A family consisting of a couple and two teenage children already lived in this
110 m² apartment in Barra da Tijuca (west zone of Rio de Janeiro) and decided to
completely renovate all the rooms, including new decor. For this purpose, they commissioned a project from architect
Kelly Figueiredo . “The clients’ greatest desire was to have a large, functional and comfortable
kitchen because they love to cook together in their free time,” she reveals.
The architect eliminated the toilet that was between the dining room and the kitchen to integrate the
balcony , the living room and the kitchen, which were previously separate rooms. She also
incorporated the old service area into the kitchen to make it larger , transformed the original maid's room into the current service area and the maid's bathroom into a guest bathroom.
Finally, she closed the service entrance door to
enlarge the living room entrance door and changed the position of the children's
bathroom door to add a private circulation space to the couple's bedroom.
According to Kelly, the project brings
contemporary reinterpretations of classic elements to create elegant environments, but without sacrificing color, with the
kitchen – with a retro look – being the environment that best represents this concept.
“I looked for
joy in the colors and
comfort in the furniture ,” she summarizes. “I’ve always liked to be daring, mixing styles, colors and textures, and this time was no different,” she adds.
In the living room, the architect highlights the
mini-office camouflaged on the side of the wooden plank under the TV (with carpentry around it in the same dark green tone as the wall in the background) and also the old balcony space that was incorporated into the living room, but gained a wooden deck that refers to its original function.
“The rug is of
Turkish origin , but has a contemporary print that served the purpose of adding color well, without visually weighing down the space,” says Kelly.
In the decor, which follows a contemporary style with retro touches, everything is new and, according to the architect, the “comfort” aspect guided the selection of furniture, with emphasis on some designer pieces, such as the high Bel stools by
Felipe Madeira (between the kitchen and the living room), the Nau chairs and the Lotus dining table
by Fernando Jaeger (on the balcony and in the dining room), the Lanterna pendant lights by
Fernando Prado for Lumini (in the dining room) and the Contorno bar cart by
Rejane Carvalho Leite for DonaFlor (on the balcony).
Among the works of art, Kelly highlights the colorful canvas by
Eduardo Ventura in the dining room, the photograph by
Ari Kaye next to the brown leather upholstered armchair (from Artefacto) and the wall sculpture (in fragmented ceramics) by artist
Mitushi , on the wall behind the couple's bed.
“When we knocked down the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, we discovered a water pipe that could not be removed and decided
to transform it into a wooden pillar , which now supports a stone countertop with a rounded corner and two upper shelves in freijó, which follow the same shape. During the work, we also found a large pillar on the wall opposite the entrance door to the living room and decided to cover it with a
wooden panel , with six circular hooks of different sizes to hang bags and coats and a narrow camouflaged cabinet to store glasses”, he concludes.
