When she was looking for a new home, architect
Tainá Binato , from the
Casa Tauari office, came across this old
45 m² property in Ipanema (RJ), previously occupied by an engineering office, which was completely run down. “The space was horrible, poorly ventilated and poorly lit. But I saw great potential in the outdoor area,” she says.
The
renovation prioritized bringing in more
natural light and
increasing the feeling of spaciousness indoors . To achieve this, the architect knocked down all the walls facing the outside area and, in their place, installed
frames with white metal sliding doors with transparent glass enclosures. “We also installed
a transparent cover over the dining table in the outside area and, on the other side, a shower for after-beach use,” she says.
The space of the old
kitchen is now occupied by the guest bedroom. “We demolished the cabinets and a wall that complemented the pillar and changed the location of all the plumbing points,” he says. The bedroom in the master suite was reduced to increase the space for the two bathrooms.
The guest bathroom, which opened onto the living room, was enlarged and transformed into a guest bathroom, and the suite's bathroom was also enlarged to accommodate a
mini-laundry room (with washing machines and dryers) hidden behind a wooden door with straw. In the
suite , the
niche in the masonry wall was designed to accommodate the bed and gain more space for movement, while also adding aesthetic value to the bedroom's decor. Another highlight is the
doorless bookcase that occupies the entire side wall of the bed, with multiple functions: desk, dressing table and coat rack. The pillar revealed during the demolition of the guest room was not only kept visible but also served to support five shelves made of tauari wood, thus forming an
open shelf between the two single beds.
In terms of
decoration , the architect wanted a
very tropical home, full of natural materials, and one that was visually clean, but with plenty of textures to bring a cozy and refuge-like feel.
For the floor, for example, she chose São Tomé stone shards because she wanted to step barefoot on the stone and have the feeling of being outside , even minimizing the fact that it was a compact apartment.
Although there aren't many separate pieces of furniture in the project, Tainá highlights as her favorites the chairs in the outdoor area, which she bought from an online store specializing in natural, handcrafted straw and cane furniture.
Another favorite is the L-shaped sofa in the living room, which she designed using masonry, with the base covered with the same shards of São Tomé stone as the floor and loose upholstery on the seat and back, with removable off-white twill covers. The
color palette has little contrast, in sand tones, and is permeated by natural materials, such as wood, fiber, linen and stone. “I feel like I’m in the outdoor area of a house, even though I’m inside a compact apartment,” says the architect.
