A business couple in their 70s who live in Niterói and have business in Rio de Janeiro decided to buy this small
35 m² apartment in Leblon to have a compact, comfortable and functional permanent residence in the southern part of the capital of Rio de Janeiro.
To adapt the property to their tastes and needs, the new owners commissioned a complete renovation project, with completely new decoration, coverings and lighting, from architect Gabriela Ikeda, from the
Ikeda Arquitetura office. From the clients' collection, only the painting by artist
Sandro Gos was used, on the wall at the back of the room.
To overcome the lack of space, the architect designed the kitchen inside a cabinet with slatted sliding doors, which allow it to be hidden when necessary. “The only change to the apartment’s layout was the expansion of the
bathroom , which incorporated a dead, useless corner into the bedroom. This gave us more storage space, even allowing us to store larger items, such as beach chairs, at the end of the closet, under the L-shaped countertop. Otherwise, everything was kept as it was originally. We only changed the layout to optimize space and improve circulation,” says Ikeda.
According to the architect, the concept of the project was to create a well-planned apartment to offer comfort and functionality to clients, within a
modern and sophisticated aesthetic proposal, which includes shades of gray, wood and black metalwork details. The colors appear in a specific way, as in the sofa bed upholstered in green, thick linen, ornaments, cushions and paintings, to add life and personality to the spaces, without visually weighing them down.
Another highlight of the project is the
high counter (made of metalwork, with a stone top), with two stools, behind the sofa. This configuration not only created an extra space for preparing food in the kitchen next door, but also became a dining table and even created additional seating for watching TV in the living room when guests are at home.
In the
bedroom , it is worth highlighting the left side of the closet, which was designed with a depth above the standard to store a large suitcase standing up.
The entire apartment has
wooden vinyl flooring , the walls are painted with matte paint and the joinery has a gray lacquer or wood finish, with some exposed black metalwork. To filter the natural light, making it softer and more welcoming, the curtains are made of white linen.
