A couple with a young daughter bought this
120 m² apartment in Botafogo (RJ), while it was still under construction and, shortly before the keys were handed over, they commissioned architects
Juliana Gonçalves and Fernanda Matoso , from the
Co+Lab Juntos Arquitetura office, to design a specific decoration project.
“The clients asked us
not to change the original floor plan, to use all the coverings and items provided by the construction company and, at the same time, to give their new home their own personality,” says Fernanda. “They also needed our help to define the best layout for each room, which ended up being our biggest challenge, since the floor plan is very jagged and full of corners,” adds partner Juliana.
Since the new owners’ preference for contemporary industrial style perfectly matched the apartment’s existing black frames, the architects adopted this language as the design concept, especially in the social area and
kitchen . “We kept the frames that separated the balcony from the
living room to create a versatile layout that would allow these spaces to be integrated or isolated. In the access to the kitchen, we installed
sliding doors made of the same material, with
ribbed glass to prevent the passage of natural light, also with the intention of offering clients the option of isolating the space when necessary,” adds Fernanda.
In terms of decor, only the pendants on the dining table, the coffee table and the pouf in the living room came from the old apartment. All the other items are new, including the cabinetry, which was custom designed by the office for each room.
In the social area, the architects used
neutral tones on the walls and kept the floor in porcelain planks in a wood pattern , as they wanted to have more freedom to invest in colorful and comfortable furniture, without the risk of visually weighing down the space. Within this proposal, they highlight the
Mescla sofa with a retractable seat operated by a button (in blue fabric, by Lider Interiores) and
the armchairs with a carbon steel structure painted black – the ones upholstered in orange and blue fabric are by designer
Fernando Jaeger , while the upholstered in khaki canvas came from
Velha Bahia .
Another splash of color appears on the wall of the
entrance hall , which was covered with
natural brick (in a terracotta tone) to reinforce the subtly industrial atmosphere requested by the residents. “Because of the shape of the room, we decided to place the dining table against one of the walls and designed a wooden bench-chest along it, thus freeing up more space for circulation,” says Juliana.
In the master
bedroom , the highlight is the American oak carpentry, with cabinet doors covered in jute, combined with drawers in dark green lacquer.
In her daughter's room, pastel tones steal the show, with a predominance of pink – they are present on the walls (with
artistic painting by Fernanda Ladeira, from the A Casinha studio ), lacquer finishes on the carpentry and the metalwork structure of the bookshelf. “We used natural straw on the closet doors, on the side of the bed and on the top of the bookshelf to make the girl's room more cozy”, comments Juliana. Finally, in the office, the color comes from the carpentry itself, predominantly blue lacquer, in a darker tone.
