Aussie Living Room We Love

A mix of warm Brazilian furniture, refined antiques, period furniture, and contemporary lighting turn this renovation project in a hip suburb of Melbourne, Australia, into a family home for the ages. Owners Lisa Gorman and Dean Angelucci converted their 1860s brick-faced stable into a relaxed but design-friendly home with the help of their friend and architect Emilio Fuscaldo. It doesn't hurt that Angelucci is a dealer in rare mid-century furniture—his eye is in display in their sitting room, an adults' retreat among the happy havoc wreaked by two young daughters. Slideshow

The formal lounge plays host to Angelucci’s collection of mid-century modern furniture. A pair of Leather Sling chairs by Aussie-born sculptor Clement Meadmore sit under the window; a black Snoopy lamp by Achille Castiglioni for Flos is on the mantle.

The sitting room is defined as much by its tony old fireplace as by Angelucci’s idiosyncratic collection of furniture. He calls the space one of the “period rooms” in contrast to the newer bits Fuscaldo designed. Taking “period” rather loosely, mid-century furniture carries the day: Leather Sling chairs by Clement Meadmore and lounge chairs by Jean Gillon keep an Eero Saarinen Carrara marble coffee table company in what Angelucci facetiously calls the “formal lounge.” “We’ve parked our more showpiece items here as the kids rarely venture into this room,” he says. “It’s more an adults’ retreat.”