10 Of Our Favourite Rental Homes From 2023

Grace Dlabik’s Modernist + Accessible Family Home

Grace Dlabik (creative director, artist, and director of BE. ONE) spent 20 years looking for an accessible Melbourne rental property to comfortably and safely live with her son, Elijah, who lives with cerebral palsy.

Two decades later; she finally secured this Donvale modernist 1970s house. While the property isn’t fully accessible, its wide hallways, brick floors, and generous spaces have marked a huge improvement in the family’s quality of life, allowing Elijah to move around the home in his electric wheelchair and be easily bathed.

Originally designed for an artist by mid-century architect Charles Duncan, Grace has styled the home, nicknamed Art Haus, as a space for creation and community.

Read the full story here

An Alistair Knox Rental Home For Family + Friends

We’ve said it before and we’ll say again, local creative Tilly Barber knows how to find a great rental property!

The founder of furniture label Monde and styling studio Homebody recently moved into this North Warrandyte property with her son Mars (8) and friend Bianca Dansie, founder of Shen Space.

Both Tilly and Bianca were already living locally at the time, but they saw an opportunity to pursue this multi-dwelling property and its generous grounds (including a pool and tennis court) to better suit their home and work lives.

Together, they’ve enhanced the original Alistair Knox design with natural materials, including old methods of finishing and preserving timber.

Read the full story here

Artist Miranda Skoczek’s ‘Carnivalesque’ Family Apartment

Miranda Skoczek describes her Camberwell, Melbourne apartment as a ‘curious mix of art deco and quasi Tudor-esque’ features.

The home is one of two apartments in a circa 1930s brick building, which contains a quirky combination of curved balconies, arched windows, and decorative wrought iron details.

We recently visited the artist and her son Harper in their apartment, naturally decorated in Miranda’s convivial and colourful style!

Read the full story here

An Uber Stylish Rented Melbourne Warehouse, Transformed Beyond Belief

Whoever said a rental property can’t feel like a personalised home has never met Mishele Doueihy.

The artist and designer moved into this Fitzroy, Melbourne converted warehouse in 2019, shortly after the rare 170 square apartment had been divided and sublet into eight makeshift units, resulting in major damage.

The property had been renovated and restored, but it remained cold, dark, and in need of someone with exceptional vision to make it their own.

Enter, Mishele. Over the past four years, he’s worked tirelessly to bring this property to life through handmade furniture, art and impeccable styling, while reinstating the landlord’s faith in tenants!

Read the full story here

A Sydney Family’s Mid-Century Rented Home With Colourful Danish Influences

Good things come to those who wait — that’s what Madeleine Bulgin (creative director and founder/editor of The Authentik) told herself when embarking on an extensive search for a mid-century house to call home.

After six months, she found the perfect house for rent in St Ives, Sydney. The 1956 house was in great condition complete with all original mid-century features, a pool, huge yard, and nearby national park for her daughters Olive (7) and Dot (3) to explore!

Read the full story here

A 1970s Fitzroy Townhouse With An Eltham Feel

The Design Files’ love of 1960s-1980s houses in Melbourne’s leafy outer north-east is well documented (see here, here, and here!) but we also can’t resist a well-designed inner-city home.

This sharehouse is the best of both worlds: a circa 1970s brick townhouse with original retro interiors, in a prime Fitzroy North location near Edinburgh Gardens.

Step inside this inner-city Melbourne sanctuary shared by three creatives, spatial designer Henry King, artist Anna Fiedler, and film director Grace Moore.

Read the full story here

A Cosy Retro Rental In Melbourne’s North West

Michelle Campbell and Katy Louise, co-owners of Dogfolk Pet Photography and Pretty Fluffy, spent 18 months searching for the perfect rental property to call home.

They found it in this retro house in Maidstone — a northwestern Melbourne suburb they were previously unfamiliar with — that offered the space, light, and energy they (and their dogs!) were seeking.

The couple have styled the suburban, timber-panelled home with their collection of vintage pieces, indoor plants, and a growing art collection.

Read the full story here

An Eclectic Sydney Family Home, With International Flair

Depending on the image or angle you’re viewing of Chad Barnier and Heidi D’Elboux’s home, you might think the property is in Bali, Copenhagen, or even New York City.

The home — which is actually located in St Peters, in Sydney’s inner-west — ties together these global influences through its eclectic design and artful styling.

The result is an inspiring and vibrant family home for the couple, their one-year old son Dallas, and bulldog Nash.

Read the full story here

A Fun Melbourne Rental Styled With Memorabilia + Vintage Treasures

Bertie Coad’s father is an antique and vintage furniture collector — a hobby she’s inherited, that’s on full display in her Newport, Melbourne home.

The interior stylist rents the property, and has transformed it into a playful, fun home to suit ‘red wine, dim lights, sexy furniture, and sexy people.’

See inside this cheerful and beloved home, personalised with memorabilia on the walls, a vintage glass display, and sentimental art.

Read the full story here

Camelia Farhoodi + Ramsay Hosn’s New York-Style Fitzroy Townhouse

The home of content creator Camelia Farhoodi and photographer Ramsay Hosn is a little slice of New York City in Melbourne.

The couple rent the two-storey Fitzroy townhouse — part of a recently-completed development designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects —  that features enough space to work from home, and house their pet snake, Leche!

Read the full story here