The very stylish Thornbury home of Mariana Garcia-Katz and family!
Swoon. Ikea never looked so good.
Another stunning Melbourne family home today! This is the Thornbury home of designer Mariana Garcia-Katz and family – husband Mark, teenage kids Madeleine and Joshua, a slightly crazy jack russell x maltese pup named Charlie, a very handsome grey cat whose name I forget, and some VERY large and healthy-looking chickens in the garden!
As you can SEE the Garcia-Katz clan are a little obsessed with mid-century furniture! Every piece you see here is authentic, and has been collected over many years… the stunning Eames DCM plywood dining chairs and entertainment unit are from Luke Furniture in Prahran, the black webbed lounge chairs (Douglas Snelling, I think?) are from Angelucci many moons ago… (good luck finding similar ones now!) and how about that George Nelson platform bench coffee table…?! EXTREMELY JEALOUS? Don’t worry me too. :) But isn’t it lovely to see these classic twentieth century pieces at home amongst a range of eclectic, affordable items – those super popular Ikea PS locker-style cabinets, plywood shelving made by Mariana’s Dad, paintings by Mariana’s talented brother Alan Garcia – and is that a Third Drawer Down tea-towel on the wall? All in all it makes for a home that is super stylish yet relaxed, homely and down-to-earth… despite the designer details!
It’s no surprise this home is styled so perfectly – both Mariana and Mark are talented graphic designers by trade, although Mariana’s focus these days is her photography and fabulous range of translucent lanterns and photographic lightboxes created under the label M2 Matiz! Mariana’s ‘t.lighthaus’ is the perfect decorative shade for a tealight or candle in a jam-jar… truly such a simple, genius idea – I’m not surprised M2 Matiz products now have stockists and fans across Australia! Nice work Mariana!
You’ll spot a couple of Mariana’s M2Matiz lanterns and lightboxes throughout her home… and LUCKY FOR YOU Mariana would also love to share her work with one lucky TDF reader! If you leave a comment on this post today, you’ll be in the running to win one t.lighthaus lantern of your choice! Thanks so much to Mariana for this sweet giveaway! Below you’ll see a selection of designs from her range… of course more can be viewed on her website!
*Update – Thanks so much for all your entries, a winner has now been drawn at random. The winning comment was #95 – congratulations Myf!
Huge thanks to Mariana and family for sharing their stunning home with us, and for MAKING ME LUNCH (Can you believe it!) and of course for the sweet M2 Matiz giveaway! Sheesh is there no end to the giveaways around here? Clearly not.
M2 Matiz t.lighthaus lanterns! Choose your fave and leave a comment to be in the running to win one!
Dining details – can’t really go wrong with a set of 6 original DCM Eames dining chairs can you?
Bold details in the TV area – artwork by Mariana’s brother Alan Garcia, couch I think from Luke Furniture, upholstered in a fab chartreuse woolen fabric from JR weave.
Photographs of Mariana’s kids in the kitchen. Grey stools from Tait.
Kitchen details. Painting by Alan Garcia.
Hallway. Limed floorboards.
Study nook where Mariana usually works from! Bottom shot – M2 Matiz lanterns on display.
LOVE THE BEDROOM! I WANT that heart lightbox! (Also love the quilt – hand made by Mariana’s Mum!)
Bedroom details
Mid-century details in the hallway. I never tire of that cute Eames ‘Hang-it’all’ (have you SEEN the walnut version btw?)
Bathroom details
Madeleine’s bedroom! AMAZINGLY tidy.
AWESOME garden and vegie patch, chickens etc! (we are in Thornbury, I guess it is kind of a prerequisite).
Shed / studio / kid’s retreat at the bottom of the garden!
155 Comments
I love “under heaven” – magical ! Their home is beautiful.
i love the ‘lucky for some’ bird graphic one. just gorgeous.
A beautiful home complete with a lovely productive garden. thanks for sharing
It’s close to impossible to pick a favorite of these beautiful lamps, but ‘on your parade’ definitly stands out and reminds me of spring, which we are just beginning here in Canada.
WOW, so many beautiful things… I love it all! What a stunning home and such a clever lady. I would love to own one of those lamps!
What a beautiful home – I’m in love with those black charis…And the ‘heart’ lantern!
The pale green one is superb…would match my laundry bird cushions too well.
Sharp eye and perfect placement – Mr. Snelling would be impressed.
I love ‘make a wish’ – so pretty!
The garden looks amazing. I love the veggie patch.
such an adorable home! and i lov the lantern shade with the birds on a wire!
Wow what a gorgeous place!! And I LOVE the lanterns especially the birds on the wire :) Great giveaway!
Love you site!
Superb!
Natural and welcoming and comfortable = Loving family = Way to go
Such a stunning house tour! I love the heart lantern! :)
Love is the best
i LOVE the winter’s spring lantern from the earthly series…but it was tough to pick my favourite.
ooh, i adore that beautiful little back garden, it’s a dream! thanks for the giveaway :)
wow this is probably one of my favourite houses yet, because it looks great, but it also actually looks like real people live there! and I could imagine living there and not being terrified of spilling something on all the white clean fragile spaces. love!
love it also as much as the birds on the wire lantern!! awesome!
So beautiful. The floral lanterns are so lovely. I have to get me one.
all of them are fab, however I do love the ‘birds on a wire’ with the delicate change in background colour and subtle text
A nice warm glow on a cold wet day, they are all lovely, but I think I like the birdy one best.
LOVE your home and LOVE LOVE LOVE the Birds on a Wire lamp- it’s my birthday too so what a great way to celebrate than with a FABULOUS lamp!!! Thanks for the post – it’s great!!
love the flowering gum/Australian earthly treasures series, particularly Pop..that’s why. Very pretty.
so lovely, i cant see the name but there is one with a little girl in a red dress. just stunning, love the simplicity of thi product and re using something of your own is marvelous.
finally miss m! as always… stunning!! xxx
Can I live there too? Love them all, especially the flowers on branches.
Great style. Love the ‘birds on a wire’ lantern.
what a nice giveaway! i cant see the names of the designs but little girl in the red dress is just gorgeous! ps i llove the veggie patch!
Gorgeous, warm, homely house, and I love her lanterns.
Some houses look like they’re on display. This place looked like a home; thank you for letting me have a peep.
The birds on the wire are just beautiful!
lovely house [would adore to have just one piece of Mariana's furniture!] and such a beautiful range of lanterns. My favourite is the little girl as it reminds me of my daughter.
What a lovely house! I would kill for Mariana’s dining chairs. And that garden is amazing!
lovely, the large red flower lantern would be perfect in my house.
I love ‘make a wish’ – so lovely!
They are all beautiful.
Great home! Thanks x
Such a lovely house! And the garden is just so beautiful.
Thankyou!
Love love love the birds on a wire!! What an awesome house.
Love their Style!
Could this be the best house ever? I think it might be.
lovely!
Xx
gorgeous house!!!
Love the birds on a wire!
Hi and thanks for give away opportunity.
lving the thought of one of those lanterns on my QLD deck.
what a beautiful house with so many good ideas
What a glorious home. I wish it was mine. And the birdy lantern too.
Lovely home, gorgeous garden…my dream home actually!!!
It looks amazing … love it all! xx
Earthly Series lamp, very beautiful. Love Mariana’s garden, would love to have one similar to potter in.
I love the ‘bird on a wire’ lantern. Just adorable.
So hard to choose between the bottom two lanterns for me! but i think the birds edges it, cos its just a little bit kookier :)
What a beautiful, beautiful home! Thanks for the tour. I would love one of these lanterns for my friend Mel : )
torn between birds on a wire and silver princess blossom (at least I think it’s from a silver princess?)
Mariana and co’s home and garden is just lovely.
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What a great home filled with so much life!
I love all their furniture. And their soda syphons too. My favourite lamp is the urban series woman reading (US1a). Thanks for the tour! xx
absolutely fabulous!! all the creative details make me want to stay awhile…a long while… ;) oh and i LOVE the graffiti heart t.lighthaus.
just beautiful! I’m looking forward to decorating my own home one day
such an inspirational home. I love the pink heart. thanks
So lovely to see one of my bunting kits in situ. It looks great in that lovely garden :)
Thanks for sharing this great home lucy
X cinti
Stunning lanterns & a stunning home.
Thanks for sharing!
such a happy house! Love the ikea lockers as a sideboard- another idea to pinch for my new abode :)
Love the house, why can’t I get my house to look so good? Love the lanterns too. Can’t choose all are very pretty.
What a beautiful beautiful house – I want EVERYTHING – especially the dining room wall shelves and all their contents.
Incredible home! “Bird on a wire” latern is just perfect!
VERY pretty house. Every item in it feels right next to each other. Love the pops of colour everywhere too.
So beautiful, would look stunning anywhere in my home. I love the Hakea flower; simple and elegant.
I wish my home could be even 10% as gorgeous as this one! Especially lovign that lounge room. So bold!
Gorgeous lanterns too. No one can ever have to many lamps.Fact.
The bird on a wire lamp is so nice, but they’re all so clever and well designed! Unsurprisingly this is a lovely home, and so warm and fresh feeling, a lovely post.
amazing house. so jealous! and usually i look at the lovely houses on the design files and validate my own laziness by thinking “oh but they’re in another city, suburb, country etc…” but now i have no excuse :/ also a thorburian tho in a boring beige rented apartment. so much inspiration! love!
‘under heaven’ t.lighthaus is v cool.. maybe a good start?
It’s great to see a home that’s not only incredibly stylish but so homey and comfortable at the same time!
What an absolute dream home. It’s so nice to see original MCM pieces amongst more mainstream items, AND in a family setting.
I love the bird on a wire lantern – simple but a little bit quirky.
This house makes me even more proud of living in Thornbury! What an inspiring design, such colour and style :)
lovely home. I love the veggie patch – I am inspired to get mine going!
gorgeous family home, the backyard was icing on the cake! i really like madeleine’s room too.
Just swell. As for lanterns, bottom right please.
This is my favourite home in a long while. I love it. Stunning but functional family home. And a fantastic giveaway thrown in.
Love love love the birds on a wire… I’m sure a dancing light through those calming greys would cozy up a cool fall day!
I suspect if I tried to design my home in a similar way it would end up looking messy and cluttered rather than simply gorgeous like the home above.
Gorgeous home, I absolutely love all the colour and how many interesting things there are without it becoming overwhelming.
Very stylish, indeed. x
Completely anchanting, utterly stylish, irresistible in every way. Fabulous piece. Thanks so much!!!
Such an inspiring space – I’ve always adored the look of naked twigs and this interior uses them to such great effect!
gorgeous gorgeous home! love the study too!
and the lanterns am so smitten!
t.lighthaus© – abstract series simply beautiful! warm soothing design too!
A goregous house, one of the best yet!
I love the stencil artwork lamp in the urban section, nice textures.
Beautiful home! I love the Camilla Engman tea towel. And my favourite lantern design is the Kokeshi doll one (from the website)
simply gorgeous and adorable! i wish my house looked as amazing as this – especially the back garden! the lamps are so funky too – I would love to have one! X
I love the birds on the wire . Very cool . Would look great with a tealight in it .
LOVE all the lush details in this home, divine!
my pick is ‘under heaven’ just gorgeous. and that vege patch. jealous!
That there is a pretty awesome house. Just love it!
That garden and the nice shelves above the desk in the study almost makes me wish I hadn’t missed out on buying a house in Melbourne (seriously who can afford it now? I don’t count Legoland suburbs as homes).
I love the birds but the Australian earthly one as well
such a beautiful house xox
Wonderful design filled home! No lack of inspiration there. I adore the bird on a wire lantern.
Kiss me really does it for me… beautiful xo. And so love the black wall in the TV area… that’s a swoon right there!
this would be my favorite melbourne home. oh love it so much.
all the lanterns are fabulous – my fav is the one with the little birdies..
Oh god. My. Dream. Home.
I love them all, but especially the Australian Earthly Series!
Love the Grevillea (think that’s what it is, maybe banksia).
Love this home, it has heart and soul. I have a hunch that happy people live here….
Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
This house is ALIVE! I love love the lantern with the birds..
Hi there,
I am only new to your site and it makes me want to leave my job right now, and get fossicking for some beautiful things for my apartment. I spent an afternoon (on work time!!) last week, scrolling through the beautiful houses on your site. If I were lucky enough to win a lamp, I would choose the birds on a wire or the under heaven as they are absolutely stunning!! This house is so bright and full of light – I love it!!
What a lovely home. I have garden envy.
Just gorgeous – would love a lantern!
A home where anyone would feel at home. So many objects and pieces to connect with. My lantern of choice is Kiss Me. So cute – but a bit gritty at the same time.
Everything is so beautiful, the Australian earthy lantern is gorgeous!
All the lanterns are so eye-catching – especially the australian earthly series!
You could easily have several around the home!
However, my favourite one is ‘Kiss Me’. Very innocent!
Wow! Absolutely beautiful home! Love the t.lighthaus lantern with the girl wearing the red dress! Stunning.
Thornbury is fab and so is their house. Divine and very lived in.
I KNOW her!
xoxox, m!
Wow what a funky home and so many lovely pictures – hard choice but love the birds on a wire or the betty girl in a red dress or any of the object photos
What a fantastic family home. Love every detail. Favourite is the birds on a wire!
just lovely. i like the birds on wire lantern too.
Another beautiful Melbourne home filled with amazing artwork. Love the heart lightbox in the main bedroom. What a talented family Mariana has.
I couldn’t choose a favourite…I loved them all!
what a beautiful, colourful, happy home. i love the alan garcia paintings everywhere too.
delicate and soft lighting for winter … perfect!
This house is amazing. It’s fabulous. So many ideas. Such a talented designer. I love all the lanterns but the crimson red heart is the one that grabs me most today. I’m enjoying a bright colour day!! Thankyou for showing us your home.
Totally beautiful home and garden. Lots of ideas to steal – thank you for sharing!
Every home should have a chartreuse sofa.
Oooh, hard to choose, but the big red native flower is my favourite. Fingers crossed!
Love, love, love the birds!
What a cool home, I am very jealous of all the 20th century furniture! Thanks for sharing this :)
What a gorgeous home – and the ‘under heaven’ t.lighthaus is divine!
What a gorgeous home!! And those lamps are to die for!! Gorgeous!
how wonderful! i recently “met” mariana through facebook, I love the bird lamp
wow. this inviting home is soo gorgeous. the candles and lights beautiful!
i love the pop of warm red the ‘australian earthly series’ with the gum blossoms give
Such a lovely and vibrant home, does anyone know where you can purchase Alan Garcia’s work?
Gorgeous home – thank you for sharing it. I love the birds on the wire lantern!
What a welcoming garden – I particular like the botanical lanterns.
Wow – love the garden. The ‘She Was Different’ lamp would be my choice to remind me of home.
Lovely.
Lucy – do you have a source for the dining room table? It looks fab.
BTW, love the Australian botanical prints in the t.lighthaus lanterns.
my sincere thank you to everyone for your ever so lovely comments! i’m both humbled and thrilled in the same breath! a HUGE thank you to you Lucy for an amazing job!
@Madeline.. you can contact Belinda Scerri on 0431 474 332 in regards to my brother’s work.
@Alison.. the dining room table is also from LUKE furniture. we love the KNOLL tables and Luke made it up for us about 12 years ago.
thanks again everyone.. and good luck! mx
What a great home… i love the bird on a wire lantern! x
I like “somebody’s been eating my porridge” (great name too!)
what a gorgeous home!
I love the fact that she’s my sister!! Yiayyy!! And that I get to visit their lovely family home regularly!
I should never be invited to this house in person – I would never leave. Outstanding items on my wishlist – the dining chairs, the veggie patch and the patchwork quilt. Such love and care has been given to make this a lovely suburban oasis. Gorgeous!
oh my how divine, love the lamps – adore flowers
There are lots to love about the house, but just the simplicity of the plywood shelves gets me. I’m putting them in my house. Give me something to put on them?
Love the vintage clock and phones. Also liking how the black speakers fit into the living space.
could see a wrestle ensuing between my kids and I over those wonderful lightboxes – perhaps we could choose our own fave images and simply share x
My favorite is “Someone’s been eating my porridge”, but some of the others are wonderful too (the birds on a wire one for instance:).
¡ Barbara¡¡¡, wonderful, quizás un poco gris, ¿no le faltaría algo de color?, ojo con la escalera en el jardín por allí se pueden meter los ladrones.
Gorgeous house and lanterns!
What a lovely surprise! A home filled with colour and light with delights to look at from every angle. A refreshing change to those awful sterile ‘designed to death’ bland spaces seen in some upmarket mags. This home would lift the spirits and make me happy every day. Thank you for sharing.
What a gorgeous house.
I love the t.lighthaus… how could you chose just one? Under heaven or lucky for some are my two favourites.
Such a beautiful warmth to these lil lanterns, love them, so inspiring and will make great lil pressies. “insomnia” is beautiful, warm, and welcoming x a lovely home, full of warmth and character and I love the many materials and colours, thankyou xxx
Lovely house! Thank you for sharing.
I am moving in a week and I have started looking for the right ‘feel’ I would like for a new place. I like the warmth and care this place exhudes.
A lamp would be welcome, but I can settle for coming back to look at the photos!
Thank you.
wow. Love the ‘lucky for some’ birds on a wire one. But they’re all gorgeous.
Natural light and explosions of colours!! SUPERB!
Love the pale blue, earth series light.
Very cool.
You guys have the best giveaways!
‘someone’s been eating my porridge’ or ‘lucky for some’ birds on a wire are stunning but aren’t they all?! I am new to this blog today and absolutely loving this particular article, definitely the style that inspires me in my own home. Thankyou, I am officially hooked!
Great way to wake up in an all inspiring, visually dynamic home… my kinda place to hang out! Warm and inviting! Fun and exciting! One of my favourites.
Very nice house with a lot of “charme” ! And very nice lights too ! I love the one with birds !
I would love to win a Pincushion Hakea lamp. I planted this tree in my garden just so I could see the beautiful blooms up close. It’s about to burst in to flower any day now.
I live in Japan… and I just must get my hands on one of those floral lamps! It would be the perfect reminder of my roots and homeland! Love your work!
Sorry bit late but saw the Bromley quilts which I like, but defiantly worth looking at these ones also. Do love the sizes she offers and the mix of fabrics. http://beaspokequilts.blogspot.com/
she is talented and her home is divine~
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