Complete transformations of dilapidated, disjointed and diminutive properties in the heart of Valletta and Rabat into boutique accommodation, bringing out their maximum potential and playing with the past, come to the fore in the August issue of Places: Design & Living.

Out with The Sunday Times of Malta tomorrow, the architecture, interiors and environment magazine showcases fine examples of “informal luxury” in an old kerrejja in the capital, which has been converted into three apartments in a playful celebration of space.  

The magazine also shows how compact can be comfortable in what appeared to be a hole in the wall, but was turned into a successful game to win space.

More homes are peered into, with a focus on the ground-floor living area of a Mosta townhouse that goes against the open-plan grain to segregate the space, while keeping the visual dialogue going and maintaining the individual identity of each area.

Practical tips to buy the right blinds, for good lighting and also gardening sit comfortably with details on the conservation process of canvas paintings in the Mosta Rotunda; while a Danish furniture designer creates “clean canvases” on which customers can paint their own personality; and the milestones of a Maltese architect in the UK continue to be marked with his London studio’s latest coffee house creation.

Places: Design & Living is a bimonthly magazine, produced and published by Allied Newspapers Ltd.