For Italian Canadian interior designer Maria DeCotiis, domesticity begins less with decoration than with inheritance. In the Vancouver duplex she designed for her brother Marco DeCotiis and his three daughters — Olivia, Bianca, and Stella — the language of home emerges through memory, repetition, and material continuity: plaster mouldings sourced from California, herringbone white oak floors, unlacquered brass, Italian marble, and the spatial clarity of contemporary North American living filtered through an unmistakably European sensibility.
Built in 2024 in a family oriented suburb of Vancouver known for its local cafés, restaurants, and neighborhood atmosphere, the 2,500 square foot duplex reflects a precise balance between pragmatism and emotional permanence. Marco, a builder who owns an electrical company, intentionally developed the property as a duplex, occupying one side while renting the other. The decision was practical but also deeply tied to a changing idea of family life: a house large enough for himself and his daughters today, yet adaptable enough for a future in which the children eventually leave home and travel becomes more central to his life.
The project’s emotional architecture, however, lies elsewhere. Maria and Marco grew up in an Italian household shaped by southern Italian roots in Puglia and by a father who first worked as a framer before building homes himself. Maria recalls helping him with material selections as a child, an experience that continues to define the way she approaches interiors today.
“With a background in fashion and textiles, I approach interior design in much the same way I would create an outfit,” says Maria. “I start by considering function and design goals. I then work with clients to define a style that makes them feel like their most confident selves. Often, I identify one or two eye catching pieces that I center the entire concept around. Then I build upon foundational elements that never go out of style. Along the way, I throw on fantastic accessories — lighting, trim, and window coverings — details that make the final look feel polished and complete, like a great bag or a red lip.”
That fashion logic is visible throughout the interiors. While the exterior remains rigorously modern, the inside adopts what Maria describes as a “modern neoclassical” vocabulary: classic architectural gestures inserted into a restrained contemporary framework. Intricate plaster mouldings coexist with clean lines; European references never slide into nostalgia. Instead, Rome and Paris appear less as stylistic quotations than as atmospheres translated into daily life.
“We used intricate plaster mouldings, Italian marble, white oak herringbone floors and a bridge faucet in unlacquered brass in the kitchen,” Maria explains. Together, these elements establish what she describes as “a subtle yet distinctly European sensibility while still feeling clean, modern and fresh.”
The collaboration between brother and sister was already well established long before this project. Maria regularly designs the interiors of the homes Marco builds for sale, but this house demanded a different emotional register. “I handle the interior design for all of the homes my brother builds to sell, and our collaboration is a natural one,” she says. “He trusted me fully with his vision, giving me the creative freedom to elevate the project, and that shared trust is what made the end result so successful.”
The home unfolds across three levels. The main floor remains open plan, with kitchen, dining, and living areas visually connected through a restrained palette and continuous material language. Maria painted the entire main level — including the kitchen and mouldings — in the same tone, creating warmth through continuity rather than contrast. Upstairs, the second floor accommodates three bedrooms, a laundry room, and a shared bathroom for the daughters, while the third level becomes an entirely separate primary suite for Marco.
Rather than relying on visual excess, the interiors build tension through controlled moments of saturation. Burgundy envelops the powder room, navy defines the main suite, while a muted gray lavender softens the girls’ bathroom. The strategy allows each room to develop an individual personality without fragmenting the overall coherence of the house.
“One of my favorite spaces is the primary bathroom,” Maria says. “We embraced the bold with Eros gray marble, blending brass, black, and luxsteel accents for a luxurious retreat. The result? A space that feels chic yet inviting — an escape you’ll never want to leave.”
Elsewhere, Marco’s bedroom and bathroom introduce a darker, more masculine atmosphere. “My brother’s room and bathroom are definitely more masculine than the rest of the home, he wanted something moody,” Maria explains. “This was his first time designing a space just for himself.”
Perhaps the clearest expression of the project’s confidence appears in the powder room, where a black curved vanity, deep burgundy walls, and gold hardware transform one of the home’s smallest spaces into its most theatrical gesture. For Maria, it proves that “even the smallest rooms can hold the most charm.”
Throughout the home, selected pieces and finishes reinforce the project’s layered approach to contemporary domesticity, including elements from Visual Comfort, Armac Martin, House of Rohl, Arteriors, Ann Sacks, Brizo, RH, Kohler, Victoria and Albert, Waterworks, Salari Rugs and CB2. Yet the project never reads as an inventory of luxury objects. Instead, its strongest quality lies in how these references dissolve into a house designed not for display, but for continuity: between generations, between continents, and between the elegance of European interiors and the realities of contemporary family life.
