corner, wall-faced bath all celebrating shapely curves

 A German-made AgeExplorer suit, offered at Blum showrooms, lets you simulate aging first hand – helping you choose kitchen and bathroom products that will work for you now and in the future