Fiona Storey
This bold new residence in Melbourne’s south east is home to a young family of 6. The home was craft-fully renovated by the team at Neil Architecture, and styled by Simone Haag, director of Simone Haag Interiors.
The final product is a sophisticated family living space with plum accents. David Neil and Simone Haag have revealed how the perfect colour palette, lighting, symmetry and hero piece are the secret to this show-stopping interior.
An artwork by Phoebe Halpin titled Bushfire II 2018, hangs on the wall in the informal living room. “I often use the salon hang,” says Simone. “Hanging smaller artworks around a large centre piece. You can create immediate interest with big impact by doing this.”
When it comes to creating a style moment in your home, the key to success is picking the perfect pieces to inform your colour palette, anchor the room and create decorative interest. “Every ‘wow’ style moment revolves around a hero piece,” says Simone. “Once you have that one beautiful piece, then everything else around it will look great.”
The oversized proportions, bold colour and trendy cord fabric make this Bambola armchair by Mario Bellini a focal point in the foyer, while the vertical lines on the wall, rug and chair ensure visual symmetry.
In this joint project, the informal living room is arranged around a rug in dark plum tones, which anchors the centre of the conversational furniture arrangement. “Materials play a large part in creating atmosphere,” says Simone. “A plush rug is cosy and soft underfoot, and a glowing table lamp sat on a pile of books will always feel like a private moment within a room.
“The kitchen island bench is the showpiece of the kitchen,” says David. “The Superwhite Dolomite honed stone top is soft and inviting and looks more like a piece of furniture, with looped legs at each end, and it has seating on both sides to fit the whole family.”
get inspired
Sometimes a hero piece isn’t as obvious as you might think. The look for this study – the happy colour palette and soft furnishings – was inspired by the pink Mattiazzi Osso Chairs. “Strong colours should be used in mass, not isolated in small areas,” says Simone. “Isolated areas of strong colour within a muted scheme can look disconnected.”
“Try to create moments of symmetry within an asymmetrical furniture arrangement or styling,” says Simone. “It can bring a little order to a room.”
The kitchen serves as the hub between the formal dining and informal living rooms, continuing themes of the joinery and paint colour from the adjoining spaces.
use colour correctly
Colour selection is an opportunity to set different moods, provide personality and create unity within a scheme, but it can also be the hero. “We tend to darken the colors in more intimate settings, such as a sitting room,” says David. “Colour can also make an artwork sing, and link the internal to the external, such as a ceiling that extends into an external soffit, or an entry wall that leads into a house. We’re not afraid to delve deep into the darker colour selections of the fan deck.’
“Try to create a moment of symmetry within an asymmetrical arrangement or styling – it can bring a little order to a room.”
This feminine study features more colour and pattern than the rest of the home. “We don’t generally opt for pastel schemes, but when offset with the masculine paint colour in the window reveal, we felt it was a great combination,” says Simone.
“We tend to gravitate towards a soft, cohesive palette,” says David. “We want each finish to be a part of the overall interior scheme, rather than standing out as a single, dominating feature.”
