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!

Designing in details a customed wardrobe

Designing in details a customed wardrobe

From the needs of the customers and the type of clothing used, the project for a customed wardrobe is born, studied in its internal configuration in the smallest details. A careful choice of materials and finishes give importance and elegance to the project.

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Studying the internal configuration of a customed wardrobe

Studying the internal configuration of a wardrobe, it is essential, as a first step, to analyze the type of clothing owned. Tubular hangers and shelves for folded items are balanced to best meet the needs of customers, making the most of the space. In fact, shirts, jackets, trousers and dresses occupy different dimensions depending on how they are folded. For this reason, it would be counterproductive to design a “universal” wardrobe.
The first step in designing a made-to-measure wardrobe is therefore to study the customer: to know their habits, tastes and needs. In the case of this young couple, the six-door wardrobe has been divided equally into two compartments: the women’s section, in which the hanger certainly prevails, but in which there are also small shelves for folded items, and the men’s section balanced between folded and hung.

Each item has its own space

The next step in the design was to study different typological variants of the wardrobe product in order to maintain a uniform line of sight in both sectors, but at the same time find the optimal solution for the internal organization of the space.

The internal layout has been designed in such a way as to respect the two divisions and keep them mirroring each other. The pair of central doors was thus conceived with a symmetrical internal division reserved for folded items.

Modulor internal configuration wardrobe proposal 01

 

In the first solution, extractable glass shelves are designed for folded shirts and t-shirts in order to store them in a more orderly and elegant way. In the women’s department, the hanging division allows the set of long dresses on the left side, and short dresses with folded trousers on the right side. The women’s department is completed by a chest of drawers for bags and accessories and upper shelves. The conformation of the men’s department is instead characterized by fixed tubulars for trousers folded in the lower part, shirts and jackets in the upper part.

Modulor internal configuration wardrobe proposal 02
Modulor internal configuration wardrobe proposal 03
Modulor internal configuration wardrobe proposal 04

The second solution proposed sees both components configured in the same way. The only difference is in the women’s part, where a side shelf is eliminated to accommodate long dresses. The third and fourth solutions also see the alternation of shelves and tubulars in order to ensure the double height of the hangers on one side, and a good number of drawers for underwear on the other.

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The definitive conformation.

Among the various solutions proposed, after a comparison and mutual relationship with customers, the project proposal was born and then became reality. A configuration that respects the needs of each part, setting up a women’s department with hangers in the upper part that hosts dresses of different lengths. At the service of this, for greater practicality, a dark-toned side table with painted aluminum tubing that guarantees great resistance and capacity. In the lower part, a fixed tubular for skirts, blouses and shelves for sweaters and bulky items. 

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Modulor internal configuration wardrobe drawers
Modulor internal configuration wardrobe man

The pair of central doors, mirrored on both sides, has a fixed hanger for folded trousers in the upper part and linen drawers in the lower part. The first of these is characterized by the presence of internal dividers and velvet bottom to keep the belts in order. In the masculine part, the upper part with servetto is dedicated to jackets and shirts, while the lower part houses fixed shelves for folded items and a large drawer on the bottom for bulky. To accompany the whole, a chest of drawers with central compartment for accessories and upper service shelf.

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Materials and finishes

Even the choice of materials and finishes reflects a particular attention to detail and a refined taste. The doors in white-stained ash are combined with handles in satin brass sheet with joint and fold system that makes them elegant and refined. The same type of handles, with sheet metal coplanar with the wooden structure, is used in the external chest of drawers, whose development follows a horizontal rather than a vertical trend. The interior of the wardrobe and the structure of the chest of drawers are in smoked oak, whose warm and soft shades perfectly match the existing natural oak parquet. A reference to brass is also present in the internal drawers of the wardrobe, with very simple but elegant folded sheet metal handles that rest on the front of the drawers. Servetti with brown aluminum finish, fixed tubulars and hinges with black color finish complete the overall view with uniformity and elegance.

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Designing a made-to-measure wardrobe means thinking about an internal conformation that best meets the needs and practicality of customers. Like an item of clothing, furniture must also perfectly fit the personality of the user.

High ceilings and contemporary boiserie in a Ligurian apartment

High ceilings and contemporary boiserie in a Ligurian apartment

The interiors of the past were characterized by the presence of high ceilings, which in a contemporary perspective risk making houses disproportionate in the perception of spaces.

A possible solution can be to introduce a counter-wall capable of keeping the original structure intact but revolutionizing the interior spaces by providing them with a new height.

 

THE CONTEXT
THE INTERVENTION
LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN
BEDROOM
BATHROOM
COLOURS AND MATERIALS

 

THE CONTEXT

Liguria is the sea with high, rocky and jagged coasts, but also the region with ancient culinary traditions and small towns close to the hills.

Characterized by small historical cities, it responds to a still traditional setting with houses often placed against each other and narrow passages to take the most advantage from the spaces.

For this reason, most of the interiors are currently dated and difficult to expand.

As in most old houses, the ceilings are very high and can modify the perception of the spaces.

Characteristic spreads throughout Italy, whose solutions can vary considerably depending on the context. Sometimes taking advantage of verticality can be the design choice capable of characterizing the project, as in the case of this New York Apartment

However, in case of small spaces, the already very high ceilings are further accentuated by the planimetric dimensions of the interiors.

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THE INTERVENTION

The design project aims to restore the right eight to each room, while giving a fresh and contemporary look. Working on the internal heights was possible through the use of a wall covering, a boiserie whose height of 240cm re-establishes the usual proportion of the rooms, allowing in the same time, to keep the original structure intact.

It is exactly on this fundamental feature that the renovation of apartment is based: building a sort of exoskeleton able to maintain the original ceilings and making it equipped where necessary. At the same time, it creates an internal setting that respond to the customer’s needs.

The intervention involved all the rooms of the apartment, of which however the kitchen and the bathroom were affected in a reduced way because they preserve original in the internal height.

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LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN

Starting from the entrance, the new compact structure of boiserie encloses the false ceiling with zenithal lighting.

The difference between the original and the reconstructed height is still accessible and serves as a storage element. In doing so, it’s takes the most advantage from the existing space, providing greater functionality.

The living room was instead equipped with a niche used as laundry room, flanked by a small glass showcase embedded in the double wall.

Turning instead to the kitchen room, it is the shaped laminated wood with light colours that gives a touch of freshness and modernity, recalling the chromatic shade of wood used for the dining table. Wall and storage unites fill the remaining gaps by taking the most of every corner of the small apartment, without making it oppressive.

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BEDROOM

The use of the full-height boiserie allows the bedroom to better hide the service wardrobes.

Organized along two corner walls, they consist of niches with multiple functions capable of containing drawers, hangers and shelves at different height. In the same way, the television is also included in a special custom-made niche.

The extreme functionality of the corner wardrobe becomes an extremely stylistic clean and contemporary element in this design system. Added to this, the backlit false ceiling is able to provide diffused and elegant lighting.

In order to give greater dynamism and personality to the boiserie, horizontal cuts were inserted to create an innovate stylistic linearity. It is also possible to equip these horizontal cuts with possible supports, to make the bedroom even more functional.

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BATHROOM

Evoking the use of laminated wood that characterizes the kitchen countertop and the display elements of the living room near the dining table. Even the bathroom is characterized by a contemporary and extremely fresh stylistic element. The storage units host a niche for the washing machine and a chest of drawers with marked edge that perfectly fits with neutral tones of the room.

COLOURS AND MATERIALS

Concerning the chromatic and material choice, we opted for a project in continuity between different rooms. The textured laminated wood was chosen for both the walls and furnishing elements, whose texture recalling that of the fabrics, gives greater domesticity and softness to the interiors. A contemporary aspect that can also be found in the neutral shades adopted: two different shades of gray which create a very elegant internal movement.

Finally, the introduction of laminated wood in the living room and in the bathroom gives a decisive touch able to make the environment younger. It is exactly in these two rooms that the high ceilings have been maintained.

dining table and glass showcase

Reflections and opacity of an apartment in Milano

Reflections and opacity of an apartment in Milano

With a panoramic view of the Milan skyline, reflections and opacities takes place in the renovation project by the architects Pierluigi Fasoli giving life to a rigorous apartment. A house that prefers to hide rather than show. Large full-height wardrobes and doors with storage points that characterize both the living area with the contemporary kitchen and the hallways, and the bright and austere bedroom.

REFLECTIONS

A rigorousness however animated by the material choice to alternate glossy and opaque surfaces, in a play of reflections that characterizes all environments. Starting therefore from the kitchen, focused on the choice of glossy white lacquered MDF for wall units and full-height doors. In correspondence with the first horizontal band of wall units, the reflections are underlined using a bronzed mirror, also applied in the back surface. Contemporary appliances with metal surfaces also integrate in this context. These include the refrigerator and the recessed oven, the double sink with a contemporary large tap and the hob with gas ovens. The design line of the kitchen follows a setting that prefers horizontality with recessed handle and upper vasistas-opening wall units. The play of reflections also involves all the doors of the apartment, the glossy lacobel of a white colour tending to light gray. The bedroom also responds to a material choice aimed at lucidity, with large full-height wardrobes and a vertical division of the doors. These elegantly harmonize with the dove-gray colour painting, a rigorous chromatic combination used in contemporary years. Verticality also taken up in the division of the window from which you can enjoy a panoramic view of Milan.

OPACITY

The hallway with service wardrobe and the entrance area with storage doors mostly represent the opaque component of this alternation. The first, alternates the glossy surfaces of the lacobel doors with the service cabinet in matt lacquered MDF of the same colour, detaching itself from the turtle dove-gray of the background paint. A vertical division underlined both by the dividing elements of the doors placed at regular intervals each other facing the back surface, and in the rhythmicity of the cabinet’s doors. The entrance area is also characterized by the same choice of alternation and chromatic contrast, with a recessed storage element that emerges from the drove-gray background with opaque white doors. The result is a formal and stylistic balance, underlined both by the chromatic contrast and by the geometric rigor of the forms.

 
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