6 Rental Homes We Loved In 2024
Homes
A Stylish Inner City Share House Filled With Mid-Century Furniture
Finding a desirable place to rent in inner-city Melbourne increasingly feels like hitting the jackpot.
Indeed, Elle Ross, interior designer at Studio A.mi, thanks the ‘the share house gods’ for sending this apartment to Elle and her housemates!
It’s a large apartment by any standards, but especially for the inner-city, and it’s been styled with mostly mid-century furniture that perfectly accent its timber ceiling beams and exposed brick walls.
A Shared South Yarra Apartment With An Eclectic, Parisian Feel
Howard Lawson was an architect not appreciated in his own time.
100 years later, however, his buildings are coveted by those in the know — particularly those in South Yarra, including the Beverley Hills complex.
Photographer and visual director Nicole Williams lives in one of Lawson’s more under-the-radar buildings, which she instantly recognised as ‘magic’ when inspecting the property for lease.
She found a housemate, Ethan Wairau, who shares a similar personal style, leading them to create the eclectic, Parisian-inspired apartment you see today.
This Quirky Fitzroy Home Is A Masterclass In Eclectic Styling
Curator and collector Ben Mooney’s unique Melbourne home serves multiple purposes.
Downstairs, the quirky Victorian is dedicated to Ben’s homewares store, Ma House Supply Store, and upstairs, you’ll find Ma House — Ben’s unique apartment and photoshoot space, all rolled into one!
It’s a wonderland of second-hand treasures, where everything looks like it’s been there since the building was constructed in the early 1900s. In reality, it’s a manifestation of Ben’s lifelong love of collecting ‘things’, his inimitable knack for styling, and more than two years of renovations.
A Designer’s Modernist Treehouse Rental
Without Studio creative director Sarah Shinners is the master of making a rental property her own.
We previously visited her Victorian house in Clifton Hill, and she’s once again nailed it in the decoration of her modernist home in Montmorency, shared with husband Patrick and toddler Sullivan!
The family moved into the home in 2022, kickstarting what Sarah calls a ‘personality overhaul’ of the interiors without altering the mid-century architecture.
In Sarah’s hands, the house now embraces its leafy surrounds during the day, and turns its attention inwards at night to form a cosy, heartwarming interior.
A 1970s Apartment Made Wabi-Sabi Home
Clare Moore appreciates perfectly imperfect furniture and simply-designed interiors, devoid of excess decoration.
These interests are evident in her Melbourne home: a circa 1970s Carlton apartment, styled with an ever-changing array of vintage pieces that impart a wabi-sabi feel.
It’s now a cosy haven for Clare and her housemate, in the heart of Melbourne’s inner north.
A Charming Sandstone Cottage In A Former Horse Stable
There isn’t a single plasterboard or painted wall in the heritage home of Studio Barbara co-director Ben Selke, and Joep Van De Kruijs. Instead, original sandstone walls give the home its unique character, and an inherently cosy feel.
So inviting was the cottage, that the couple broke their previous lease after just five months to move into the enchanting property — a former horse stable — and bring it back to life.
Inspired by the historic Darlinghurst laneways and streets outside, Ben and Joep have styled the home with unexpected layering and an eclectic use of colour that expresses their individuality and creativity.