It all started with focaccia. A crisp and glistening slice of fluffy bread bathed in olive oil and crusted in salt, lit by a perfect stream of golden sunlight. This was one of the simple pleasures of lockdown, salivating over the sumptuous food creations on an Instagram page, Ellie’s Table.

Behind this enigmatic account is Ellie Bouhadana, an amateur cook and self-taught event planner who draws on her Jewish heritage when concocting her delectable Italo-Mediterranean dishes. Ellie started gathering a cult following among Melbourne’s food community last year, when her infamous focaccia became a staple inclusion in her ‘Doorstep Deliveries’- a home dinner service she began during Melbourne’s lockdown.

Things just went up from there. Between planning budgets and inventing menus for her regular pop-up dinners, Ellie spends her time conducting ‘research’ at local food haunts, getting food tips from her grandma and art directing her dreamy Instagram – all from her home in Balaclava. What a life!

Take a seat at Ellie’s (very well curated) table, and enjoy the luscious spread.

The garden accompanying this Federation home in Mosman, Sydney was already beautiful and grand, but the design needed consolidating to suit the modern day. 

Following a string of designers who worked on the garden in the past 100 years (the most recent being Peter Fudge), Wyer & Co stepped in to improve the functionality of the space. 

The landscape designers have since updated the extensive 1412 square metre garden, tying it all together with a varied plant palette.

Practicality was the key driver behind this Sydney garden makeover, but the vision of property owner and landscape designer Julian Bombardiere, owner of Ballast Landscape, has resulted in a lush and inspiring, yet still functional, space.

With careful planning and expertise, Julian has turned the once barren backyard into a layered garden full of interesting plant life, spread across several multipurpose zones.

It’s safe to say that 2020 was the year almost EVERYONE was happy to have a green space to retreat to – and if they didn’t, looking at others’ was (hopefully) the next best thing!

These are the outdoor oases that gave us calm and serenity in a year we spent locked inside. From rooftop pools to centuries-old acreages, suburban backyards and sprawling regional paradises – we love each and every one of these pockets of private wilderness!

For an inland property situated 25 kilometres north of Sydney, this magical garden could easily be mistaken for somewhere in the tropics. Matt Leacy of Landart is the brains behind this transformation of a steep and rocky block into a luscious residential garden.

Through a mix of native and tropical plantings, a converted dam pool, and some massive excavation works to wrangle the sloping site, Matt has delivered the very definition of an oasis.

Sam Crawford has been working on her garden since 2012.

In that time, the landscape designer has created a dreamy country wonderland in Clarkefield, filled with decadent flowerings, luscious native grasses and pockets of waterside serenity. She is constantly adding to this work-in-progress – paying close attention as it grows and evolves season after season.

Step into her paradise!