Starred architect: Barbara Bestor

The LA Times and Martha Stewart Living featured some of architect Barbara Bestor’s work recently in the Chiselhurst residence (shown left) and while few of us have the scale of this house to play with, it is jam-packed with OMG!! ideas that can be easily adapted to our “two-family suburbans” as, I believe, Americans call our semi-Ds. Lightbulbs will go on in your head over storage ideas that double as window seating as in the custom-made storage topped with bright cushioning pictured. On her website there are fab floors covered with Nicaraguan tiles that could be an afternoon's stenciling for the crafty. There’s also mega-wattage glossy yellow on a wardrobe door (who needs Lanzarote or Gran Canaria this year when you can wake up to this?) Her buildings are impressive on the outside but win your heart with the interiors: not just in how she uses colour, space and furniture, but how she creates moods from restful to work-friendly. (And have a look at the black and white pics of two kids as the main graphic on the Stussy shop wall.) You can see her work at bestorarchitecture.com or, if you’re a Michael Connelly fan, you can see her take on Harry Bosch’s territory in Bohemian Modern: Living in Silverlake, published by Harper Collins.