Melbourne

Brenton and Katie turned a dated former stable in Melbourne into a bright, plant-filled home and ceramics studio.

After El lost her husband, she fell out of love with this house. “What started off as a small project to take my mind off my grief turned into a passion and a love of painting and color!”

This modern loft reno features concrete columns, high ceilings, exposed beams, great brickwork, and cool plywood shelves.

Eishi describes this home’s style as colorful, silly, and fun. “It’s definitely a bit over the top, which we love, and it definitely cheers us up and lifts our mood.”

“The difference some paint can make to a space is incredible,” homeowner Cass Danson shares.

Tour a sustainably minded, two-bedroom apartment in Melbourne's Collingwood neighborhood that has an absolutely dreamy outdoor area that's small but functional.

Carrissa Leary is the founder of the Instagram-based vintage furniture company, Hendrix and Willow. She shares this large rental house with her two kids, her two dogs, and a ton of stunning vintage furniture and decor pieces.

Lisa and Eddie slowly transformed this space, layering textures of lush rugs and velvet, an antique mirror kitchen backsplash, and moody blue French wash walls to create this 516-square-foot retreat. "The space is small so we had to be thoughtful about the placement of absolutely everything."

Photographer Breeana Dunbar has shaped this 560-square-foot one-bedroom apartment into the perfect home, including turning part of the living room into a bedroom for her son.

Fenella and her family moved into their Melbourne home under a year ago, and they've been busy at work at colorful, unique pieces that give their house character. Fenella says she could spend hours scouring Etsy for items that bring their home together in an interesting way that speaks to her style.

Jo Dabrowski, a children’s book author and illustrator, shares this Melbourne home with her husband and two sons. Each room has its own distinct color that gives the house texture and life.

Handweaver Mary Burgess has lived in this townhouse in Melbourne for 22 years, filling it with beautiful textiles, art, and lots of unconventional storage container ideas that embrace secondhand sustainability.

Designer Emily Green, also the co-owner of a gift and homewares shop called Pinky’s, shares this three-bedroom weatherboard house in Melbourne with her family.

Alex is a consultant who’s spent the past decade working in strategy and Alyssa is an educator who now works at a global non-profit. Together they have filled this gorgeous rental apartment in Melbourne with great vintage finds.

Ginger Tayler's home's style is "Old Hollywood and Palm Springs architecture, Jayne Mansfield's house, the Playboy mansion, 1970s decor, log cabins, and old motels. Particularly American ones."

Josh and Matt struggled to decorate their home while ensuring they didn’t damage their rental... so they make their own home decor and art that's easy to install AND remove.

Marita McCausland, the owner of interiors and indoor plant store Into the Wild, shares this renovated 1940s weatherboard home with her husband Stuart, two young daughters, and two pet spoodles.

Blogger and fashion stylist Hayley Hughes describes her Australian rental home's style as "Think modern 'Golden Girls,' heavily pink with lots of vintage and quirky pieces and lots and lots of art!"

Julia is the painter behind Summer Svenson, a colorful collection of creations ranging from canvas, to baubles, to plant pots featuring energetic abstract patterns and an array of adorable motifs, like tigers, fish, cats, dogs, faces, and much, much more.

Artist Paula Mills' home is filled with vintage furniture and decor, cool collections, and her own beautiful artwork by Paula.

Built in 1975, it features incredible wallpapers, wooden feature walls, curved corners, modern floral artwork, and neon signs.

Anna Castles' house is designed around an internal courtyard, which means they have natural light flooding their living area all day; they can look out at their beautiful mural and feel connected to outside.

Monique and Aswan designed and built a STUNNING tiny house... and they were crowned the Teeny Tiny bracket winner in Apartment Therapy's Small/Cool contest.

Kate Scanlon has converted an office space into her very own indoor greenhouse in the middle of her home!

This home features wooden windows, a lovely fireplace, sunlight, and beautiful creations by the artists who live within it.

Ryan and Emily (plus cute dog Eve) are a creative couple that have created a vintage-style home in their two-bedroom rental, which is situated in a quiet pocket of inner-city Melbourne above a business.

Gayle has made it her mission to fill their home with color, and she firmly believes there is no such thing as too many plants!

"You can never have too many plants. The greatest reward of setting up your home aesthetically is to improve your mental well-being. Plants are just artwork!"

Thanks to 3M removable wall hooks and some serious styling skills, Kitiya and Matt's Melbourne rental apartment is colorful and personal.

Tim needed to create definition for his apartment and no area could go unused, so his timber mezzanine (‘the mezz’) defines the apartment entry, provides storage, and triples as a glorified coat and hat rack. It can even be used as a sleeping loft.

Name: Freddy Grant, with Burt, my husband, Grungle, our Jack Russell, and Totoro, our giant Maine Coon.Location: Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne, Australia Size: 1600 square feetYears lived in: 2.5 years, owned This house has been my latest outlet for my creativity; hunting for things and putting them together with your lifetime of mementos to make a space you love, full of memories and meaning.

It's got an airy, chilled coastal vibe.

Thomas Denning and his partner live in this small Melbourne apartment absolutely brimming with lush green plant life.

Maria Flores of SAY HOLA describes her Australian home's style as "color-bomb transitional."

Name: Katrina & Draz, their son, Eddie, and Yoshi the dog Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Size: 120 square metres (1,292 square feet) Years lived in: 5 years; Owned Katrina and Draz are absolute fans the 1950s, rock-n-roll and vintage Americana, so it’s no surprise that their home reflects all of these things.

Originally built in the late 1970s, this house features a design with an open kitchen, huge walls of glass, and concrete block walls.

Chela is the founder of Takeawei ceramics, and her Australian home is colorful, warm, and eclectic.

Art Deco details about in this florist's gorgeous Australian apartment, like high ceilings, picture rails, brick walls, and wooden sash windows.

Everything else in this house is stunning, as well, including all the art and the handmade furniture!

Artist and illustrator Madeleine Stamer's Australian home is full of art, color, and cute cats.

Name: Madeleine and Karl Stamer Location: Caulfield; Melbourne, Australia Size: 110 square metres (1,184 square feet) Years lived in: 2 years; Owned for 10 years The minute you walk into this wonderful family home- filled with color and beautiful artwork, much of it created by Madeleine- you wish it was your own. The mixture of vintage, new, and handmade/handcrafted has been collected over time and is well thought-out and displayed so effortlessly.

Color and patterns are constant decor elements here, and lots of things are made from local designers. If they don’t love it or use it, they lose it!

It's Scandinavian-inspired, but with the joy and bolder colors of Australian homes we've seen.

Letitia Green's Australia home is filled with bright, vibrant color, beautiful artwork, decor, and her own collaborative designs.

This house features bold colors, signs, and other interesting objects... and best of all almost everything in the house is preloved!

Candice and Eddie's colorful and happy apartment is housed in an old warehouse in Melbourne, Australia.

And her home studio is like an explosion of pink and sparkles at the end of the dark hallway.

This home is an utter treasure trove of art and objects collected over time.

This home's style is: "eclectic, usually dusty, mostly reused/ pre-loved, makeshift, and sometimes dangerous (sit on old stools at your own risk)."

Name: Katie Riddell, her husband Hamish, 9-year-old daughter Sophie, and Matilda their rescue dog. Location: South Eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia Years lived in: 16 years Katie Riddell is a former lawyer-turned-interior decorator and lives in a three-bedroom, late 1960s renovated brick veneer home with her husband Hamish and daughter Sophie. Their home is filled with treasured items collected on travels, or created by their daughter or Katie.

Name: Kate, Nick, Otis, and Zephyr, with dog Bucket Location: Frankston South — Melbourne, Australia Years lived in: 3 years, renting Kate—who runs the Instagram account The Little Beastie—has a love of interior design, decor, and craft, all of which can be seen throughout the rental home she shares with her family.

Name: Dan and Prue and 2 young children Location: Coburg, Melbourne, Australia Size: Around 1,075 square feet Years lived in: 10 years, owned Dan and Prue’s home is a work in progress. They purchased the house 10 years ago and have renovated over time slowly—room by room—when they have had the spare time. Impressive, as many parents know there isn’t a lot of spare time to work on big projects when there are two young children around!

Name: Gaylene and Johnny Krajewski Location: Melbourne’s CBD (Central Business District), Australia Size: Around 800 square feet Years lived in: 13 years, owned Gaylene and Johnny’s apartment is situated smack bang in the middle of Melbourne’s CBD, located in one of the city’s first tall buildings built in 1924—as an office building in the Palazzo style. It’s even classified by the National Trust as a notable building.

Name: Ineke Hutter and sons Leo and Arlo Location: Collingwood; Melbourne; Victoria, Australia Size: 139 square meters (1,496 square feet) Years lived in: 10 years; Owned For interior stylist and set decorator Ineke Hutter, living in a 100-year-old wool mill is something she still gets a kick out of, 10 years after she first moved in. She and her two sons share the space where many moons ago factory workers sorted the wool that came in from farms outside the city.

Name: Natalie Jarvis, husband Scott and children Matilda (3) and Stella (8mo) Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Size: 90 square metres (969 square feet) Years lived in: 1 year; Rented Natalie, her husband Scott and their two small children live in a leafy bayside pocket of Melbourne in a ground floor, three-bedroom apartment. Both are originally from New Zealand and they made the move to Australia just over nine years ago.

Name: Alice and Lucy Oehr & Otto the cat Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Size: 75 square metres (807 square feet) Years lived in: 5 years When sisters Alice and Lucy Oehr first took possession of their single-fronted brick cottage in the inner north of Melbourne it was an absolute “renovator’s delight.” Bought in 2011, Alice and Lucy set to work on a three-month summer holiday building project.

Name: Kirsten Perry Location: Preston — Melbourne, Victoria Size: 140 square metres Years lived in: Owned 4 years Ceramic artist and educational designer Kirsten lives in a one floor apartment in a suburb of Melbourne. Built in 1979, the brick apartment is filled with quirky ceramic artwork, decorative objects and totems, as well as planters to house her amazing collection of indoor plants.

Name: Chris and Neil Bellamy Location: Bayside Melbourne — Victoria, Australia Years lived in: Owned 15 years Chris and Neil Bellamy with their two children Denie and Rhys live in a quiet bayside suburb of Melbourne. Chris is a full time artist who also dabbles in interior design and styling. Neil works in building and finance. They designed and built this house together—living in the home while they renovated, with small children in tow. A challenge in itself!

Name: Sandra Eterovic Location: Inner-city Melbourne, Australia Size: 861 square feet Years lived in: Owned 20 years Sandra Eterovic is a talented visual artist whose work encompasses painting, illustration, textiles, knitting and all-round making of amazing things—as seen throughout her colourful and creative inner-city Melbourne home. Her home is situated in a narrow street and is an old single-fronted Victorian worker’s cottage that she bought 20 years ago.