Hali Rugs

In Melbourne, interior designer Brahman Perera’s residence unfolds via accumulation and memory. Each room is a layered arrangement of objects gathered over time, where furniture, artworks and artefacts carry personal significance rather than adhering to a fixed style. The interior remains in flux, shaped by what is added, moved or recontextualised.

“My home is pretty much a collection of items,” Perera reflects. “There’s a sentiment to all of the different pieces, and that’s what shines through.” These are handled, lived with and folded into everyday rituals, allowing the interior to develop a depth that feels both intuitive and deliberate. Perera’s generous hospitality plays an equal role, where the atmosphere of the home is defined as much by how it is inhabited as by what it contains.

Rugs from Perera’s Hali collaboration sit as foundational elements, reinforcing the interplay of hue and texture. Designs such as the Moghul in Ivory Multi introduce a quiet heritage sensibility, while the Shabargan in Olive adds depth through its handknotted tactility and tonal variation. “I think the joy in a rug is that it can provide both a bold statement or it can be a beautiful background character,” he notes.

A different sensibility emerges with Smac Studio’s Shona McElroy, whose apartment in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs reflects an approach to living that feels both relaxed and composed. Sculptural furniture, curved forms and statement objects are interspersed within the home, offset by quieter elements that invite moments of pause. Zones are loosely defined rather than fixed, allowing the space to read as continuous while still accommodating different uses.

Within this setting, her collaboration with Hali extends the conversation into pattern and colour. Developed as a second collection following the success of their debut range, the capsule introduces four designs – Vicenza, Monaco, Seville and Marseille – each inspired by European references and translated through an assured visual language.

“Going into designing our second collection, we had more confidence in what was possible,” McElroy explains. “We had a deeper understanding of how people were going to respond, which meant we could push the designs further.” Placed throughout her apartment, the rugs become part of the spatial language, sitting comfortably within the interior rather than competing with it.

Architect Georgina Wilson’s Paddington terrace brings the focus back to planning and proportion. Working within the constraints of a narrow inner-city site, she reconfigured the house through a series of measured interventions, most notably the introduction of a central courtyard. “Designing for ourselves is an ongoing experiment,” Wilson says. “I’m constantly observing how my family moves through the house and using design to gently guide behaviour.”

Spaces are calibrated to support both activity and retreat, allowing for moments of connection as well as quiet. This balance is reinforced through pared-back material options, where texture is layered through repetition and selections are made for longevity rather than immediate impact.

In the living room, the soft caramel tones of Hali’s Walter rug in Cedar introduce warmth to the broader palette. The room is set apart from the more active areas of the house, with a smaller footprint that gives it a distinctly inward quality. “The scale is more intimate, and the material palette is restrained, which makes it feel calm and contained. It’s a space you can step into and immediately feel removed from the activity everywhere else,” Wilson says.

Across these interiors, a common thread begins to emerge. Each space operates as a form of ongoing inquiry, shaped as much by behaviour as by intention. Whether through Perera’s layered compositions, McElroy’s exploration of form or Wilson’s considered planning, the home becomes a site where design is tested, adjusted and understood over time.

“One of the most rewarding parts of the We Live in Your World series is gaining a genuine insight into how designers live in their own spaces,” says Hali managing director Dan Swart. “It highlights the role thoughtful design plays in everyday life.” Viewed in sequence, these homes offer a more intimate reading of contemporary interiors – one grounded in use rather than outcome, where the design itself becomes a record of how people think, gather and live within them.