Giving new life to furniture: adapting them after a move

Giving new life to furniture: adapting them after a move

Facing a move means turning your life around, renovating your home and introducing new furnishing accessories.
Beginning to pack, you make a natural selection of the objects to take with you, recognizing for each their own emotional value.
Many times, this process also involves the world of furnishings, which accompany the owners in this moment of transition.
Giving new life to furniture also means renewing the context in which they are inserted, managing to adapt them in terms of aesthetics and functionality to the new environments.

Adapting furnishing to a new context

When the furnishings are custom designed, their conformation responds to the needs of the customers, perfectly matching with the architectural context in which they are inserted. In doing this, a strong link is born between the rooms in which they are inserted and the shapes, proportions and mechanisms of use of the furnishings.
This would suggest an indissoluble bond between the two components, which would break when the furniture undergoes a relocation.
It is absolutely not said!

In fact, among the potential of custom-made furniture there is a flexibility factor that allows us to give new life to furniture by making few changes.
These make it possible to transform the general imprint of the furniture in order to adapt it to the new context both in terms of aesthetics and functionality.

A perfect example are the adaptations made to these furnishing extrapolated from an apartment between classic and contemporary. Let’s discovery this apartment among transformed furniture and new additions.

The kitchen: increases the work space and storage volumes

The kitchen certainly represents the beating heart of a home.
In the case of this apartment between modern and contemporary, its conformation was born from a natural reading of the architectural context in which it was inserted.

The corner development made it possible to exploit the side part with service columns with anthracite gray lacquered MDF doors.
These are equipped with column ovens on the right, pantry with removable trays and a central compartment for the free-standing refrigerator. The front is made up of lower volumes with large drawers and service doors and upper wall units in a brilliant white Lacobel.

The new arrangement has provided additional useful space for the overall dimensions. Being able to use additional space on both sides, the most natural solution was to exploit the remaining gaps with additional volumes.
On the right, we provide a service column which houses a modern wine cellar accompanied by a door with height-adjustable internal shelves.

On the opposite end, the main problem arises when the worktop is made of natural stone, which has undergone a chromatic change over the years.
To avoid incurring a visible difference between the added part and the existing one, a wooden top was thus created. It also acts as a cutting board for preparing meals. An element that not only solves an aesthetically weak point, but also provides a functional solution.

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The living area: a new contemporary aesthetic

To equip the living area, we recovered the furniture made in 2006.
The choice of colors was already avant-garde at the time. Even in a contemporary reworking they can adapt perfectly, resulting elegant and current. The TV cabinet in glossy anthracite gray lacquered MDF alternates flap doors with service drawers, whose recessed handles give visual lightness.

In this case, giving new life to furniture means adapting them to the new context in which they are inserted, managing to exploit the flexibility of the same.
Small changes have been made, mostly considered maintenance. Re-lacquering where necessary or remaking of structural parts.

The same approach was then applied to the service hanging columns, which are made up of doors in the upper part and small drawers in the lower part. Their new position side by side allows them to welcome guests introducing them to the living area and, at the same time, create a visual divider from the more intimate dining room.

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Children’s bedrooms: new tailor-made solutions to exploit architectural voids

The sleeping area houses the two small bedrooms whose conformation alternates architectural voids with important structural elements.
A tailor-made solution was therefore designed in both rooms in order to include all the necessary furnishings without sacrificing practicality and visual freedom.

For the first bedroom it was therefore decided to take advantage of the basement that leads to the mezzanine area to equip it with a shaped wardrobe.
Since the room is intended for a child, the dimensions and heights necessary for the clothes have certainly facilitated the design. Despite having little space available, taking advantage of the inclined height of the basement, it was still possible to create a double-height wardrobe with alternating shelves with fixed hangers.
The wardrobe is accompanied by a standing alone chest of drawers which is also used as a support surface.
The large one and a half bed is inserted in a niche. The latter used in the depth to fix shelves with hidden lighting.

In the second small room, the depth of the niche is useful for a certainly wider wardrobe. Full-height doors with push opening accommodate fixed tubulars, drawers for linen and shelves for folded items to satisfy the needs of a young girl.

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The master bedroom: a wardrobe like new

The master bedroom is best equipped with a large wardrobe with sliding doors placed parallel to the bed.
Its linear aesthetic combined with spot ceiling lighting allows at the same time to hide its grandeur.
The result is a capacious and functional volume which, in the aesthetic impact of the room, tends to disappear while giving character and elegance.
Relocated from the old house, the different internal height has led to a reduction in height which has thus made it possible to better adapt to new environments.

The composition of the wardrobe comes from a natural division into three departments, corresponding to the division of the sliding doors.
On the outside, the double-height hanger houses removable glass shelves in the center. These are particularly suitable for storing folded shirts using the external sliding mechanism to reduce the internal height between the trays.
In the central compartment, the large linen drawers are accompanied by a pair of shelves for folded items and hangers in the upper part.
The left compartment instead houses a double hanger to accommodate long dresses and coats whose greater height compensates for the reduced space reserved for folded trousers and skirts.

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Giving new life to furniture does not only mean rejuvenating it and making changes to its aesthetics. The bespoke design allows you to create furnishings that are versatile and able to adapt to new environments. Restoring a balance between aesthetic conformation in relation to the room and functional needs becomes the main goal.

If you want to deepen the theme of furniture flexibility, we suggest you this article in which series furniture and tailor-made solutions help each other!

Digital Design Week 2021: our selection and thoughts

Digital Design Week 2021: our selection and thoughts

The 2021 edition of Digital Design Week has just ended on digital platforms, with the hope of seeing taken the traditional version on place in September.

The Salone del Mobile makes Milan the undisputed protagonist in the world of contemporary design, turning the spotlight on new projects, cutting-edge proposals and events capable of enhancing Italian “know-how” but also its international contamination.

We at Modulor also remotely participated in the rich schedule of talks and webinars offered on the main digital platforms … here are some of our thoughts!

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Outfitting of Fuorisalone during its 2019th edition: on the left the installation “Home sweet home” by Missoni in Via Solferino. On the right Nendo in “Breeze of light”

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Time Machine, the installation durinf Fuorisalone 2017 in the new design district of Ventura Centrale

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Time is time, an immersive environmet setted in the Superstudio’s place during the 2016 Design Week, focused on the theme of time

Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone: ​​Milan the capital of design

It seems centuries have passed since Milan, in the central weeks of April, was filled with international tourists, young emerging designers, professionals hunting for innovative proposals and university students eager for events and new product launches.
From the design enthusiast, to the sector’s professional, to the simple citizen who loves social life: the week of the Salone del Mobile has always managed to capture everyone’s interests.

One of the few events able to involve such a large audience as to transform Milan into a great “design community”.
Impossible to walk along the streets of the county seat during those days and not be involved in the beating heart of the Design Week.
Colorful graphics that identify the various districts, art installations and advertising banners with pieces of furniture just launched on the market reach every corner of the city.

The professional variant of the Salone del Mobile, in the huge spaces of Rho Fiera and even more its Fuorisalone organized in ever-changing design areas now seem an old memory. Two realities that over the years have known such success that they have become distinct entities, each with its own target audience.

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Fuorisalone, the design districts map of the 2019 edition.
On the right, the official logo of Salone del Mobile.

Digital Design Week: what is it and what changes does it make to the traditional version?

The cancellation of last year due to the health emergency and its uncertain future also for the 2021 version did not, however, stop the creativity of Design Week. The 2020 edition of the Design Week had already moved to digital channels, meeting the approval and involvement of both the realities that make it up.
Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone never as today find themselves in dialogue with each other to create a rich schedule of events.
Talks, webinars and reflections on what it means making design nowadays and on the various facets of this world. The stringent safety restrictions have also completely revolutionized the methodology for presenting new products. Physical presence is now too restrictive a possibility, so naturally the attention shifts to the digital world. In order not to stop the great design machine, the realities that have always accompanied the traditional edition of Milan Design Week have organized a digital version. Digital Design Week 2021 took place on the web platforms of Interni (historic magazine associated with the week of the Salone), Fuorisalone and Ad Italia. From 12th to 19th of April, a series of talks involving professional figures took place. From the world of furniture, to architecture, but also literature, technology, art and craftsmanship, opinions and reflections are exchanged on the contemporary themes that drive design. Furthermore, in the specific case of Interni, its version continued until 23th April, with a fixed evening appointment scheduled for 6.30 pm in streaming.

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A Marco Spinelli quote, shared on social pages of AD Italy that underlines the importance of “custom-made”. 
On the right: San Siro seat, designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini and launched during the Digital Design Week 2021

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Aldford table by Bentley Home – Luxury Living Group disegned by LLG Creative Team

Smartworking and a new perception of the domestic environment

Undoubtedly a contemporary theme during this Digital Design Week was the introduction of the concept of smartworking and the new domesticity.
We at Modulor have already addressed this issue, also bringing design examples from the previous months.

In this regard, the interpretation proposed by Lara Facchinetti, HR Manager of Zamperla, in the “Study” chapter of the laboratory proposed by Strategy Innovation is interesting. The theme of reflection shifts to the hybridization between work from home and office life, noting how the best working condition derives from the integration of both.
If before the working world and the private sphere were very distinct areas of our daily life, now it often happens during an online conference to witness small “intrusions”. Children intrigued by the screen and pets who have run away from their places become actors of a connection that is not only conceptual, but also physical and visual. With this in mind, the best productivity is achieved by being able to take advantage of both work contexts.
The home is identified as the environment of concentration, where one can isolate oneself from colleagues, and the office is instead an environment of sharing.

What is missing during smartworking are in fact the impromptu meetings and the brainstorming process that spontaneously arise during a coffee break.
Linked to the new needs of spatial reconfiguration, as also confirmed by our experience, the change in the perception of the working space opens in parallel.

In this regard, it is interesting to report the point of view of Marco Roversi, colleague specialized in the design of custom-made furnishings in the contract sector. In fact, if the reconfiguration of the home environment is often restrictive, and bound to changes that are not too intrusive, the workspace undergoes a radical change. It is rethought in its basic setting, making flexibility its founding feature.

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Funivia, sunspended lighting design by  Carlotta Bevilacqua for Artmide 

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6x6the modular system for office designed by Roversi

The reinterpretation of system engineering components

The continuous search for flexibility in the working place brings the contract further closer to the world of retail, used to constant changes.
The design of the architectural component then becomes a fundamental point to guarantee infinite spatial configurations.
As in the case of white boxes for the retail world, the system engineering component is reinterpreted now more than ever for its aesthetic impact.

A great example is certainly the design thinking of Davide Groppi during the talk “Living the work space” proposed by Lombardini22. The vision of the internationally renowned designer is precisely linked to the flexibility of light, which is released from the electrical system to which it belongs.
The solutions proposed over the years by the designer himself have always been designed with the desire to make light free from pre-existing plant constraints.
Providing the right light does not only mean allowing you to see the space but also to feel it.
A setting that becomes more and more scenographic with a design work that becomes a work of elegance.

The second example is the series of projects brought by architect Duccio Grassi during the talk Design beyond Matter.
A relationship between the architectural and system design components that goes beyond the level of necessity to become a project integration with the aesthetic vision.

Another issue connected to the relationship between structural needs and project flexibility is that of the exploitation of interstices, the so-called architecture in between. We have recently analyzed the potential of designing functional furniture capable of optimizing spaces and therefore we fully share the reflections of Daniele Lago, founder of the well-known mass-production furniture company.
The in-between is not only a domestic environment design issue but also a metaphor for the relationship between the brand and its community.

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Infinito, Davide Groppi

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Zara Rome, Duccio Grassi Architects.
Engeneering system and outfitting matches in a design element which disappear in the environment.

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Max Mara Tokyo Ginza Home, Duccio Grassi Architects

Sustainability and environmental impact: visions related to design

Perhaps one of the most inflated issues in recent years is certainly linked to sustainability and environmental impact.
Countless could be the visions and projects that make it the flag carrier.
From the world of design, the theme of the circular economy directly moves to the productive world, finding infinite results.

But what does it actually mean to be sustainable today?
Producing using recycled material is not always the ultimate solution. In fact, it is necessary to put the entire life cycle of the furnishings on the scales and consider their environmental impact over the years.
Here then is that the word “recycling” appears several times during this Digital Design Week.

The architect and designer Paola Navone brings her vision of recycled objects as a series of handmade products obtained from processing waste.
A vision that wants to break the mold by bringing color and joy into the projects, managing to enhance what is the local craftsmanship.

Giuseppe Pedrali, CEO of the homonymous company from Bergamo, also focuses on the regulatory aspect of sustainability.
“Being sustainable” has now become the common motto of various manufacturing companies, but how many of them actually focus on the certifications that can officially certify this characteristic? Are the production processes actually controlled and designed in order to reduce waste and affect the environment as little as possible?

Ico Migliore, architect of Migliore + Servetto, underlines how the issue of sustainability is not only linked to materials but to user behavior.

Of all the thoughts analyzed, the one that we at Modulor certainly fully embrace is the one proposed by the architect and designer Piero Lissoni during the conversation “Everything is a project” available on AD Italy.
Sustainability consists in designing furniture that can last over time

What does it mean to design nowadays? How to emerge within an increasingly large market?

We share once again the words of Piero Lissoni as the fulcrum and summary of this Digital Design Week.
The world of design now looks worldwide, what allows it to be valued is high quality and knowing how to maintain and preserve the “craftsmanship”.

While knowing the relationship to the increasingly frequent technology and the world of the intangible, it is essential to recognize the wealth offered by craftsmanship. The new model of craftsmanship, although it has lost some qualities transmitted over the years, meets new possibilities.

Knowing how to relate the ability to use hands, touch materials and interpret them with incredible technologies is the design of the future.
A less drawn and more product design. Although the very term “design” or industrial design, it would seem to live in the opposite of the concept of craftsmanship, the conjunction of these worlds is the real innovative key for the future of interior design.

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Round D.154.5, the historic armchair designed by Gio Ponti and reinterpreted in a contemporary way by Molteni & Co

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Soriana, Afra and Tobia Scarpa forCassina
On the right: Pacific,the new collection signed Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

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The Connery seating system designed by Rodolfo Dordoni for Minotti

Optimizing spaces with functional furniture: a studio apartment in Milan

Optimizing spaces with functional furniture: a studio apartment in Milan

A studio apartment in the suburbs of Milan able to optimize the available space with functional furniture. The choice of materials expresses simplicity and naturalness, to make the bespoke interiors of this welcoming apartment contemporary.

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A cozy looking studio apartment in Milan

We have already addressed the issue of living in small spaces with this minimal style apartment in the heart of Milan. After a few years, the need to optimize spaces has not lost interest but has instead increased the demand for functional furniture. The example of this studio apartment in the suburbs of Milan best expresses the concept of practicality combined with a natural aesthetic line.

Starting from the original structure of the apartment, the renovation project began primarily with the spatial organization of the rooms. The entrance, working as a filter, acts as a pivot for the management of internal flows. From the front opens the view of the kitchen, essential but well equipped, which visually communicates with the loft living area where a large bed is located.

On the left of the entrance is the anteroom, equipped as a closet with service wardrobes. From here, direct access to the bathroom with a large glass shower and sink area with service cabinet.

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Furniture designed to optimize space

To make the most of the available space, the furniture of this studio apartment has been custom designed by obtaining service rooms from structural voids and architectural constraints. The best example is certainly the creation of the under-stairs compartment with doors and push-pull trays useful for arranging objects of various sizes. In fact, starting from the modularity of the risers and treads of the access ladder to the mezzanine, doors are created with a vertical reading whose opening takes place via push pull. Depending on the need, each internal compartment takes up the space of two or more steps, equipping itself with additional extractable volumes where necessary. From this perspective, the dining table can also be in a resting position, attached to the equipped wall of the TV area and used as a desk, or moved to the center of the room to accommodate other diners.

Even the equipped wall, to gain additional service space, is made up of three distinct modules, the sides of which are slightly inclined. The shaping of the different elements allows an optimal management of the architectural corners, also creating a greater sense of welcome.

The architectural void then becomes the new design theme, equipping cavities and niches with shelves and open compartments. This is the case, for example, of the main pillar, incorporated in the dividing structure between the kitchen and the living area. The lower part houses internal shelves accessible through a door with push opening, while the upper part consists of exposed shelves in the niche.

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Functional but also conceptual steps

Another focal point is the anteroom, which from an environment required by law also becomes a useful space for the storage of cleaning products and service cabinets. Drawers and doors with height-adjustable internal shelves are used for the products storage of different sizes.

Even in the bathroom, the design of the furnishings in order to make them functional gives life to a large and bright environment. The change of flooring marks the transition not only physical but also conceptual and visual to a more intimate and reserved environment. The front view on the window offers ample natural lighting, diffused throughout the room thanks to the choice of materials. The glass closure of the shower minimizes the aluminum details, while the large mirror attached to the service cabinet expands the perception of space.

Optimizing the space in the bathroom means taking advantage of all the service cavities: an example is the open oak cabinet under the window. The service shelves for toilet paper and small personal hygiene products in wooden finish in fact obtain their space on the side of the radiator, without however being oppressive. Small accessories such as the pull-out towel holder enrich the functionality of an aesthetically simple and clean bathroom cabinet. Simple and authentic forms are thus valued.

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Natural colors and materials for a contemporary studio apartment

The practicality of the furnishings is not only found in their composition and spatial arrangement, but also in the choice of materials that characterize them. For horizontal surfaces, the choice fell on oak, a natural wood par excellence with great resistance and workability characteristics. Its aesthetic line with warm veins makes it welcoming and transmits spontaneity and tradition. From the parquet floor to the kitchen top and shelves of the open compartments, its presence becomes the touch of authenticity of the stylistic line adopted. For the vertical surfaces, on the other hand, the canvas bilaminate was chosen, whose warm but neutral tones make it delicate but incisive at the same time. Among the major advantages of this material, it certainly has high resistance combined with a very affordable price. Its finish also makes it soft to the aesthetic impact and textured to the touch, expressing attention to detail.

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The renovation of this studio in Milan involved all levels of reading of the project. From the planimetric distribution of the rooms to the choice of materials and finishes. The choice of functional furniture allows you to optimize spaces by providing environments that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also practical and easily livable.

Architectural voids and structural elements hide great potential, just look at them with creative eyes!

To see other examples of small rooms optimized in spaces with functional furnishings, you can take a peek at this minimal style studio apartment or at this shabby chic style creation