At a bent street corner stands a small rectangular house with a red roof and with wooden shutters covering its windows. The house itself was built in the 1940s, with a wonderful high ceiling. The change with the new design was to create an open and dynamic space in order to make it feel larger, since each floor covers just about seventy squared meters.
The hose was design in its residents’ image, beautiful yet shy, well-kempt yet modest.
Despite my first urge to open the front of the house towards the surrounding garden, the dialog with the clients made it for me that they are a special kind of people with different preferences. They chose to pass on the idea of fencing the garden in order to keep it open and natural, and instead for the house, which is stationed below street level, Tuscan wooden windows and shutters were chosen, for the residences’ privacy.
Maximal usage of the space requires creative solutions. Avoiding unnecessary passageways such as halls and hallways leaves more net space for the functions themselves. Therefore, the guests’ toilets are located right from the entrance door and are opened towards the living room. A beautiful and soundproof door proved itself and allowed us to save additional space.
At the living room, filled with soft velvety sofa, large and comfortable pillows are set and a colorful kilim carpet warms up the room. One of the most important things when trying to keep the room spacious is to fit the furniture at the right scale. There is no reason to fill the space with large coffee tables which will block the space. I chose small and light brass tables which are easy to move around and which will keep the room spacious.
A three dimensional wall separates the kitchen and the living room. On one side stands a drawer chest on which the television screen is placed, and on the other side there are open wooden shelves for storage.
The stairway was replaced with wooden stairs on an iron framework. On the study’s side, a hidden door for storage was placed, and on the kitchen’s side, the fridge and kitchen cabinets were placed under the stairway.
The study is open to the rest of the house, and is located between the bedroom and the stairway and enjoys the plentiful light which enters through the inner patio’s iron door. A large wardrobe merges with the wall elegantly and gives plenty of storage space.
At the center of the kitchen, against the shelf wall stands the dining table. The kitchen’s wall is covered with bluish Moroccan zillij tiles, above which the kitchen cabinets are painted with the same color of the wall, in order to prevent them from weighting on the small space and keep the feeling of the ceiling’s height. Glass doors fill the kitchen with light and invite you to step outside and dine under the pergola.
The bedroom’s floor and ceiling are covered with brown wood. During the shooting day the weather was rainy and gray and therefor a soft European light filled the room and complimented the house’s atmosphere.
The adjacent shower is covered with the same pattern of zillij tiles as the guests’ toilets. An ancient Italian wooden cabinet was transformed into the sink’s cabinet.
While the entrance floor when through a full revision, including a complete redesign, the upper floor with the children’s bedrooms (who grew up and already “left the nest”), was kept almost entirely as is. Only the general bathroom was renovated.
I had the right and joy to work with a client with an exquisite taste and true passion for beauty and aesthetics. Each and every item was picked with care and thought and has a special meaning for the residents.
I wish them many years of comfort and joy in their renewed house. For me the joint journey was a great pleasure.
Extra thanks for Shai Adam for the excellent photoshooting.
