In the heart of Pigneto, a historically working-class neighbourhood of Rome and today the centre of the bohemian soul of the Capitoline nightlife, we worked on the renovation of an early 20th-century detached house.
The house has a generous garden and a vegetable garden which, together, cover an external surface area of 130 square metres, mirroring the interior space of almost identical size.
The core of the project was therefore based on combining a tailor-made and considered design on the one hand, with creative and so to speak 'unexpected' solutions on the other. The two elements were to make up the entire renovation of a 120-square-metre house, with touches that also affected the outdoor environment.
To achieve this, we talked at length with the clients, retraced their history, the houses they lived in and those they loved, in order to get as close as possible to the way of life and taste they were looking for, and then translate them into an interior design project that they felt was truly personal.
The interior project
The main features of the restyling can already be appreciated in the entrance hall of Casa Buondelmonti, presented as a common thread that will be recalled in the other rooms: unprejudiced use of colour and minimal graphics that define an icercato and fresh style, under the banner of the joie de vivre that the owners intended to convey.
A small hallway precedes the large living area, put in communication with the kitchen area following major structural work. The transformation from the previous room was profound, giving a radically different connotation to the spaces. For this reason it was decided to leave the original beams visible, even highlighting them with an intense blue hue, thus becoming a tangible and vibrant sign of the intervention.
On the right, attention is drawn to a large glass window, whose metal profiles are run through with bright yellow hues, which are useful to draw a more accurate view of the kitchen. The owners wanted the kitchen to be a creative space before being instrumental, which is why the use of colour becomes a decisive connotation element, transforming objects and functional parts into furnishing elements with a strong identity.
For example, the kitchen unit is made with water-green lacquered wooden doors and develops in a horseshoe shape in a work area facing the entrance, then extending towards the dining area through two columns of refrigerator and oven, conceived, by virtue of their exposure, as if they were furnishing elements.
Similarly, the powder-coated sheet metal cladding of the hood is designed as a playful décor element, transforming a built-in appliance into an origami.
Above the sink is a light steel wall unit with integrated shelves and drainer, designed by the studio, a solution that allows the view and light to extend beyond the wall, through the glass.
Also on the ground floor, the guest bathroom consists of an initial area with a washbasin on a large steel shelf, while the bathtub and sanitary fittings remain hidden and isolated within a dedicated area, covered with tiles depicting dense tropical vegetation, a reference to the garden outside.
From the ground floor on the left, the staircase leads to the guest bathroom with laundry and up to the upper level, where the second bathroom, bedrooms and study are located.
The chromatic continuity with the dominant Vanadium yellow of the ground floor continues on the upper level, in the sleeping area, where we find the master bathroom with a back wall, which, like a clearly delineated mullioned window, is made up of two arches which house the shower and washbasin inside.
The familiar and carefree dimension of the intervention hides a technological soul inside, thanks to the hot/cold radiant floor, humidity control and solar panels. The renovation of the cottage has made it energy self-sufficient.
The outdoor garden consists of a driveway access, an area paved with fragments of old grit and a beautiful vegetable garden separated from the neighbour's only by a slender metal gate, testifying to the fact that, in line with the thinking of the builders, true luxury can lie in the simplest details.
