High Design Meets Flea Market Finds in this Melbourne Home

Simone Haag and her team have an enviable flair for styling. This Melbourne home, where international design mixes with Parisian flea market finds, is yet another example of that prowess. She shares more about the project and some of its highlights 

Design Anthology: How did you meet the client? 

Simone Haag: We met the client through a trusted builder, who was a mutual collaborator. It was a long engagement, since the home was under construction and the client took the time to meet with us,  show us their current home and share their aspirations for their new home.

Can you tell us about them and their lifestyle?

The couple are adventurous, seasoned clients, who have a passion for property and travel. They were after a luxe pied-à-terre, a sanctuary for the stretches of time they reside in east Melbourne with their daughter.

The clients had already built multiple homes, and we realised that working with expert clients is a great privilege; it brings extra bandwidth for creative experiments, allowing us to make executive decisions on breathtakingly singular design pieces. This is the magic fairy dust that leads to outstanding outcomes.

What was their brief to you for the project?

The home was a blank canvas of soaring ceilings, abundant natural light and expansive spatial volumes. The home’s decorative elements, curated by our studio’s design lead, Melissa Strauch, needed to impart meaning, instil character and reflect the clients’ European flair. They wanted to introduce character and to shape and elevate with furniture, lighting, art and objects that would become the stars of the home.

What’s the overall size of the house?

It’s a three-bedroom apartment with expansive views across Treasury Gardens and the surrounding parliamentary buildings. The interior design was completed by Bates Smart and the large terrace garden was designed by Paul Bangay.

What was your approach to curating the various spaces in the home? 

We took inspiration from a recent studio trip to Paris and Milan, aiming to bring in European sensibilities through beautifully crafted pieces. The result is an apartment that is more like a vessel, a gallery-like collection of rooms that are unified according to the project’s design principles.

We elevated the minimal architecture with design pieces that speak of age-old craft and all but lost techniques, such as mosaic, intricate glasswork, metal smithing, carpentry, exquisite applications of materials and the precise composition of form. 

What are some of the furniture and design highlights? 

We envisioned the home as a repository where we could bring together intriguing pieces sourced from obscure Parisian flea markets and the allure of iconic design, the combination embodying the relationship between travel and superlative design.  

The Sole coffee table by Milan-based architect Hannes Peer is the star of the living room, with its solid brushed steel and wood base and hand-cut mosaic top. Then there’s the sinuous Tryst Three chandelier by Paul Matter, the arched Pietro Franceschini console, an Abacus pendant by Christopher Boots, a black stone Daniel Barbera table, and sumptuous Baxter sofas. 

Do you have a favourite element or design detail in the home?

I love that this project is an example of how our team collects, catalogues and draws on global influences picked up through travel, art and escapades into vintage places and spaces. I think we’ve really captured an atmosphere and ambience in this project, creating an Australian home with a European spirit.

Images by Tom Blachford