Journal

If Sydney has a current fixation with pared-back minimalism, Superfreak politely ignores it. Located on Enmore Road in Marrickville, the café – designed by the Sydney-based architecture and interior design firm YSG Studio and housed in the former (famed) Serendipity ice-cream factory – leans into texture, colour and a certain 70s-inflected sociability. Think cork underfoot, yellow walls and glossy green datums – a “soulful sanctuary” spinning plates of “nourishing eats from sunup to mid-afternoon,” describes YSG’s Founding Director Yasmine Ghoniem. It’s confident, nostalgic, slightly surreal, and – importantly – entirely committed to mood.

A partner venue of LEIF, Superfreak and YSG reflect our shared sensibility, grounded in tactility, atmosphere, and the emotional resonance of well-considered spaces. We caught up with Ghoniem and the venue’s co-owner Mike Ico to talk about how the future classic came to be, and why looking backwards can sometimes be the most progressive move forward.

Photography by Phillip Huyhn. 

If you’ve ever wondered where Sydney’s most beautiful bouquets actually begin, the answer is: very early.

Ed West, director of POHO Flowers in Sydney’s Double Bay, starts most days at the flower markets before sunrise – a fast-paced, high-stakes environment where instinct, experience, and a good eye matter more than anything else. By the time the rest of us are deciding whether we need coffee or tea, West’s already secured the stems that will shape the day’s order and event arrangements.

POHO has cultivated a reputation for florals that feel directional without trying too hard – structured, but never stiff. In the lead-up to Mother’s Day, we asked Ed to walk us through a typical day, from pre-dawn market runs to the personal habits that happen once the flowers are finally put to bed.

Photography by Ryan Cullen.

Creative projects rarely begin in the same place — sometimes it starts with a concept, other times with a collaboration. Natural Order — published by Formist Editions and documenting 20 residential Australian gardens by Sydney and Byron Bay-based landscape practice Dangar Barin Smith  — is the latter: the result of a longstanding creative relationship between landscape creative William Dangar, writer Karen McCartney, designer and publisher Evi Oetomo, and photographer Prue Ruscoe.

A book we picked up for our shared perspective on nature and design — and quickly became one we couldn’t put down.

Versatile and practical, the LIFE Tote becomes a record of daily practice. Here we document the tools, essentials and small personal constants that make up the day — captured by the Australian creatives who carry them.

The motel is back — and it's better than ever. We’ve compiled a shortlist of understated stays doing the simple things exceptionally well.

Forget the grand lobby and the room service menu. The stays worth remembering are usually smaller, simpler and somewhere unexpected — a sun-warmed motel off the highway or converted retreat tucked into a town.

Here’s our shortlist of partner stays bringing that spirit back with fresh eyes.

A warm-up for the cooler months. This is your shortlist of places bringing steam, heat and calm to the everyday.

From bathhouses to saunas and contrast therapy spaces, communal bathing and heat-led rituals are some of the oldest wellness practices we know, shared across cultures, landscapes and centuries. Today, Australia’s growing network of recovery spaces is reimagining these traditions through thoughtful design and sensory detail.

As part of our amenities offering, LEIF partners with some of the country’s most considered spaces, each shaped by calm interiors and restorative experiences. Below, discover a shortlist of places worth sinking into as the mercury starts to dip.

A well-tended candle rewards you with a cleaner burn and a fuller, more expressive scent. Consider this your guide to getting the most from every LEIF fragrance.

At LEIF we’ve long believed that a candle can do more than scent a room – it sets the tone, working in harmony with light, furnishings and other surrounding elements. And whether your preference is the grounding smokiness of cult favourite Buddha Wood or the dewy grassiness of Flannel Flower, each of our hand-poured soy blend wax formulas is designed to shape a mood through fragrance – and burn best when treated with a little care.

Below, discover the essential steps to help your candle last longer, burn more evenly and fill your space with its full aromatic profile.

Yamba was the final stop on our Northern Rivers tour, and after several days visiting amenity partners and the region, the town marked a natural point for us to pause and look back on the trip.

Set at the mouth of the Clarence River, Yamba sits between river and ocean, shaped as much by water as by town life; a fitting place to close out the journey.

For the second leg of our Northern Rivers visit we followed the coast south, from Brunswick’s calm into Byron Bay’s brighter, more expansive register.

We travelled with photographer Ming Nomchong to visit several of our key partner venues, capturing vibrant moments between each shoot — cliffs and coves, still, bright mornings, and spaces designed to hold both rest and momentum.

For our recent Northern Rivers shoot — guided by local photographer Ming Nomchong — Brunswick Heads became our base. It’s easy to understand why: this town that balances salt, sunlight and an easygoing pace shaped, in ways small and large, the entire series.

From here, we moved between beaches, stays and the local institutions we love, capturing the textures and tones that define this part of the coast.

Some creatives arrive at their practice through discipline. Others, through instinct. For the Sydney-raised, Northern Rivers-based photographer Ming Nomchong, her calling has always been the latter: a pull towards light, open space, water and the quiet frequency of coastal life.

When the pace of ordinary life calls for pause, a change of scene acts as both meditation and inspiration. Here, we’ve curated a collection of partner stays spanning mountain peaks, bushland, seascapes and countryside. There’s a destination to suit every spirit – slow and in flow.

Image credit: Natalie McComas

At LEIF, collaboration is a way of seeing anew — uncovering fresh perspectives on the forms and materials around us. Each year, our Holiday Collection becomes a meeting point between art and design, where botanicals are reframed through different creative minds. More than seasonal keepsakes, these limited editions are experiments in perspective, inviting our community to see the familiar anew.

For 2025, we turned to the Sydney-based artist and typographer Mark Gowing, whose vision moves fluidly between visual abstraction, language and form.

For Ingvar Kenne, light is more than exposure. It carries character – reactive, alive. It creates atmosphere, shapes tone. And it introduces resistance: the kind of necessary friction that slows you down, asks you to look again. Through Kenne’s lens light softens, sharpens, conceals and reveals, and gives an otherwise stationary sculpture its mood.

Best known for his evocative portraiture in CITIZEN — since 1995 and ongoing — he has lately turned his lens to landscape in a portrait of [country], a study in presence and place. We invited Kenne to turn his attentive eye to the National Gallery of Australia, capturing our National Sculpture Garden Limited Edition Gift Sets.

Founded in 1994, Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) has established itself as a significant and innovative reference point in Australian architecture and urban design. The practice focus is on architecture as a civic endeavour with an emphasis on user experience and enjoyment of place.

LEIF partner venue Bundanon is a clear expression of KTA’s values — architecture shaped by place, purpose, people, and sustainability. We caught up with KTA Director and Principal Kerstin Thompson to discuss her design approach to the creation of Bundanon Art Museum and The Bridge.

What began as a distant restoration dream is now a reality for four iconic Australia Street restaurants — each with its own identity, yet still unmistakably connected by a love of great produce, sustainability, and thoughtful design.

We caught up with Sarah Doyle, Creative Director and founding partner of Paisano & Daughters, to talk about this iconic Inner West strip and shared vision over the past decade to bring Australia Street back to life — starting with Continental Deli, and now including Joe's Tavern, Mister Grotto, Osteria Mucca and Australia Street Suites.

Photography by Hugh O’Brien and Declan Blackall

High and low, far and wide — our amenity partners have you covered. We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite destinations, both close to home and further afield, to inspire your next escape.

The Isla was founded by a group of friends, and designed for friends. Casita is the latest addition by the group, bringing a holiday home for groups and families away from home.

We caught up with Yanna, director of Clay Interiors (and wife of one of the owners), to discuss the restoration of these wonderful motels.

Photography by Anson Smart and Ryan Linnegar.

Founded in 1999, Kennedy Nolan has built a reputation for bold, sustainable and design-driven architecture. Led by Patrick Kennedy and Rachel Nolan, the practice spans from residential projects to larger-scale commercial, educational, and public spaces — always with a focus on innovation, sustainability, and connection to place.

LEIF partner venue, HYDE Melbourne Place is a rare contemporary example of complete design, where both the building and the interiors are designed by Kennedy Nolan. Below, Principal and Founding Partner, Patrick Kennedy joins us to discuss the inspiration and process of the design.

Photography by Sean Fennessy, Kate Shanasy. 

Founded by a group of creatives, Capybara Bathing is a wellness sanctuary in the heart of Surry Hills. It’s an inclusive space to slow down and counter the rush of daily life.

We caught up with co-founders Natalie Cheung and Rebecca Qin to discuss the creation and vision for the space—bringing together diverse bathing cultures with the playful spirit of the capybara.

Photography by Declan Blackall and portrait by Jes Lindsay.

Eugene Tan has been documenting our beaches for the past 25 years, with the best of his work adorning the walls of Aquabumps, his fine art Gallery in Bondi. A local surfer and photographer, his favourite genre is aerial photography, along with being immersed in the ocean from first light. 

To mark our collaboration, we caught up with Uge to reflect on the journey of Aquabumps and what drives him to shoot at first light every single morning.

Created as an agrarian destination for guests, with a commitment to slow living and respect for nature, Copperstone by The Range Estates is a luxury homestead and retreat set on 48 acres of picturesque countryside in Bangalow/Bundjalung.

We spoke with Co-Founder and Creative Director Emma Lane to uncover the vision and design that shaped this beautiful property.

Photography by Sean Fennessy.

What began as a personal project evolved into our 2024 Holiday Collection when Co-Founder, Mark Evans, started training an AI model in our studio.

Text prompts, previous in-house renders and 3D model inputs all added a new dimension to bring coral characters to life, imagined in the ether.

What first began as an AI experiment, soon evolved into partnership after we met Ryan Donnelly, CEO of Resilient Reefs Foundation.

Conversations about coral grew into the creation of nine gift sets that help support their cause. We spoke with Ryan to learn more about the science of coral and the steps the Resilient Reefs Foundation is taking to ensure its survival.

Artist Bobby Clark has made her mark on the contemporary art scene with her distinctive geometric paintings. Inspired by the Bauhaus movement, her works are simplistic with hidden depth and emotions.

Flannel Flower is the hero of our latest fill. With a scent that is fresh and green it brings to mind a flower market filled with just-cut stems.

For our 2022 Holiday Collection, we collaborated with artist and designer Evi O to bring the holiday spirit to life.

Barefoot is a plant-based rug refresher and concentrated spot cleaner. Developed in collaboration with Armadillo, it was born from a shared design philosophy that is both distinctive and sustainable.