Design Anatomy
Welcome to Design Anatomy, where we examine the world of interiors and design. With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, Bree Banfield and Lauren Li are excited to share their insights and inspiration with you.
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Design Anatomy
The Design Anatomy Tour Recap: What Paris and Milan Can Teach Us
Welcome back for Season 2 of The Design Anatomy podcast!
After our incredible travel adventure with a fabulous group of design enthusiasts on our very first Design Anatomy Tour, we're buzzing to share what we discovered & experienced abroad.
Stepping into private Parisian and Milanese apartments was truly a pinch-us experience. From artist, Paul Mouginot's classic pre-Haussmann apartment to Architect & designer Sophie Dries' home in Paris, to Christian and Francesco's colour-drenched Milan apartment and the stunning former villa curated by the Droulers Architecture sisters – each space revealed secrets that photos simply cannot capture. These weren't just beautiful homes; they were masterclasses in spatial planning and cultural approaches to living.
The European approach turns Australian apartment design conventions upside down. Instead of knocking down walls for open-plan living, they embrace separate rooms that create distinct zones for specific purposes. Their kitchens exist as dedicated spaces rather than extensions of living areas. Dining spaces take precedence, reflecting the cultural importance of gathering for meals. Strategic use of mirrors, thoughtful lighting (no sea of downlights!), and brave applications of colour all worked together to create spaces with true character and depth.
What stayed with us wasn't just the beautiful design, but how these spaces reflected a fundamentally different philosophy about apartment living. Europeans aren't trying to emulate larger homes in smaller spaces – they're celebrating the unique qualities of apartment life through intelligent design choices that prioritize function, beauty and sociability. As Australia builds more apartments, perhaps it's time we looked beyond our shores for inspiration on creating spaces that truly work.
Want to experience these incredible private apartments for yourself? Our exclusive Milan/Paris tour returns in 2026, and we're heading to London this September! With just eight spots available on each tour, jump on our waitlist now to secure your
Thinking about joining Bree & Lauren in Milan 2026? Or perhaps London later this year, is more your design vibe?
Jump onto our wait lists below & be the first to know when all these amazing tours are happening.
Want the low-down on the good stuff? Sign up for the launch of Design Edit by Bree Banfield - curated pre-selected decor collections, workshops, design tours and trends. Learn more: BREE BANFIELD
If you're sitting at your desk about to send a fee proposal and you'd just like to run it by someone else first? Or have you ever had a client dilemma and it just doesn't feel right but no one you know understands (except for the dog)?
And do you wonder why you're not raking it in when you're practically living at your desk, busting your creative chops 'round the clock?
These are the things we're diving into with a small group of designers just like you. And so much more in THE DESIGN SOCIETY
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Okay, b, we're back. We are Feels like forever that we've been gone, doesn't it? I think we've shaken off jet lag and we're so excited to be talking with you again, and, of course, we're going to be talking about our trip for a bit. And guess what? I just got some really nice feedback in my inbox from one of the gorgeous people that came on our trip. Yes, without giving away who it was, I'm just going to say we asked if she had any feedback for you and me and she wrote you did a great job, girls, thanks for the trip of a lifetime. I just want to high-five you from here, brie. I just honestly we've said this to each other so many times and it's very pinched me that we had the most amazing group of women on our tour, that we couldn't have asked for a better group, and I think we were a bit spoiled. I'm like worried that nobody can match them. I know we challenge you, though. We challenge you to join us and match them, but yeah, they were. They were absolutely fabulous and we had some amazing, gorgeous times with them. So, yeah, I could. Honestly, it was so good, it was so good. I can't I can't fault it in terms of how wonderful they were. I agree. I mean, I wouldn't go so far to say we're speechless, because we do have a lot to say about it. So welcome you. Thank you for coming back and listening to us on the Design Anatomy.
Lauren:We took a little break, so we're here to talk about interior design and it's Bree and I. We're friends and fellow designers and we are going to be talking to a couple of guests as well. So today we wanted to talk about some of the experiences that we had in apartments in Milan and Paris. I've been traveling over there for a bit. In terms of Milan, it was so amazing to see and we'll drop this in some beautiful tours of amazing private apartments as part of our Design Anatomy tour Things that you would not be able to do if you just popped over there on your own. So I think that was really special and we got to do that in both Paris and Milan.
Lauren:But it just reinforced for me a lot of things about how well Europeans do small space living or apartment living, because I feel like in Australia and maybe it's also because, you know, there's always going to be that layer of history that we don't have. Let's just get that out of the way. People will always come at me and say, well, you know they have this and they have that, sure, but I still think there's lots of things we can do better and learn from those spaces. Right, I agree, and I mean to be fair as well. In Melbourne at least, we do have older buildings, and if you look at Paris, a lot of Paris was built in 1850. And we have buildings in Melbourne from 1850, but not many, not many, have survived that kind of distance. But it was really interesting.
Lauren:The first apartment that we visited was Paul's apartment. So Paul is a really amazing, gorgeous, warm, welcoming person that we were so honored to meet, and his background is in tech. So he's actually a client of Sophie Dries. So if you don't know who sophie is, you can go back a few episodes. Sophie is a french interior designer and her work features on the front cover of my book, the what's it called? Again, the french new look. That's so funny I'll get it wrong. The new french look. The french new look, look, the French new look. One of those Google that It'll come up. Your work is right on the cover of it. So that's really amazing, and to be able to step inside.
Lauren:That apartment was just quite a pinch me moment. As you sort of already mentioned before, we had quite a few of those literal. You just need to pinch me because I think I might be just dreaming right now. But you know that apartment was built actually before a lot of the Ha apartments. So those apartments in that era, like a lot of Paris, was all wiped out because it was all medieval little streets and everything. But Paul's apartment was, I think, 1840. So it was just before Haussmann. I don't know. I think 1840, so it was just before Haussmann. I don't know he'd come up with his first name anyway designed all of the streets of Paris and all the boulevards and everything. So his is actually quite an old apartment in Paris.
Lauren:But you know we talk about small living and it's not really that small. Did you find it that small? Well, do we know how big it is? Okay, I'm trying to like, I guess, to give people a bit of an idea, I guess, in the scheme of things, no, I've definitely seen smaller and I think that there are a lot of people living in cities like Paris, london, who live in quite small apartments. So in the scheme of that, I guess he had two living spaces, for instance, a living area and then a dedicated dining area as well as a bedroom, but only one bedroom.
Lauren:But I think what makes it feel small as well, in terms of not feel small overall in a negative way, but why you notice it's small is because their rooms are not necessarily open plan, like a lot of our apartments kind of try to be, and the kitchens are basically, you know, a galley kitchen, where you're just like one side is kitchen and it's got to also usually have a laundry in it, which he did quite cleverly, and those are the things I feel like. You kind of know you're in a smaller space, but you're right, the living area even in itself was a good size, um, so I guess we could say it was a medium size apartment, for for a paris living, do you think, but I think it's also. I think if you're comparing that apartment to an apartment that would be built in melbourne, it's quite a big apartment. But, as you say, with this the open planning, though, what what we do is we just put a kitchen to the edge of a living area and whereas his was just a separate room for a kitchen, which is something we don't do and I don't think anybody does that anymore. That's traditionally done right there. It's that's it kind of inherited, that type of living and then that's how they live. So it's sort of a bit cultural as well, whereas we, particularly with new apartments I think sometimes the issue with our apartments is we try and emulate a bigger home in a smaller space instead of embracing that it's a smaller space and making that work better or smarter.
Lauren:Do you know what I mean? I agree, I agree. I kind of feel like the open plan doesn't always work. I have a client at the moment who has an apartment in Docklands and hers is kitchen, open to living, open to dining, and it's actually a really hard space to work in because it's not super big. It's hard to make it feel a little bit more special. There's really not enough space to put stools at the kitchen bench, for instance, because the living area is right there. You could almost put the sofa like hard up against the bench, whereas if it had have been designed maybe in a different way, with a different approach to trying to make it feel like a bigger home that has a open plan area, it might've worked better.
Lauren:I think you know. Yeah, and it's it is a different way of life as well. Like the majority of australians live in a like a single dwelling, uh, not, uh, attached. You're in suburbia, that's true, yeah, yeah, I wonder if that's changing. Actually, and I would definitely change on that I reckon there'd be a lot more people now in in townhouses that are at least two on a block kind of thing than there are single tellings, right? Yeah, I think we have to change and I think that you know, looking at the way that you know, we, even that morning, when we rocked up to Paul's apartment and he was just gorgeous, he opened up his door and he let us look around, which is a big ask, right, yeah, and then we, we saw Sophie at the door and, anyway, after we saw his apartment, we walked to Sophie's apartment, and that's another thing.
Lauren:We walk from one home to another home and it's that being on the street, walking, it's a different lifestyle. It's so much more active. Um, I mean, you might catch the metro, but we, we just walked and that's the way people commute a lot more than what we do in our little suburban bubbles perhaps. Um, yeah, so the walking is good, but I often wonder, am I doing it more because I'm there as a visitor or does. Everybody is as much. I wanted that too. But then Sophie's home to her client's home is she would have walked there. Yeah, she would have. Yeah for sure. You know all of that.
Lauren:I mean, we're talking obviously about interior design, but I think it all influences just a different way of living, and I just love going when you go overseas and you get to sort of feel like, oh, what's, how do they get around people that live here? How do they live, how do they eat? It is the culture that can affect the interiors. Like interiors don't exist in a bubble, right, often the fact that you might have to have space for a bike and they don't have storage cages. It's not like here, where a lot of our apartments will have, you know, a basement and there's a storage cage and maybe that's where the bike goes or whatever. But, um, here there needs to be a space where the bike can hang or it's integrated into the space and it's not just sitting in the hallway right, and storage for things that you carry with you when you're walking. So if you walk a lot and you come into the home, you need to be able to like, have basket or bag or whatever it is. I think it's.
Lauren:I think that maybe that's thought about a little bit more, do you think? And also the commuting, but also the fact that in a place like Paris, at least, and in France and probably Italy, it's going to work, it's stopping for lunch and it's going home and having a meal and then going back to the office, or it's that different, that ritual of having lunch whereas we are oh, I'm just going to eat standing up or eat walking whilst I'm getting from A to B, or something that is so interesting. And I think that's why we see a lot more dining spaces, like an emphasis on the dining spaces in apartments, because it is that opportunity to stop, have a wine like just your regular lunch. It's just such a nice thing to. I don't think we don't do that, and I think even stopping for dinner, having the family come together for dinner, is something that's not happening as often in Australia as maybe it should, in my opinion, or it used to, but I think there's a real emphasis on stopping getting together for a meal in France and Italy.
Lauren:I'd say I think the other thing that they I mean definitely dining spaces and even when there's, and also having them slightly separate. I mean, if we think about Paul's apartment for a second, there was connection between the living area and the dining but there were still different rooms and not completely open, and so it kind of allows for even in a small space if you've got lots of. So all these people that we saw, and a lot of these I guess is the point you're making is they entertain, whether it's family or friends or whatever it is. They entertain in these small spaces and they do it quite well. And I think that having slightly separate rooms helps because you break out into little areas, right. So there might be a group of people talking, smoking whatever, drinking, in the living room, and then there's a different group in the dining room and even a different group in the kitchen, kind of thing, whereas here, if all those spaces are one space, we still do it, but it's not, it's still kind of part of the one group. I don't know if that makes sense, so that you can kind of have, like you know, I guess, different things happening, even you know, different discussions, and it's not, the noise isn't going to be as much and it's a little more intimate, so you can have those kind of little break-off groups I think that happens a bit too in these smaller spaces rather than kind of just this one big, open, small warehouse party in your apartment.
Lauren:Well, it's interesting because I suppose the spaces we visited are very elevated, they're very design-led, and I would have to say that not everybody lives like that. So I feel like if people are having friends over to entertain, I dare say that probably doesn't happen as often as what we might do in Australia. I think that they go out for dinner, they go out for lunch with friends and they probably don't entertain as much just because of the space not having as much space. I'm going to challenge you on that, because paul actually said that they have people over or that he has people to the house all the time and same with um sorry, jumping ahead a little bit to milan, um, christian and francesco purple. I've said that right. Um said the same thing they have their friends to the home and so that was important to them to have it so that they could have those conversations and entertain. So I think they may not cook massive meals, maybe because they don't have huge kitchens, but I think they do entertain at home for sure. I mean, I think they still go out, but I think that I think it's a it's part of what, um, that the culture is still to have people to your home and maybe to show it off. If you've got a house like that, I want people coming over, that's right, and I mean even for Sophie. So, yeah, in the morning we went to Paul's, then we, as I said, dashed across down the street and went to Sophie's. So Sophie's home that she shares with her husband and her child, they, she does use that for, uh, yeah, meetings and things, because in her studio room for her too, yeah, her studio is for working and she said she's got like samples and things happening everywhere so it's a nice. So it's a bit of a showcase. So I guess, yeah, not everybody has that that need for their space.
Lauren:And her space was, I guess, to preface with um, her space was quite large, I was. It was a big apartment, that's sure. I feel like that's a slightly unusual um thing to come across in terms of a big living area with actually open plan with the dining, but then a separate, smaller, let's say, a meals dining area and then still the small kitchen. So they don't do the big kitchen. You know, even when they do have the bigger space, then kind of a little breakout area, small, just like the one bathroom, cause that's the other thing that would rarely happen is that you would have ensuite. It's like a one bathroom situation, um, and then bedrooms, but, um, yeah, her, her space was quite big but, as you said, I think she, she needs to be able to bring clients through, um, and she uses it like a showroom to show, uh, because she's not just interior designer, she's product designer and as well, and, uh, and her husband's an artist, correct? So, yes, how cool, I know how cool was their apartment. We got to see, like, amazing mirror that she's designed that is just being released. I think that's through invisible collection.
Lauren:Um, she also had, I think it was, a coffee table by max lambs. Yeah, that was just incredible, very unique. They're like art pieces, aren't they? And then she's got, yes, it was just, oh, just to be immersed in that and just to her see the textures and her, if we sort of compare, um, you know, paul's space was quite classic, um, it was. It wasn't full of color, but it was full of personality and interest, and he's an artist as well. So, you know, had a couple of his pieces and he's a collector, so had some amazing artworks that brought so much to you know, again, small space living, I think artwork has a massive impact. You can have a space that potentially doesn't have a lot of character and bring character to it through what you put in it like artwork or rugs and furniture and things. And then Sophie's Place still quite classic but so eclectic and almost like.
Lauren:You know, our creative people live here, not just collectors. These are people who can see the beauty in all sorts of things and the way she brought those things together in that space, um was also it. There was no, there's nothing showroom or um precious about it. It was also so relaxed and yet so elevated and I love that. I love that feel because I think it's so hard to achieve it's. It's almost like a personality of its own. I think when you achieve that I think you just nailed it it's when we're describing it and saying that she uses it as a showroom. It's that doesn't. It's not a showroom, it's a home. It's still a home. Yeah, it, we've, we all.
Lauren:I think in Paul's space, um, and I think he was so warm and welcoming, but I think in Sophie's space we all felt really relaxed, very much so, yeah, and it also was so cute how she like made coffee and she got like the best croissants in Paris for us. It was just so, so special, it was just an absolute dream. And how gorgeous is Sophie? Ah, sophie is one of the most um, special people you'd meet, I think, because she is so talented I don't know how she does all the things that she does like I feel like she probably never stops and she's a mom and, you know, a business owner and an art. I just feel like she's the most generous person as well, like to a fault, so um, and really looked after us. We're so grateful to her whole like beautiful, totally.
Lauren:I mean, what an opportunity just to visit a Parisian apartment, but let alone one of the best, two of the best. And you know, I think there was some fabric hanging over a window and I said to her oh my gosh, I love this sheer fabric. She said, oh, that's actually a range that I'm going to be releasing soon. I'm like, are you insane? Do you stop? Do you sleep? And the fact that she's so, as you said, generous, she wants to share. And you know, we bumped into her in milan, which was so cool as well, and, um, she's, she knows everyone. She knows everyone in the industry, she's in published widely across every magazine and you know her collections of furniture, and there's not an ounce of pretentiousness there, she's just a genuine person. Anyway, we're probably going to stop raving up Hi, sophie, we're raving about you, I know. We just think that she's amazing and I have to say as well, um, off the topic of apartments, but just in general, like all of the show show rooms, probably I would say one or two were a little bit pretentious.
Lauren:I'm not going to say who, but I was just blown away by how warm and friendly they were. In Paris, I think so too. Yeah, because you don't know what to expect sometimes. Also, you know we're not. When we were visiting these showrooms on this occasion, we're bringing a group of people through, so it can be an inconvenience sometimes. No, we were absolutely welcomed and you know, sure, I guess there's a little bit of I mean, sometimes with some high end things comes a little bit of pretentiousness, but I didn't get that from anybody in particular in terms of the way we were kind of looked after. Everybody was really happy to share. You know what was new, what was happening in the showroom and you know hospitable offering of drinks and food. I love that. I'll always take some drinks and food. Exactly Everyone was just gorgeous.
Lauren:So I guess, talking about so that was sort of one morning that we had Paul's apartment and Sophie's and then we were in Milan, as you mentioned, we saw Christian and Francesco, who were divine. So Christian and Francesco have they're also creatives but not designers, so it was a bit of a DIY project for them, their apartment, and the apartment was in St Charlie. So if you know anything about Milan, it's kind of a bit of a new and upcoming area. It's, I guess if you're in Melbourne, it's kind of like being in the north. I don't know what would it be in Sydney north. I don't know what would it be in sydney, I don't know um, so it's, there's a lot of other designers and creatives kind of moving into the area and they found the space and they did so much work to it.
Lauren:Um, we'll share their, their instagram and they have a great um highlights reel on there where they show them literally, like you know, sledgehammer opening up between two rooms. So they had their space is again, it's just the one bedroom and, you know, entry, and the entry was amazing too. So they actually have a bit of a hall, bathroom, kitchen, and then they had these two spaces that they'd opened up, so between a dining and living room, and that was also reasonably big. And then just the way their use of, for me, their use of colour and even just gloss versus matte kind of, and the floors was very what I kind of see, and lighting was kind of very Milanese to me and I mean, mean, the color combinations were a little bit too. But you know, a stone floor which they, which they designed, um, based on kind of a geoponty, you know that classic geoponty, geometric um.
Lauren:And then having one of the great things about some of these older apartments is when, um, the use of like a gloss paint on walls and ceilings. And here we freak out because, uh, maybe they're brand new plasterboard and as soon as you put a gloss paint on it you can maybe see the joins of the plasterboard or whatever, um, because you're never going to have a perfect wall, but there the walls aren't perfect anyway. So you do a gloss and it shows up all the imperfections, but that's kind of what makes it amazing. So I love and and quite moody and immersive, that was sort of their, their vibe in there. Um, so it was very big contrast to what we'd seen in in Paris. With, you know, I feel like quite um, quintessential Parisian style apartment living versus the um, I guess you know in it on a designer level level versus the Milanese.
Lauren:So it was that amazing contrast to come into their apartment as our first one in Milan and see how they've transformed that space. Yeah, I was excited. Oh my God, it was so amazing. I'm just remembering what it smelled like as well. It was like an incense, almost like a. It was a fragrance, but it was just, oh my God, it was divine.
Lauren:And they were beautiful as well and they were very details-orientated couple, right. So, like in their bedroom, the way the bed was made, the perfection of it was just perfect. I'd love to just drop in there on a day where they were expecting me and just to check hey, do you make your bed like that? I'm sure they'd love that. I'll try it out next time, yeah, yeah, and that again, you know, they offered us coffee and chocolates and, uh, love, um, gorgeous, sorry, well, I was just remembering, you know, walking into that, as you say, that the marble floor it was sort of like different, uh, big slabs of um, different stones, it sort of as you walked in and then down that hallway, and then this hallway was painted in this gloss, really burgundy, brownish color, and then just strategic wall lights. So that's another thing actually. Oh, and the mirror right at the end. Yes, when you, when you walk in, there's, yeah, the lighting is, um, obviously a big part of it, but like, yeah, the gloss, the depth of color, the floor, and then the mirror at the end, which kind of just, I don't know, gives you that extra sense of depth as well, so it doesn't finish. But, yes, lighting, I also. Yeah, the lighting is so thoughtful and I think that is something that we we sometimes skip through that, you know, in australia the default is just for a sea of down lights on the roof, on the ceiling, sorry, which is just never flattering, but we saw wall lights used really cleverly.
Lauren:Yes, what I loved about their apartment as well was in the dining there was almost like a. It was like an Asian influence with the. Yeah, they said that too. Yeah, it was kind of like a framed wallpaper. Their first date was in a Japanese restaurant. So that was the inspiration. Was their first date? Yeah, yeah, so you had the textured. Would it have been Seagrass? Yeah, like a seagrass or a linen or something. Textured wallpaper or more Finnish than with the very simple kind of panel. So it made it feel like those Japanese rice paper panels. Right Screen yeah, I'm sure there's a word for that, but I don't know. Yeah, you'll just have to jump on their Instagram and have a look. Yeah, it was so stunning. So there was like a bit of an Eastern influence woven in.
Lauren:And, yeah, their bedroom was next level. It was so simple in that it was a wall colour and the bed linen that matched. I mean, they must have started with the bed linen because it was the epitome of what everyone is calling colour drenching. Now, right, it was which I would call a tonal space or even, you know, a colour blocked room. But yes, it was colour drenched. Would you call it like an ochre, somewhere between an ochre and an olive that colour? I did see it more into the greens as a green olive, and it was just like to try to photograph. It was impossible, it was really hard. Yeah, it was such an unusual colour. You couldn't capture it, yeah, no, it was so special. So, and that's another thing they did really well, okay.
Lauren:So again, very detailed, quite, I want to say minimal, even though it was a maximalist space, and I think obviously the color made it feel maximalist, but the detail was quite precision, which made it feel a little bit more minimal. But they had, um, symmetry, I think, was another thing they did really well. So in that space they had two cupboards either side of the bed and then they were mirrored. So then adding that mirror into that small space again just transformed it for me, like it bounced the light around and, you know, gives you, I guess, a little bit more of a feeling of depth, whereas if that had just been a texture or a color, it's still amazing, but it just would have given it a completely different feel. It was clever, wasn't it? Ah, super clever. So, considered so clever, I want to use mirror more. Yeah, it's inspiring, a lot of takeaways, so inspiring. And then the apartment we went to, oh my God.
Lauren:After that, the architecture practice that the sisters run is called Droolers Architecture. So they're twin sisters. They are very exquisite in themselves. The women are gorgeous, immaculate. I would say Immaculate, beautiful, not a hair out of place, presented, yes, the home.
Lauren:It was like in an old uh, I think they said it was like an old villa, so it was in like the down and out part of town. Um was so funny. She was telling us previously the down and out. I think it was previously the down and out gentrified and it used to be a brothel, and she said that sometimes some fat prostitutes rock up on the door. Still, I loved it how she said that and had to call them fat as well. It was so funny. She was painting a picture. Yes, she was, it was so, and I sort of imagined it could have been like a st kilda in melbourne. You know how. There's some amazing old houses, but they've had a history, they have a story. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and there were a lot of creatives, um, and artists living in that um building as well.
Lauren:So I guess the other thing that is different often in some of the Milanese apartments is they probably were a lot of them were one home at some point or a lot less homes, and they've been broken up into smaller spaces, but they often had that central courtyard which just makes it feel quite different. So you kind of enter, you enter from the outside, from the street, but you don't enter inside. You're still outside when you walk through. So you walk into that central courtyard and usually there's sort of like a concierge or they call it something else that I can't remember now. Um, and then you have, you know, usually two sets of stairs or one set that takes you around one way, depending on how many apartments there are, and that's what, um, this space was like, and and also no big rooms. They were all quite small spaces, I think.
Lauren:Once you came into this apartment, an entry which also I really love, how there's always an entry, like you know some. That's the other thing that a lot of our apartments do is you literally just walk into the space and there's no. You're like at the kitchen bench yeah, I really love an entry. It's a moment to kind of set the scene or, you know, even just to use to, like we talked about before, put things down and you know the things that you're carrying or whatever. Yeah, coats, jackets, like these are needed, yeah, and then kind of being introduced to the space. God, I love an entry. Let's have more entries. Oh, I totally agree, and they had that amazing checkerboard um flooring in that entry which I'm a messy fan of. So, oh my god. But they also had the checkerboard rug which was in their range. They do a range of different fabrics and rugs, these um two sisters, the jeweller's architecture, stunning, and it was like a metallic woven checkerboard rug.
Lauren:Yes, and there were some smaller rooms, but actually that main living area was quite generous. It had a wraparound built in so far. The second one yeah, the central yes, there was a few living areas, central one. The second one, central, yes, because we'll say there were. Yeah, it wasn't, we wouldn't say that was a um, a small, small apartment. So there was an entry, then there was what I would call like a parlor or a sitting room and then there was living space, which is the one you're talking about with, you know, the um, kind of almost built-in sofa all the way around the edges and that amazing artwork. Who's the artist? Oh, just a casual, anish Kapoor on the wall. Yeah, just casually, just casually.
Lauren:And the wallpaper, it was actually fabric. That's right, it was fabric. They'd found a sample of this wallpaper or fabric already in the property and they had a mill crew recreated. They created a, designed a border that would go with it as well, or something, and it was just amazing. It was just so, uh, was quite lavish. It still felt relaxing, though. It was still comfortable. You felt like you could still sit down, relax into it, have a glass of wine or your coffee or your tea, read your book. I think that's the other thing we should probably bring up.
Lauren:Side note is nobody makes a feature of their TV in these spaces. It might exist, but you might not know where it is, or it's in a separate room, which we've talked about before with Brim, and I feel like let's hope this is a trend where people start making, like I guess, a TV room and then they have their other main spaces as more social spaces or quiet spaces or spaces to kind of come together and chat rather than come together and stare at the wall. Totally, except I do need my TV to watch Hacks. Yes, when we've discussed Hacks, if nobody's watching it, go watch it. Yeah, and I do too, but I hardly ever actually I'll, maybe once a week with one of the kids, sit in the room and watch the big TV, but I tend to watch it on little screens while I'm doing other things. But I do love the idea of yes, I'm not saying get rid of TVs, even though I think there's lots of places that we've come across that go. We don't really have one, I couldn't live without it either but I do like the idea of it not being the central focus of the main living space. I really like that idea. It's so luxurious not to have a tv or, as you say, not to make it. If there was a tv in those spaces, it was either bought in I have one, like on an easel that I I pack away sometimes or whatever. But, um, but, yes, you can, it's hidden away, it's not the focal point of the room. So if you, if you've got an anish kapoor, you make that the focal point, and so you should.
Lauren:But there was also a library in that home as well. Yes, that was amazing and it was like I think it was. The shelves were a burgundy color and yet the mirrored ceiling. So apparently there was a decorative ceiling underneath that. Uh, what we saw was like a false ceiling. Yeah, it was a decorative ceiling underneath that. Uh, what we saw, it was like a false ceiling. Yeah, it was a false ceiling and I think they had to cover it for some reason I can't remember, but it just gave that illusion of this incredible never-ending library and mirror. Again, mirrored ceilings can be questionable. However, in that space, um, it worked. It really worked. That just just like extending books and um and the other, and there was a big kind of almost like a big dining table in there. I guess that you know you could put books on and and read and research, like a little mini library, that where you could actually like pull things off the shelves and spread them out. So seeing that reflected and the walls extended with the mirror just was like, yeah, magic.
Lauren:I loved that space actually incredible, and the kitchen was beautiful there and there was a rooftop garden. It was just such a treat. Talk about that for a second. So again, separate room it was bigger than other kitchens we've seen. It was a a little bit more of a layout that we'd recognise in Australia, with, you know, a kind of U-shape, I guess, with a bench that came across that I think maybe you could have even sat at the bench, like and had your breakfast or whatever, but it was sort of hidden.
Lauren:So when you left that main central living space to walk out to the rooftop terrace or the bathroom, there was an automatic door so you tapped it with your foot and it would slide open. It was big, big slide open, and then there was the kitchen, and then it would slide closed again. And not to mention a maid in there as well, that's not the right word. Let's say a house manager. Don't believe it, I'm not au fait with these kind of terms, but basically there was a lady in there. They had somebody helping out, for sure, behind that door, but that kitchen was.
Lauren:I loved the idea of that. I really loved the idea of that because really, if they left that really big sliding door open and we've talked about this before about, um, you know, trying to move away a little bit from open plan living and why maybe we should move away from it a little bit and have kitchens that can still connect, and we've talked about sliding doors it was kind of a perfect example of that. Even though it opened into kind of a thoroughfare, it wasn't far from the living area, so if someone was in the kitchen you could probably speak to the person in the living area with that door open. This was kind of a good example of how, or just leaving it open because it wasn't a kitchen to hide either. The kitchen wasn't amazing, it was beautiful, just to kind of like have people be able to wander in there. But also, if you don't want it to be seen or you want someone working away and they're making dinner while you're doing other things, it could be closed off like yeah, yeah, I think I will close off my maid in the kitchen. Stop it.
Lauren:Sorry, I can't say that, but it felt like we were in a movie. That's what it felt like for me. That that was like I was in a movie. It was so beautiful, um, and I think you know we got to go upstairs to a whole other apartment too, remember oh, that was divine which was smaller, much smaller. That was a gem, because that wasn't even released yet for the fair and they let us go in, no, so that was Domore's collaboration with the fabric brand which you're going to remember for me, japanese fabric brand. Yeah, it was called husu and it was a japanese. They make kimono, so they've been making kimonos for hundreds, hundreds of years, since 1650s or something like that. So they um, dug up the archives with the team from the moray studio and, um, they curated that collection and so re-released that. But the quality of those fabrics. I mean, when I walked in and I saw a chair upholstered, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and that was just an amazing experience as well.
Lauren:And I'm forgetting the name of the artist whose apartment it was, who does all the metal work. Oh, yes, oh, she, she was. Her pieces were divine so it was her. So she lived upstairs and had done quite a bit of work with um, with the girls, with the sisters, but we will find that and put it there because I feel bad that I can't remember now. Ozana visconti. Thank you, I was just trying to find it, ozana. Yes, so um, it was space, it was her apartment. Usually, in fact, I think, as we were leaving, was it her husband coming home with the pastries? He'd gone out to get the coffee and pastries for there, because this was on a Sunday, so we were getting ahead of everything on a Sunday before Design Week really gets going. So, yeah, we were very, very, very fortunate to get a completely um to the point where we took photos but were told they were embargoed until after the press had seen it. So we saw don't share them. Yeah, those are the sort of things we do on our tour.
Lauren:By the way, just just saying I mean, if you wanted to see the demore, um, you know a big show, big event at milan design week, you, you're up for at least a three-hour wait. Forget about that. We just walked straight into this exhibition here, this amazing apartment, and I think it was better. Yeah, it was good Because we got to really be immersed in the space, whereas, I don't know, I didn't see the Demore show this year. We'll discuss that because I did and it was probably one of my highlights. But we'll discuss that because I did and it was probably one of my highlights, but we'll discuss that in another.
Lauren:Okay, I haven't talked about it. Yeah, I haven't even asked you what you thought. I mean, the isana's apartment was, um, incredible, but the laura piana collab with demore was was probably a pretty big highlight for me in the end, and I yeah to the point where so I am a bit of a demore fan, I think, because, since I've been going to to Milan, it used to be that you could kind of just wander up and see through their showroom, and then it got to the point where it was three hours plus wait in lines, and I kind of managed every year to get myself in there without having to do that not ignoting myself, I'm just a good talker, I'm just a good talker. And this year I was like, okay, great, I'm going to get myself. And I actually tried twice and wouldn't get in, and then the third time I managed to secure a spot, but anyway, I did get to see it. I did, and it was literally the last day it was the Saturday evening that I ended up seeing it, one of the last things, but I was glad I did experience it. But we'll talk about that on another. We'll talk about some of the experiences in another episode.
Lauren:Yeah, well, I think the great thing um, maybe just to wrap this up was that travel and being able to go into a person's home it's just so rare, it is, and I think that you know talking about, as you were saying, you know the, the kitchen and the festival and the living, and this is the way it was organized. It's like, well, you don't get that from photography and it just opens up it. Yeah, it opens up ideas of how could we design a space. Yes, we do open plan all day long in australia, but there are other ways of living and you don't have to live like that. You don't have to live like that. People open, plan like there are other ways, yeah, and that look, and this is honestly where designers come into. You know, if you're looking at a space and you want a different approach, this is what we do. Right, we've put it. We open ourselves up to other ideas and this is why we travel and this is why we have, you know, these tours as well, because we want other people to be inspired and we want to take people on that journey and see things that maybe you wouldn't experience here. And it's a big deal. As you said, we've had people say a trip of a lifetime. I think I agree, if you haven't done that before, you'll be blown away, because we just can't as much as you can open yourself up to ideas here. There'll always be limitations and there'll always be limitations to what you can see online and in photos and in magazines.
Lauren:Experiencing that firsthand, even for myself and yourself, who you know, would like to think that we're pretty well versed at, you know, travel and getting out there was amazing and it was definitely something I will never forget Absolutely. Have I talked it up enough? Oh well, true. You know, people that know me will know I don't don't talk rubbish and I'm pretty straight talker and I'm very authentic about the fact that I think it was actually some of the best experiences I've had, even just for myself. On on that tour, yeah, it was amazing, wasn't it? It was great, I know't it, it was great. I know that we sort of said, oh, it feels surreal now that we're home, but I'm like, when we were there, it felt surreal. When I was there, yeah, I just as I said, it was just incredible. I mean, yeah, it's just such a rare experience.
Lauren:I think the apartment tours were really one of the highlights amongst many, and who doesn't like just to full stop snoop around someone's house? It's so fun. Isn't this why people go to open houses all the time, just like poke around? Yeah, this was next level, though, so I guess we should mention that we are going to do the Milan Paris tour again in 2026. Yes, but if you can't wait for that, did we decide we're opening that up in July, in a few weeks? Yeah, I think July. Yeah, I think that sounds good. So keep an eye out for that and get on the wait list. So I think and we'll start pushing this out on social so you'll see it, but also it'll be in the show notes. But do get on the wait list because we only take eight people. We will not be taking any more than eight. We want to keep it a pretty intimate experience and we know that that's the maximum amount and it sold out very quickly in a short time last year and now that we're talking about it more, I feel like it will probably be snapped up again quite quickly. So if you're on the waitlist, you'll hear about it first and we'll definitely open it up to the waitlist at least a couple of days, or at least 24 hours, before we open it up to everyone else. So jump on that.
Lauren:Oh, and before Paris and Milan right, just to throw another thing in there, if Paris and Milan is at your thing, where are we going, lauren? We're going to London, ear thing. Where are we going, lauren? We're going to london. London's calling. So before we started our trip, I went over to london and I did some research. It was all strictly work that I did for you, for you, for you listening. Such a sacrifice. It was really hard. It was such hard work. I had to find all these cool places and just check they were cool. Um, so we are going in september for london design festival, so there's a whole lot of speakers that do discussions and different events that happen over that week. So we want to take you guys over there because London is like such an exciting city I don't even need to tell you guys about it because it's London. Yes, it is.
Lauren:I was in London last year before Milan and can confirm very cool. My first time I was there, to be honest, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I loved it. It has an amazing energy. It really is also a bit of a design mecca that maybe we overlook a little bit. I know a lot of designers kind of think about going to work there when they are younger, as you did, lauren. I probably would have had.
Lauren:I had the opportunity, but I think it's sort of maybe we focus a lot on Milan and London has some amazing makers, designers. We know there are beautiful spaces there, so we'll be tracking those down and taking you on tours of that. We've already made some amazing connections with people there who are very excited for us to join them during the Design Festival. And yeah, that's Design Festival, so it's going to have a great vibe, anyway, right, so great, during the design festival. And, yeah, that's design festival, so it's going to have a great vibe anyway, right, so great. Yeah, I went down the pimlico road and there are some gorgeous designers that I'm sure you'll know there's pinch, there's oka, there's devil kitchens, there's just like heaps of beautiful places, but also, you know, they do fabric, they do color and patterns, so well, yeah, so I'm so excited to kind of dive into that kind of world yes, me too. So good, and to take you guys on the wait list. Come along. Yes, again, same thing, we're hoping. Well, frankly, we've had the wait list open already and, um, there's a really good number of people on there. So, uh, you know again, there'll only be eight spots. So please jump on and prepare yourselves. September isn't that far away. So we'll be opening that up very, very soon. Yeah, so excited.
Lauren:Oh, london, I love it. I love it so much. What's the weather going to be like in September? Hopefully, some sunny days, maybe. Who knows what the weather is going to be like there, but you know, london is just such a vibrant city that we are going to have a good time. Weather is going to be like there, but you know, london is just such a vibrant city that we are going to have a good time. I'm going to guarantee that right now. All right, so I think we will wrap up. Let you get back on with it. Thanks again for listening. It was great to talk with you again and all the links are in the podcast notes so you can go and do that whenever. See ya.