Designing for Connection: A Renovated Coastal Home with Escea Fireplaces
After twenty years in the house they built and raised a family in, the structure still stood strong. But the interior no longer matched how they lived. The spaces felt disconnected, the design out of step with their lifestyle. So, they called in interior designer Fee Bruzzano of FE Design Interiors to help bring it back to life.
The plan was a simple ground floor refresh. But what emerged was something deeper — a transformation centred around two Escea gas fireplaces.
"It’s the same fireplace in both rooms,” says Fee, “but the design treatment makes them feel like two entirely different experiences.”
One fire sits in the formal lounge — layered with fluted Carrara marble and honed Italian stone, surrounded by white shaker cabinetry and floating shelves.
I wouldn’t normally put the two materials together,” Fee says, “but with texture above and a flowing vein below, it works.
The second fire is in the family zone, opposite the kitchen and close to the alfresco area. It’s more casual, more coastal — finished with relaxed timber panelling and softer tones. Fee says,
“It’s where you can grab a good book and a cuppa and cosy up.”
With a gas connection already in place, the decision to go with Escea was an easy one for Fee.
I tend to specify Escea fireplaces often,” she says. “The heating capacity is great and the flame is beautiful — plus you can mix up the fuelbeds, so it always feels contemporary.
The Escea DS1150’s minimal design made it easy to integrate into two very different aesthetics — formal and relaxed — without compromising function or visual clarity.
Still theirs. Just better.
Fee credits the success of the renovation to the trust her clients placed in the process.
“Once they understood my intention was to elevate the way they live,” she says, “they embraced the process with complete trust.”
The result is a grounded, cohesive home that still carries the memory of the past — but feels made for the present. And at the centre of both living zones, flame: quiet, warm, and enduring.