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It’s been almost 10 years since I first visited Miranda Skoczek and her son Harper in their home.
Back then, the mother and son were living in a St Kilda apartment, before moving to the Dandenong Ranges for several years, and recently returning to the city to be closer to Harper’s school.
Miranda first came across her current home when visiting a friend in Camberwell. Leaving the hills was a difficult move for the artist, but she found solace in the area’s leafy and quiet streets. ‘As my street is so lush with established gardens — think rhododendrons, magnolias and jacarandas — I settled in quite quickly,’ Miranda says.
Miranda’s apartment contains a quirky mix of art deco and Tudor-like details, including a plethora of different arched-shaped windows, and a ‘rabbit warren of hallways’ inside.
‘Visitors are always perplexed by hallways leading to various balconies and losing their way to the front and back doors!’ she says.
In Miranda’s hands, the apartment has come to life. The main bedroom is now her overflowing studio, and almost every wall in the apartment has been covered with art and artefacts collected from across the world.
‘There’s a certain topsy turvy-ness to my home. It’s convivial, and definitely with a European sensibility with its layering and creative energies,’ Miranda says.
While the home is a far cry from the size and style of her previous Dandenongs home, Miranda has furnished and layered the space to exude the same creative, lived-in feel.
‘I’m just not interested in rules, nor trends, and I tend to create many vignettes in and around the home as I have such a varied collection of things,’ Miranda says of her decorating style. ‘Curating objects is just a gut feeling — visually I’m most articulate!’
In many ways, the homes Miranda lives in are an extension of her art practice, which is inspired by nature and travels to India, Afghanistan, and Morocco. She says, ‘A friend and fellow artist once told me, “You’re not a fixed being, yet you still stay true to your aesthetics and carry them like they’re part of an ancient caravan.”
Miranda describes her home and style best, proclaiming the space as somewhat ‘carnivalesque.’ ‘It’s chaotic and it’s full of life and exuberance, like me!’
