Doing up your home is a task demanding constant mediation and continual compromise: you need to decide what to improve and what to leave as it is, where to invest and where savings can be made, when to innovate and when to stay faithful to tradition.
To do all this requires the eye and the sensibility of an expert, who knows how best to interpret the clients’ needs and desires.
This is what happened in an episode of the new series of Cambio casa, Cambio vita! The mission? To help a couple refurbish the apartment where they’ve lived for years, but which no longer represents them. In particular, it seems to be impossible to reconcile their tastes in colours - blue and grey - which don’t appear at all in the current decor scheme. Taking advantage of their business trip to the Congo, I decided to make their dream come true.
credits: Armando MonetaGet the Look
Tips & Hints from LOVEThESIGN, inspired by Andrea
As soon as I enter, I realise they really do need my help. The apartment is anonymous, partly because of the old-fashioned flooring and tiles, and doesn’t at all reflect the well-groomed, modern couple who open the door to me.
The watchword for this project, which will include surfaces, walls and furniture, is style.
Where to begin? With the removal of the wall separating kitchen from living room. The minute I move around the apartment I realise this is a priority. It’ll not only enlarge the available space, but completely change the first impression you get on entering the apartment: no more partition wall, but a view of the couple’s everyday life (updated, obviously).
credits: Armando MonetaAnd for this very reason I decide to combine their wishes in a single solution, and do it in this specific area of the home, the place where they welcome their guests and spend their evenings.
I want their identities to be visible and to guide the entire setting: and so I bring blue and grey together, creating a range of dusty shades that go very well with the sophisticated and contemporary ambience we’re building.
For the living room walls, I opt for a special dégradé wallpaper, which fades from deep to pale, starting with whale blue, one of my very favourite colours. The effect is exquisite and - best of all - it’s now the first thing you notice when you go in.
credits: Armando MonetaStyle is all in the details, whether they’re impactful or subtle. The important thing is to give them equal attention: from the panelling of the security door to the handles, and including the family photos, which I re-hang in a new arrangement.
When I start on the two bathrooms, I have a very clear approach in mind: the master bathroom will have chrome detailing, the guest bathroom’s will be satinised steel. Besides this, in the guest bathroom I want to create an additional contrast with stucco, which discreetly underlines the neutral colours in this room, where grey and blue come together once again.
credits: Armando MonetaAll the furniture is made to measure in order to fully utilise the space, occupying it rather than filling it. Consider the new dining table: its glass top and white pedestal increase the feeling of brightness in the new kitchen and - above all - its size is proportional to the space in the living area.
And the extra elegant touch? We created several finishes using the colour chosen for the walls. It all combines harmoniously, helping to amplify the sophisticated atmosphere of this refurbished home.
credits: Armando MonetaOne of the couple’s criteria was the creation of a dressing room at the entrance to the master bedroom - but I managed to do more, giving them one each. The secret to a successful couple is balance!
Still in the bedroom was what seemed the greatest challenge: to bring a Parisian flavour to the room, so that the inhabitants could wake up every day in an attic overlooking the iconic slate roofs.
Even this wasn’t impossible for my team: we opened a window onto the Ville Lumière with the aid of a wallpaper lightened by silhouettes yet enlivened by colourful touches.
credits: Armando Moneta
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Inspired by Andrea’s fantastic work, here are the LOVEThESIGN team’s suggestion based on The blue everyone agrees on.
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