Apartment in villa in via Tesio, Milan
STAIRCASE - BEFORE / AFTER
LIVING AREA - BEFORE / AFTER
LIVING AREA - BOW-WINDOW
MASTER BATHROOM - BEFORE / AFTER
MASTER BEDROOM - BEFORE / AFTER
DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM
Complete renovation. Project year: 2006.
Private Client
As it was necessary to respect the tight deadlines imposed for planning and carrying out the project, including the need to rehouse the owners’ furniture which was originally bought to be used in an entirely different setting, and to adapt the overall identity of the apartment to the Clients’ tastes, it was decided to concentrate mostly on the bathroom and kitchen areas and on the internal connecting stairs. As for the rest of the work, apart from putting in the suspended ceiling with its integrated lighting, we made do with adding finishing touches to the walls and the furnishings.
The ground floor bathroom was transformed from a second bathroom to a main bathroom: it is dominated by the brass washbasin with matching taps over which hangs an antique-finished retro style mirror. Anyone walking into the bathroom is immediately struck by the marble-effect wallpaper on the back wall which bestows elegance on such a small space, lit by a distinctive chandelier with a metallic shimmer.
The custom-designed furniture left in place in the living room sits alongside some new furniture and some that the Clients already owned, while the overall area is characterised by warm shades of beige and brown, echoed in the marble-effect wallpaper and in the curtains. The natural light flooding in from the bow-window and the other large windows is manipulated by the use of curtains with varying degrees of transparency. The curtains also create a constantly changing interplay as the level of outside light fluctuates and with the use of artificial lighting.
The master bedroom on the first floor also has a bow window, and there is the same interplay created by the transparency of the curtains, playing instead on shades of blue which are echoed in the leather “Frau” armchair and in the wrought iron curtain poles. This wrought iron is also used for the main bed and the standing lamp which already belonged to the Clients.
In the main bathroom there are two light-coloured stone washbasins showing up against the dark matte finish of the wooden top, one of them reflecting the beige of the wall tiles, the other the same warm grey of the floor. The use of different-sized wall tiles creates an elegant design, playing only on the geometry of the unit.
The most distinctive feature of the house is the completely new look of the internal staircase, where the black slate tread was replaced with warm afrormosia flooring and the heavy iron parapet replaced with an elegant wrought iron balustrade, all completely in harmony with the Clients’ tastes and with the light fittings chosen.