Houzz Tours
My Houzz: Decorating a Mid-Century Robin Boyd Home
The Szabo family stay true to the original ethos of this mid-century home that was designed by a modern Australian master architect
Fiona, her husband, Jack Szabo, and their son, Leroy, began the search for a new home in late 2009, in response to a desire for a bigger space to suit the needs of their growing family. They had outgrown their beloved Art Deco duplex in East Malvern, and while the decision to move was a difficult one, it paid off when they stumbled across this Robin Boyd house in the quaint suburb of Mitcham, an outer suburb of Melbourne. The couple brought their best secondhand finds and 1960s-inspired furniture with them to bring out the home’s essential mid-century charm.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Fiona, a secondary school art teacher, and Jack Szabo, a freelance writer and psychology student, along with their seven-year-old son, Leroy
Location: Mitcham, Victoria
Size: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Fiona, a secondary school art teacher, and Jack Szabo, a freelance writer and psychology student, along with their seven-year-old son, Leroy
Location: Mitcham, Victoria
Size: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
The house was very much in its original state when the young family moved in. “We were attracted first and foremost to the retro design of the house,” says Fiona. The timber panels, mustard-coloured carpet and high beam ceilings have been embraced and accentuated by the family with their own decor.
Curtains: Ikea
Curtains: Ikea
Plans for the future will one day involve a full kitchen renovation. Fiona says it’s important that a modernist aesthetic is kept in mind when redesigning this space, as it forms one of the main rooms in the open layout of the house.
Clock and colourful canisters: Kmart; tins: Ikea
An eclectic mix of furniture and artwork have been cleverly employed by Fiona and Jack, to pay homage to the home’s roots. “Old and new along with bargain buys, mixed with cool and timeless pieces and a bit of quirky thrown in – that’s how I would describe our style,” says Fiona.
The family room is a space that is often used as an extension of the kitchen and is also a play area for Leroy. Fiona and Jack love the timber-panelled walls. They feel the organic feature brings the outdoors in and breaks up the other white walls throughout the home.
The toy storage box is a family heirloom of Fiona’s.
The family room is a space that is often used as an extension of the kitchen and is also a play area for Leroy. Fiona and Jack love the timber-panelled walls. They feel the organic feature brings the outdoors in and breaks up the other white walls throughout the home.
The toy storage box is a family heirloom of Fiona’s.
Limited-edition tea towels: Third Drawer Down
The open-plan design of this home makes it ideal for entertaining, and Fiona says the family use all spaces equally.
The flow of the floor plan gently follows the slope of the block and the whole house has been oriented to catch northern sunlight.
While the family love the original mustard-coloured carpet that appeared throughout the home when they first moved in, they limited it to the sunken lounge area. “I like the carpet,” says Fiona, “but felt it was too much running right through the house.”
One of the main renovations has been the expansion of the family bathroom. It has been updated and doubled in size. While the bathroom’s design is contemporary, the round retro shape and wooden finish of the Stockholm mirrors provide a link to the rest of the home’s signature mid-century style.
The artwork above the bed in the master bedroom is a Florence Broadhurst fabric that has been artfully stretched, by Fiona, across a specialty frame. She discovered the rare fabric about 10 years ago at a Florence Broadhurst off-cut pop-up shop at Docklands on the Melbourne city fringe.
Jack and Fiona were living in a different era in their old East Malvern home and sold off most of their Art Deco items before they moved into their current Mitcham abode. However, the few they kept include this classic Art Deco fan mirror, which takes pride of place atop a 1960s-style vintage chest of drawers in the master bedroom.
The couple found this tavern sign at Daylesford Market. The Cubebots are from Heide gallery.
Although Jack and Fiona did not set out to buy a Robin Boyd home, they were always fans of his designs. The couple share Boyd’s philosophy when it comes to respecting nature and this played a big part in what drew them to the home and the leafy suburb of Mitcham.
“Houses are knocked down to make way for multiple townhouses without consideration of their surroundings,” says Fiona. “We love that this house has been purposely designed to be in harmony with the environment.”
“Houses are knocked down to make way for multiple townhouses without consideration of their surroundings,” says Fiona. “We love that this house has been purposely designed to be in harmony with the environment.”
Three pot plants and stands sit on the back deck of the house. Fiona likes the way the yellow stands pop against the grey of the weatherboards.
Nature is very important to the family and the first thing Fiona does upon waking in the morning is throw open the curtains and reconnect with the beautiful landscape outside. Leafy views can be seen from every window in the house. The large windows give the house a bright, positive vibe.
A typical day for this family involves time spent indoors and out, catching bugs, gardening, drawing and writing together, listening to music, going for walks and generally making the most of the beautiful surrounds.
The garden has undergone significant changes “It was huge, overgrown and quite wild!” says Fiona, “so overgrown that when we bought the home, the house was not visible from the street.” The couple have transformed it by removing some of the trees that were decaying or unsafe and have created cleared areas for entertaining and outdoor activities. Owls, king parrots and kookaburras are frequent visitors to the garden.
A typical day for this family involves time spent indoors and out, catching bugs, gardening, drawing and writing together, listening to music, going for walks and generally making the most of the beautiful surrounds.
The garden has undergone significant changes “It was huge, overgrown and quite wild!” says Fiona, “so overgrown that when we bought the home, the house was not visible from the street.” The couple have transformed it by removing some of the trees that were decaying or unsafe and have created cleared areas for entertaining and outdoor activities. Owls, king parrots and kookaburras are frequent visitors to the garden.
A big financial splurge by the Szabos was upgrading the driveway. The Lilydale topping was replaced with a concrete aggregate base.
In both maintaining what they love about the home and the small changes that have been and will continue to be made, the Szabos have chosen an abode that is meeting their family’s needs through all stages of its development. “We have just filled our home with the things that we love,” says Fiona.
My Houzz is an ongoing series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes in Australia and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more inspiring projects.
My Houzz is an ongoing series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes in Australia and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more inspiring projects.
The family stumbled upon their 1960s Robin Boyd commissioned and designed home, not really knowing much about the suburb of Mitcham in which it stood. However, now settled in, they can’t imagine living anywhere else. “We’ve been so lucky that the choice we made about where to buy has turned out to suit our family so ideally!” says Fiona.