Optimizing spaces with functional furniture: a studio apartment in Milan

Optimizing spaces with functional furniture: a studio apartment in Milan

Optimizing space with functional furniture is the design intent of this studio apartment in Milan. The material selection expresses simplicity and naturalness, bringing a contemporary feel to the custom-designed interiors of this cozy home.

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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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Optimizing space with custom-made furniture

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

Designing a smartworking corner according to Modulor

Designing a smartworking corner according to Modulor

During the last few months, our daily life has been completely changed by the global pandemic.
Not only our habits have changed, from small daily gestures to the way we use services, but also the working and private world have been seen from a different perspective.
If until recently, in fact, the coexistence between home and work life was a voluntary choice of a few people, now almost all families have faced concepts such as smartworking, DAD and online meetings.

But what does it mean at a spatial level to introduce smartworking? How have customers’ needs changed to cope with this now habitual type of work?

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A retro-style wooden desk with a modern equipped wall for a classic and contemporary smartworking corner

THE COEXISTENCE BETWEEN THE PRIVATE SPHERE AND THE WORKING WORLD

The change in habits and lifestyles has involved all aspects of our daily life. From simple gestures such as shaking hands as a sign of knowledge and respect or greeting each other with a warm hug, to participating in cultural and recreational activities such as shows or concerts. The changes that have necessarily been introduced have certainly upset our perception of the private sphere and relating.

Added to this is a new conception of the working world that has increasingly entered our domestic environments.
Previously, in fact, working remotely had been a choice or opportunity for a few, who deliberately knew how to relate both aspects in a single environment. Whether reserving an entire room or dividing domestic spaces with a well-defined design logic.
This is the case, for example, of this studio-home whose design has followed the principles of Feng Shui to organize the internal activities.

From a refined choice, the introduction of a smartworking corner has now become a necessary requirement. All the more so if in the same household the different users need a computer station and well isolated settings to be able to carry out online lessons or conferences on Zoom without interference.

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Romantic and Shabby Chic atmosphere for this essential worktop

HOW HAVE CUSTOMER NEEDS CHANGED DURING LOCKDOWN?

The months of “confinement” between the first lockdown and the subsequent subdivision into regions according to the chromatic distinction have certainly influenced our way of living the house.
Just think of the number of hours spent at home in the last few months.

As a consequence of this, first of all, a critical vision of one’s own interiors has been introduced. Small improvements to be made, more refined aesthetic details, functional additions in each room.
To demonstrate this, it is enough to recalling the endless queues in the furniture megastores and DIY stores after the first opening in May 2020. More or less improvised solutions, which many times also involve a “self-taught” component to create greater satisfaction in the final result.

Even in custom-made furnishings, customers have followed this wave of changes with requests that could make the spaces in the home more functional. Whether it is a greater attention to the aesthetic impact or a technical improvement, it was certainly the way of seeing one’s home that changed. To all this is added the aforementioned parameter of necessity, and here is the most common request in recent months: providing a corner for smart working.

FROM THE LARGE WORK SPACES …

In our previous creations, we had already faced with study corners and walls equipped with desks to make the different rooms more functional. Surely bookcases and most of all desks have become the center of attention. In some cases, these have occupied an entire dedicated room with large and bright rooms. This is the case, for example, of this workstation with an industrial touch inserted in full-height bookcases. A linear element runs along the wall perforated by large windows providing a comfortable support and work points. To embrace the central relaxation area, bookcases with black waxed iron sides and wooden shelves. Another example is this gallery equipped as a study, which exploits the slope of the beamed ceiling to place an essential desk overlooking the living area, and a bookcase embedded in the lower heights.

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The oak worktop develops along the side wall with linearity and essentiality in the industrial interior of this apartment

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Equipping an attic as a study allows you to take advantage of the internal heights while respecting the brightness of the interior.
A minimalist desk overlooks the contemporary pop interior of this apartment

With the passage of time and changing needs, even the work spaces have adapted to the existing furnishings, making them as functional and essential as possible.

Among these, the classic large desks with drawers and a service bookcase. This version offers a material and chromatic combination with a masculine touch: anthracite gray linoleum top with painted iron supports. It is accompanied by a shaped shelf with black waxed iron covering that with simplicity and elegance provides a practical support for small objects or books.
On the side, a bookcase with shelves which is part of the compact structure which also includes the bed with a trunk opening and wardrobe with bridge component. The black waxed iron sides contrast with the matt lacquered MDF shelves, creating material and chromatic contrasts with a strong character.

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A desk with an anthracite gray linoleun top and iron profiles defines the masculine stylistic imprint of this bedroom

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Details of the bookcase and shelves in black waxed iron and matt lacquered MDF.
Material and chromatic contrasts.

TO THE SMALL CORNERS OF SMARTWORKING

The passage of time has given rise to more essential projects, which also exploit small spaces with practical and compact solutions. Among these, a support surface with flap opening attached to the existing bookcase.
The wooden shelves become the key to horizontal reading, appearing almost set between the vertical sides in lacquered MDF. Games of depth and geometry give life to a room marked by an essential visual rhythm.

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The top of this wooden bookcase exploits its flap opening to optimize the space

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Material details with a strong aesthetic character: the wooden shelves are embedded in the shoulders by the vertical reading in MDF

On the other hand, the solutions that take advantage of the reduced heights with rough and natural surfaces have a more romantic soul. In this example, a cherry wood worktop expresses all its material uniqueness with visible knots and a rustic profile, without sacrificing sophisticated details. However, the simple but incisive design line does not renounce practicality. For this reason, a hole has been provided for the passage of cables along the depth of the top, making it also functional for the electrical preparation.

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Modern furnishings and natural elements harmonize in this smartworking corner with an authentic soul

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A raw cherry wood top expresses all its naturalness

The smart working that has overwhelmingly spread in these difficult times will most likely not remain a transitory phenomenon but will increasingly become part of our life, it will become a necessary space in the home. We designers are ready not to forget it in the design phase and follow its evolutions.

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. 

Modulor internal configuration wardrobe woman
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.

A boutique dedicated to children: Tiziana Fausti Kids

A boutique dedicated to children: Tiziana Fausti Kids

The end of summer saw the inauguration of the Kids corner in the historic Tiziana Fausti boutique, reorganizing the spatial layout to host a retail space for children.
From the previous commercial space in Via Monte Sabotino, now reserved for the urban concept of THE F1RST sneakers, the outfitting for the Kids store moves to the historic women’s store, modernizing its image on a project by the Storage Associati architecture studio.

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The exhibition layout

From a project by the Storage Associati studio, the retail space reserved to children takes on a dynamic and fresh configuration on the ground floor of the Tiziana Fausti boutique.
The display elements develop vertically, serving as a pivot in the center of the space.
The flow of customers is thus distributed in a circular way, avoiding spatial gaps.

Along the side windows there are other vertical elements that exploit the double visibility both from outside and from inside for the product distribution. Transparent shelves that allow natural light to spread all over the interior space, struggling between the products on display.

The showcase on the left of the entrance instead takes up the typology used in the women’s department with cylindrical volumes rising to different heights.
Taking advantage of their expressive essentiality, these volumes with a carpeted upper covering are also scattered throughout the retail space, enlivening the outfitting.

A store dedicated to children that is inspired by the world of the little ones, with dynamic and flexible display products configured with the interlocking theme.

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Joint matters

The logic of the joint is certainly the basis of the retail design project. Just like in Lego constructions, even plexiglass and wooden tubular shelves fit together allowing different project configurations, which are in turn inserted into the bottom panel.

This simple and practical display logic focuses on the use of three different elements.

The first, and fundamental, is essential to define the different display heights, being the element that communicates with the back wall. It is in fact a wooden tubular with a shaped end so that it can be embedded in any point of the reticular bottom wall.
Its length was then worked through a specific section to be able to fit the other two display elements: plexiglass shelves and tubular hangers.

The first were obviously made of the same width as the tubular section, thus becoming visible light signs that are interchangeable with each other. On the other hand, the tubulars used for hangers, , take advantage of the negative of the shaping by bringing the interlocking elements along their diameter to ensure stability and visual linearity.

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Give new life to the display elements

The world of retail design is constantly changing. To cope with the incessant succession of trends in the fashion world, even the spaces that host it must adapt by developing new configurations.
Therefore, it is fundamental to avoid waste of any kind to design furnishings that can undergo variations over time and become flexible to new changes.

This is the case of the wall units chosen for the outfitting dedicated to children in the historic Tiziana Fausti boutique. Equipped walls that exploit the voids between the different crossed wooden panels to allow the interlocking of wooden tubes. Recovered from the original layout of the Kids store, the perforated wooden walls have been subjected to careful quality control with a meticulous recovery of the damaged features.

In the same way, some existing furnishings, such as the cash desk display cabinet, have received new grit through a new film, to make them uniform with the general aesthetics.

A new life that characterizes them with a fresh and dynamic soul, which fully reflects the sparkling character of children, reinterpreted in a design key for the historic luxury boutique in the heart of Bergamo.

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A studio house designed with Feng Shui

A studio house designed with Feng Shui

Spaces where we live, as well as representing us, must have a positive influence on the quality of our life and has to be studied and designed in the best possible way. Even more when, as in this case, life and work take place in the same environment. Designing a studio home with Feng Shui means making these two aspects coexisting harmoniously in everyday life and spaces.

 

THE FENH SHUI

We have often heard of Feng Shui, but what is it? It is certainly neither a philosophy, nor a religious or spiritual practice, it is not a style of furniture and not even a form of bio-architecture.

Feng Shui can be defined as the study of how natural and built environments influence our psychophysical conditions.
Practicing this discipline means understanding how the various elements of an environment that affect our physical conditions, our moods and our behaviors, are activated by our primordial instincts. These include: shape, proportions, symmetry, number, color, tactile sensations, sun exposure, artificial light, sound and attention paths.

Feng Shui literally means “wind and water”, in honor of the two elements that shape the earth. In fact, with their flow, they determine the characteristics of a particular place.
It could be said that the profound meaning of this discipline is “Creating the best conditions for the development of life”. Its goal is to make an environment suitable for the people who lives there or for the activities that take place there.

In fact, each of us relates to the room in a non-verbal way: what surrounds us inspires us with emotions or instinctive reactions of which we are almost always unaware and some of these are universal for the human species.

Matter of Feng Shui are these sensations and to work on the human psyche we act on the physical world.

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A STUDIO HOUSE

The greatest representation of the coexistence of home-work based on Feng Shui is this realization in the Lombard capital. Our client, a holistic operator, needed an ambivalent space in chaotic Milan to be used both as a residence and as a location for her courses.

For this reason, she turned to Marzia and Germana from SpazioUmano to make the apartment as suitable as possible for her needs through Feng Shui. The housing unit on two floors is located in the context of a condominium still under construction, chosen near the city center.

Having always been sensitive to Feng Shui, we have followed the two architects with pleasure. Reading and interpreting their design choices in the best possible way has been a source of inspiration for us and a professional challenge accepted with enthusiasm.

Each building has a recognable front and a back. This polarity determines the orientation of the house in the space that is symbolically guarded by two celestial animals: the black turtle and the red phoenix. The first is associated with protection and health and it is identified with the most intimate areas of the house such as the bedroom and bathroom. The red phoenix is ​​instead an indication of freedom and identified with the entrance and the “active” areas of the house.

The other two animals supporting the main ones are the green dragon, linked to our more rational left hemisphere and therefore synonymous with organization, home management and work, and the white tiger, linked to the more intuitive right hemisphere, therefore associated with emotionality and artistic activities.

THE PROJECT

Being a home-studio, the active areas of living and working had to coexist according to Feng Shui principles, in the part of the red phoenix, but still be separated from each other.

The access to the apartment is therefore characterized by a scenic aerial staircase illuminated on the right side by a large glass wall. This staircase, made with white painted aluminum support and wooden treads, leads to the upper floor used for holistic courses. The instinct is to go up, choosing to be accompanied on this almost emotional path of ascent.

On the opposite side of the large window, the access to the private house is out of sight. A sliding wall decorated with a spiral geometric pattern with opal inserts hides the everyday life’ interior. The light coming from the outside filters through the opal shapes of the sliding wall, creating plays of light inside the apartment.

The living area that opens to the view is an open space with a square plan, whose kitchen is placed on the corner opposite the opening.

Feng Shui entrance
Sliding wall Feng Shui
Wall Feng Shui

A FENG SHUI KITCHEN

The entrance with living area is characterized by the presence of a full-height corner bookcase, where vertical and horizontal shelves gives rhythm. Small objects and books become the real protagonists, standing out among the matt lacquered MDF profiles of the bookcase.

In front of this, the low open cabinet with doors and internal shelves visually closes the room by introducing the kitchen. The latter is arranged at an angle and anticipated by a large table in natural oak and support profiles in black iron. Above this, a witty and youthful light point with suspension elements of different shapes that intertwine on the horizontal support element.

Further element of character are the chairs that surround the table, with bright colors and simple profiles.

The actual block of the kitchen is made up of mutually intersecting volumes, creating a rhythm and visual dynamism also reflected in the material choice of the coverings. On the one hand, the block with service columns which also houses the free-standing refrigerator and built-in oven. Doors in matt lacquered MDF are interspersed with natural and dark-stained oak inserts, creating visual dynamism.

At the front, the basaltine countertop is transformed into a backsplash and back surface in the firing area, giving life to material and luminous contrasts with the uniform riser in white Lacobel.

The overlying wall units best express this play of intersected volumes with open compartments in natural oak that alternate doors in matt white lacquer and inserts in dark stained oak.

Natural materials with a soft touch blend perfectly with darker and rough inserts. Distinctive signs can also be recognized in the lower volumes, such as the drawers with oak fronts that underline the horizontal reading of the kitchen.

Feng Shui lights kitchen
Side kitchen oak doors
bookcase entrance laquered white
Kitchen table oak wood

ADVICE

Designing a multipurpose interior means being able to bring together different aspects of everyday life. Especially when it comes to connecting the working world to the private one, the home environment plays a fundamental role so that nothing can be left to chance. Choosing to design with Feng Shui involved in this example the coexistence of instincts belonging to two aspects of our life, in a single home-work environment.

We are ready to calibrate your daily and working space on the basis of your needs and desires, in order to create interiors in perfect harmony and balance even with your inner “I”.