ASTRONOMY DOMINE

Venus' Baths, (Detail), in English Gardens of Caserta

The rear garden. Unlike the public display of the front garden, the rear garden should be thought of as a private, outside room used as an extension of the home in summer. Consider the variety of uses to which you and your family will put the garden and try to include as many as possible in your rear garden plan.

The candlelit dining room is glimpsed from the central courtyard.

In this carefully-planned entrance hall, interesting contrasts of texture all link up. The closely woven coir matting blends in with the terracotta painted walls, the silky, skin-covered upholstered stools tone with the dark, chunky, wooden bannisters, and the thick weave of the sofa looks good against the smooth cotton of the Roman shade.

Inspired by his homeland, Italian-born designer Danilo Silvestrin devised for his Munich client a star-crowned bel gioco di tetti - a fine play of roofs. The diffuse white glow from the window merges with the warmer light from the baseboard horizon.