Design project for an apartment, 118 m²

The entrance is built on symmetry: two wardrobes with mirrored arched doors and bespoke glass handles, and between them an ottoman with relief “pearl” upholstery and a painted panel in ochre and gold. The floor is laid in natural stone with copper-gold veining, the walls are lined with slatted veneer. Pendant lights of milk-glass slats hang under the ceiling like clouds, and opposite the composition stands a mirrored panel, so the scene doubles and recedes. Brass candelabra sconces set the vertical and make the arrival feel ceremonial without being stiff.

The passage from the entrance hall to the owners' side is staged as a scene of its own. A fresco fills the whole wall: golden trees drawn in a fine line on a pale ground, and beneath them a timber bench floating on concealed light and two brass floor lamps like torches. The herringbone parquet begins here, and the ceiling carries a shade with a crystal crown. Lacquered and mirrored planes reflect the drawing, and the 15.60 m² of passage feel wider than their own boundaries.

The headboard stands in front of a handmade panel: trees with trailing branches and birds in flight are painted on gold leaf. The bed has a rounded soft headboard, the bedside tables are cylinders with a relief surface, and the ottoman stands on slender legs; there is not a sharp corner in the room. The lighting is assembled from petal-shaped shades in brass: a chandelier in the centre and a pair of sconces by the bed. Floor-length curtains open the view over the city, and a rug with a wavy edge repeats the shapes of the furniture.

Storage is open: a slim metal frame with lit shelves runs along a wall finished in woven cork and sand. The accent plane is given to a panel with a large silver-gold botanical pattern, and opposite it stand a dressing table on X-shaped legs with a round mirror and a pouf. A bouclé armchair and a floor mirror in a brass frame turn 14.74 m² from a utility room into a room where time is spent. A sliding slatted screen in a slim frame separates the area from the bedroom: it lets light through and keeps the volume whole.

The shower area is clad in book-matched natural stone: the symmetrical section reads as a tree crown, the glass is frameless, the shower head is set into the ceiling, and concealed light runs along the floor. At the basin the story shifts to crystal: a carved handmade bowl from a Florentine workshop stands on a white worktop with a lit niche, answered by crystal wall lights. The walls are finished in thin-layer decorative plaster under lacquer, porcelain tile having been ruled out on principle, and across that surface runs hand painting of cherry blossom after a Japanese woodcut.

41.19 m² are set out along a single axis: kitchen, dining room, living room. The kitchen fronts are pale, with classic glazing bars, the splashback niche is lined with aged mercury glass, and the appliances are fully integrated. The couple dine on their own, so the table is round and compact: a marble top on a sculptural gilded base, chairs with bentwood backs, and above them a branch chandelier with crystal drops. In the living room there is a buttoned sofa in champagne, two white armchairs of generous form, cloud-shaped coffee tables on gilded legs and floor lamps by the windows; double curtains allow full daylight or a softer evening light.

Here the forest theme is translated into colour: porcelain tile in a pink onyx tone, with lighting that brings out the pattern of the stone over the full height. The space is divided by two niches: one holds a pale bucket-shaped basin on a stone shelf, the other conceals storage with rounded fronts and a round brass porthole handle. Above the basin hang natural crystal pendants, the quartz crystals assembled by hand. The mirror in a brass frame glows on both sides and was made specially for this project.