Scandi chic

Sleek blonds are still more fun, writes Susan Redman.

Sight unseen

Switched-on furniture buyers are turning to the internet for bargains in beds and beyond, writes Harriet Alexander.

COVER PROPERTY

BELLEVUE HILL 16 RANFURLEY ROAD $1.8 million+

Crown Street gains steam despite losing Tabou

Caffe Sicilia has swung open its doors on Crown Street, Surry Hills.

Lips zipped on blend

A Queensland roast is the new toast, writes Mary O'Brien.

Illawarra opens its heart to Surfrider flood victims

THE sight of dozens of strangers entering the gates of Surfrider Caravan Park at the weekend was, for many residents, their first indication others cared about their plight.

From lullabies to opera

IT IS hard being an opera diva and the mother of a five-month-old baby and four-year-old son. But Silvia Colloca says she needed the extra challenge of performing in Orfeo ed Euridice.

Good grains

Timber products stand the test of time and design.

Good living Design ideas

Cardboard cut-outs

The Gallery

Headed for a beautiful sleep

Style setters

Our best designers are spinning globalisation in our favour, reports Zinta Jurjans Heard.

KATZ THE COLUMN

WHERE will we go now? What will we do? More Borders bookstores could be closing soon and that means thousands of us book-loving literary-minded non-spending tight-arses will no longer be able to pop round for our quick little six-hour book-browsing non-buying visits. No longer be able to settle into a comfy chair and read all the Man Booker Prize nominees in one sitting. No longer be able to rip out a nice passionfruit sponge-cake recipe from a cookbook then pop it back on the shelf. No longer be able to listen to free CDs using the CD-sampling headphones until we break the barcode scanner. No longer be able to grab a recently vacated table at the Borders Cafe and finish someone's half-drunk latte, dribbling it all over an $800 photography book with a print-run of three. Why are you going bankrupt, Borders, when so many of us book-loving non-spending tight-arses have been supporting you for years, whyyyyyyyy?

Bush roots breed urban simplicity

Interior designer Beatrix Rowe had a childhood full of creativity.

Seeing dream is believing

THE journey between dream-home concept and dream-home plan can be arduous.

Taking steps for young homeless

Agents and landlords help needy youth secure rentals, writes Kath Dolan.

Boats, bikes, babes and plenty of bravado

KYM BONYTHON, AC, DFC, AFC 1920-2011

Brighton breezy

A young family makes a tree change close to home.

The indomitable human will

The fortitude of people who lost everything in Monday's flood is exemplified in the stories of survivors who spoke to BEVAN SHIELDS about the devastation that followed the wall of water that swept through Barrack Point's Surfrider Caravan Park. Concern for others and the realisation that human safety rather than the preservation of material possessions is what counts - they are the constants. So too is a growing concern that, once again, insurers who accepted premiums for years, may turn a blind eye when it comes to returning the favour, just when it's needed. "People who have lived here for nearly 30 years have never seen anything like what swept through here Monday. At one stage the water was getting that high I was sitting on the kitchen sink with my feet on the tops of the chairs. Before that, I moved the car into the visitor car park thinking there was no way the water would get to it, but it did, the water came right up to below the windows. The idiots who were speeding up and down the street during the flood made me really angry because they kept washing waves of water into our cars and into our homes. I'll probably never ever get the smell out of this car because the water had sewage in it and the whole place still smells. If the assessors write our homes off, I don't know what's going to happen. I guess that makes you homeless, that's the scary part. I'm staying at a friend's place in Oak Flats but that can't last forever. I'm worried I'm not going to have a home in a few weeks time."

Packer joins internet gold rush

THE nascent but fast-growing e-tailing and group buying market is set for a shake-up with James Packer's private equity vehicle, among others, poised to enter the fray.

Will the real Charlie Pickering please stand up?

He's earnest, analytical and passionate about politics (don't get him started on Obama) yet Charlie Pickering makes his living being funny. How does that compute?

Blight at the museum: lurking pests have a limited shelf life

ON THE wall of the large-objects storage room at the Australian National Maritime Museum are pictures that look like wanted posters. Instead of depicting human criminals, though, they show insects to watch out for - carpet beetles, silverfish, termites, furniture beetles and psocids (known as booklice).

Terrorist threat raised for Australia's quarter-final

Australia's Cricket World Cup quarter-final against home side India tonight has been flagged as a potential terror target. An advisory from India's home ministry sent to state police departments has warned that terror groups al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba - the organisation believed responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks - might be planning strikes against cricket stadiums, particularly during the final weeks of the tournament. Based on foreign intelligence reports, the ministry this month identified a handful of matches on India's west coast as being most vulnerable to attack, including the final in Mumbai and tonight's quarter-final clash in Ahmedabad. The advisory warned that terrorists from Pakistan might seek to reach India by boat to attack cricket stadiums. "These operatives could be well acquainted with maritime travel to reach their targets in quick time and could be Urdu-speaking from the Punjab province of Pakistan." Cricketers have been the target of Pakistani terrorists before, the country was dropped as co-host of this World Cup after the Sri Lankan team was attacked by gunmen in Lahore in 2009. Travel advice from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says there have been several reports of threats made against the Cricket World Cup. "We note in particular the high risk of terrorist activity by militant groups in India," its advice says. Police Commissioner Amitabh Pathak said that more than 2000 police and security personnel would be in place across Ahmedabad for the match. "The safety of the teams is secure," he said. "We have security measures and video surveillance in place from when they arrive at the airport, and on the routes they will travel on the road. At the hotel, the whole floor where they are staying is secured, for the players only. And they will be secure on the way to the stadium and during the match."

Insurance questions hang over Surfrider's clean-up

DEMORALISED Surfrider Caravan Park residents still don't know if their insurance policies will cover the cost of rebuilding.

ILLAWARRA FLOODS: THE TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION

As Shellharbour and Kiama local government areas were declared natural disaster areas yesterday, the effects of Monday��s deluge continued. Many Illawarra roads remained closed or water affected while facilities and schools were shut. Phone and internet services were disrupted at Corrimal, Dapto and Port Kembla after floods damaged a key cable in Horsley.

Buildings incomplete

HUNTER schools are still dealing with a fallout from the state government's bungled arm of the Building Education Revolution program.

Scores homeless after the deluge

A SOMBRE pall hangs over the soggy rubbish dump nearly 300 people once called home.

the deluge

"George St is like white water rafting. I've never seen anything like it." - Arthur Sanfilippo, Warilla.

Heroism in tourist boat capsize to be honoured

BALANCE had always been a guiding principle for David Andren, a principle that helped him sail Hobie Cat yachts on Sydney Harbour, and which he refined during his architecture course at the Queensland University of Technology.

It's piping hot comedy, delivered straight to your door

SOME nights you just want to curl up on the couch and order in. But today, the choice of stay-at-home fare is not just between Indian or Thai. Now, you can get live theatre home-delivered.

The Gallery

Design choices put to bed

15/95-97 Johnston Street, Annandale

15/95-97 Johnston Street, Annandale $480,000+ Built 1975 Renovated 2008 Size 95 sq m Strata levy $480 a quarter Auction April 9 Inspect Sat, 11-11.45am; Thu, 6-6.45pm Agent Gerber Properties, 9560 4311 or 0414 800 088

A Eureka moment

Justine Costigan is among history at a grand hotel, faithfully restored. Craig's Royal Hotel Address 10 Lydiard Street, Ballarat.

Bringing the world's interiors to your door

It's a riot at this colourful homewares emporium that reflects the global roamings of its owner.

Downsizing signals many changes

It's an opportunity for a new, streamlined lifestyle as well as a different home.

Understand the mouse trap

Sharon Copeland-Smith ponders the usefulness of our handy desk mate.

Exodus overwhelms Tokyo airport

AS RADIATION warnings escalate, food and water runs short and rumours sweep the city of another big quake coming, Tokyo's international airport has become an outlet for this city's fear.

Culture vultures

Foodies flock here for the wide range of flavours and historical connections, writes Lucy Barbour.

Monitor of silly walks

SWAYERS are the pedestrians from hell when you're a walker in a hurry at lunch time in Sydney's CBD. They're worse even than their close companions, the self-absorbed texters, whose absorption with sending the latest txt msg makes them oblivious to the swirling tide around them.

Dignity found in mopping up the mess

Be grateful for menial jobs ��� they can teach you a lot about yourself, writes Dave Cauldwell.

Home is where the borscht is

MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS Rhoda Janzen Atlantic Books, 241pp, $29.99

Objectivity

GRAND PRIX CHAIR, 1957

Finally, a place to call home

A worldwide project aimed at housing homeless people is a big success in NSW, writes Adele Horin.

One-of-a-kind experience

A St Kilda homewares retailer wants nothing to do with mass-market shopping.

Strategies for success

How do you get the best price for your house? Nick Galvin asks the professionals.

the source

SENSATIONAL ANTIQUES

High hopes for growth of timber towers

CANADIAN architect Michael Green had a key message for the Green Cities conference in Melbourne last week: high-rise towers can be built from timber and have a big role to play in a carbon-conscious urban world.

Seven weeks on, Charlton is still feeling flood pain

GAIL Smyth can see straight through her walls, and if she felt so inclined, she could walk through them too. The internal walls in her Charlton home have been ripped out, after "nine foot tall" mould was discovered growing in them.

NOTEBOOK

Twenty-four-hour schools on the cards

Living large in small spaces

AS INNER-CITY LIVING AREAS SHRINK, SO MUST FURNITURE TO MAKE CLEVER USE OF THE SPACE AVAILABLE.

A home for all reasons

Apartments are the property ladder's intersection point, where first-time buyers live next to those abandoning the suburbs in favour of the city, so choosing one is as much about what goes on outside the four walls as inside. Michelle Dunner talks to three owners.

Making the most of your space

LIVING AREA

Small victories

There are heaps of tricks for getting the most out of the space, reports Rachelle Unreich.

Car injures diners

At least 18 people were injured when an elderly man crashed his car through a restaurant in Frankston yesterday.

Grand vision made intimate

Early plans for this Sorrento house were scaled back without losing the style, writes Kerrie O'Brien.

It all into place falls

Built over a waterfall, this sublime Sydney house has spectacular views from every room, writes Andrea Jones.

the source

THE LOOK FOR LESS

Secret hideouts

Small bars in out-of-the-way locations have big appeal for the suburb's drinkers, writes Ellen Connolly.