Timeless décor, open layout and Brazilian design characterize this 210 m² apartment

A couple with two young children bought this old 210 m² apartment in Flamengo (RJ), in terrible condition, and then commissioned a general renovation and decoration project from architect Cristina Bezamat , from the Bezamat Arquitetura office and CASACOR Rio de Janeiro . “In addition to the complete renovation, the clients requested a spacious social area, a bedroom for each family member and improvements to the kitchen and service areas,” she says. “The concept behind the project was to create contemporary and timeless spaces and make the living areas more fluid, since the children are growing up,” she adds. Among the main changes to the property's layout from the 1930s, the kitchen, service and staff quarters were resized, allowing a pantry to be created within the kitchen itself , as well as a suite for the daughter and a social bathroom to serve the son's bedroom. In the decor, all the items are new. Since the clients like designer pieces, the architect's curation was based on their suggestions. "For example, we suggested the Tetê armchair by Sergio Rodrigues for the living room, but the client preferred the Mole, by the same designer," says Bezamat. Other highlights in the living room are the Isabel armchairs and the Rosá coffee table (by designer Maria Cândida Machado ), the Philips stool, the Chan sideboard and the Isa loveseat (by Jader Almeida ), the Iaiá bench (by Gustavo Bittencourt ), the Zaha coffee and side tables (by Aristeu Pires ), and the Lanterna pendant lamps and Lift floor lamp (by Fernando Prado ). In the social area, the architect adopted a neutral base, in shades of gray, to highlight some pieces of furniture, such as the antique pink linen armchairs, the navy blue fabric love seat and the multicolored lounge rug, made from silk waste. “The idea was to reinforce the timeless concept of the project and add pops of color to the décor to make the spaces more lively and cozy,” says the architect.

As it was completely compromised, the original parquet flooring throughout the room was replaced with cement-pattern porcelain tiles, while the beam that delimits the space of the old balcony in the room received a special cement-pattern paint job. In the dining area, the architect highlights the natural wood panel that covers the back wall, with the application of thin steel strips that form subtle geometric designs, and, in the living room with TV , the rug with a chevron pattern in relief , in an off-white tone with black detail. In the master bedroom , the highlight is undoubtedly the natural freijó panel behind the bed , with diagonally applied slats to create a herringbone effect. Other details worth noting in this room are the peroba-do-campo window frames, original to the building, which the architect managed to restore and maintain. In the office, which also functions as a guest room, in addition to the window frames, the original peroba-do-campo parquet floor was also restored.