May 6, 2026 | DESIGN & INTERIORS
a HOUSE THAT HOLDS its SHAPE
photos Tina Kulic
For Italian-Canadian interior designer Maria DeCotiis, a home doesn’t need to choose between style and everyday life. In this recent project in Vancouver, she brings the two into balance — designing a house for her brother, Marco DeCotiis, and his three daughters that feels both composed and lived-in.
Built in 2024, the house presents a contemporary exterior, while the interiors lean toward a quiet neoclassicism. Classic elements are used with restraint, set within a clean, modern framework.
A SHARED REFERENCE
The project begins with a shared visual memory. Raised in an Italian household with roots in Puglia, and shaped by frequent visits to Rome and Paris, the siblings draw from a familiar architectural language — applied here with control.
Marble, plaster mouldings, white oak herringbone floors and unlacquered brass introduce continuity without nostalgia. The approach is deliberate: start with function, define a few key elements, and refine through detail. The result is measured — grounded, but current.
A PLAN FOR CHANGE
The structure reflects a longer view. Marco developed the house as a duplex, living in one half while renting the other — a practical move that anticipates change.
Inside, the same logic holds. Spaces are open yet defined, materials tactile but durable. A single tone runs across the main floor — walls, kitchen and mouldings — creating continuity and warmth.
DETAIL, NOT EXCESS
The palette remains soft, with controlled shifts in tone. Burgundy in the powder room, navy in the primary suite, a muted lavender-grey in the girls’ bathroom — each gesture is precise.
Some spaces carry more weight. The primary bathroom, in Eros grey marble with brass and black accents, reads as a retreat. Marco’s bedroom moves darker — more personal, more contained. Elsewhere, small details do the work. A curved black vanity, gold hardware, a saturated wall — emphasis without excess.
In the end, the house is defined by balance. Lived-in, but composed. Contemporary, without urgency.
