Top 5 Projects of the Week: Unconventional Luxury Home to a Radical Terrace Makeover

Rob Fox—homify Rob Fox—homify
Urban Courtyard for Entertaining, Bestall & Co Landscape Design Ltd Bestall & Co Landscape Design Ltd Modern garden
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We're back! Following a short Easter break we're returning with our homify Top 5 and we're making up for lost time with a bang as this week's selection is one of our very favourites.

A quick explanation for the uninitiated: the homify Top 5 is a round up of the most popular articles of the last seven days. Simple? That's how we roll.

First you'll see our yellow jersey wearing champ, which is a luxurious but unconventional family home in London. Scroll down a little further to learn about the basics of building your very own fire pit and then prepare to be dazzled by a couple of radical before and after projects: one is a Buckinghamshire townhouse and the other, a terrace in sunny Portugal. Last but certainly not least, we'll give you a second opportunity to check out an awesome vision of alternative living from South Korea.

Told you it was going to be a great collection, huh?!

Now let's get started and don't forget to let us know which was your favourite article in the comments!

1. The Unconventional Luxury Family Home

People love a winner so let's start with the best. Our most popular article of the week was a 360 tour around this stunning home.

The design team in charge revealed that the build aimed to provide a healthier and more economical alternative to a conventional house. At first glance the house appears to be a typical suburban house but it really comes alive at the rear, where an exciting façade with large windows and terraces overlooks the garden.  It really does have to be seen to be believed!

2. Building Your Own Fire Pit

Outdoor fires are a hot thing, now and way back when. Even from the Stone Age, there was just something about creating a spark that has stayed with humankind throughout the centuries, which is possibly one reason to explain why this Ideabook got you all so fired up.

These days people are going ultra retro and getting their heat from stone-walled fire pits built into the earth. And why shouldn't they? A toasty warm fire pit is a marvellous way to ward off the chilly winter and it also allows you to warm up with friends and family on a summer’s night. Whether your outdoor snack choice includes either melted marshmallows or a bottle of Merlot (or why not both?), there is no denying that socialising ambience that a decent fire pit exudes.  With some stylish backyard entertaining in mind, homify took you on a DIY project to creating your own fire pit.

Ignite your imagination!

3. Before & After: The Totally Transformed Townhouse

Everyone loves a rags to riches, right? So how about this dramatic refurbishment project!

An overseas corporate client wanted his townhouse completely refurbished with the brief stating a contemporary interior with an air of sophistication was required. The gloomy kitchen you see here might not fill you with optimism but we can assure you—SPOILER ALERT—that the end result can be considered mission accomplished!

4. Terrible Terrace Gets a Radical Makeover

We absolutely adored this project and will go as far as to say that it's one of the most impressive courtyard transformations we've had the privilege to discover on homify.

In this amazing Ideabook, you can see how a client's vision of a courtyard of unmatched beauty and socialising was brought to fruition.

Before, the clients were unhappy owners of a courtyard that was a run down, unusable space that nobody felt comfortable being in. This was such a shame considering the warm and sunny weather of Barcelona was being wasted. Thankfully it's now a sophisticated and modern sanctuary located in one of the most desirable cities in the world.

If you missed this article the first time take a look now and become inspired by this brilliant project!

5. Good Living Inside a Container Home

Rounding out this week's Top 5 is this exciting home from South Korea, which pushes the envelope of alternative living.

Container home specialists at Uni-Box have continued their pursuit of building the perfect container home with their newest model hot off the factory floor, which the firm very kindly invited us to take a tour of it from top to bottom.

Formed from two containers, this new home defies its small floor space to be a bright and spacious residence that most would love to live in. Thanks to its smart interior design that includes amazing energy saving mechanisms, this container home could be the way of the future!

As always, we'll be back again same time next week. Hope to see you here!

Which article was your favourite this week? Let us know in the comments!

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