Architect's Apartment, Renovated in 9 Weeks

A few years ago, Spanish architect Paula Duarte moved with her family from Madrid to Northern Europe. The days were shorter and there was less sunshine — and after some time, the family realized they missed Spain.

Upon returning to Spain, Paula and her husband bought this apartment. The 162 square meter space was large enough for them to settle here with two sons, set up several bedrooms and a common area for family relaxation and gatherings with friends. However, they didn't like the initial layout.

At that time, Paula decided to demolish all partitions, leaving only load-bearing columns, build new ones, and arrange the necessary rooms and functional zones based on her own vision of an ideal apartment. Of course, taking into account the wishes of her family members.

Despite the grand renovation, the work proceeded quite briskly. The main principle Paula followed in designing the interior was to make it bright and as spacious as possible, filled with air: over the years of living in Northern countries, both the architect and her family deeply missed sunlight and natural light.

Paula arranged the kitchen-living room so that one side of the space was maximally open, while the other side kept each zone slightly isolated from its neighbor. It worked best with the kitchen. Her architect enclosed it in a semi-closed bar counter and effectively hid it behind columns from the living room and dining area.

Working on the bedroom project for herself and her husband, Paula drew inspiration from a solution she spotted in hotels and created access to the master bathroom directly from the room by installing a full-height sliding wooden door between the two zones. This made the bedroom indeed resemble a suite in a luxury hotel.

Many pieces of furniture and decor were bought long before the apartment was purchased and simply waited for their time to shine. Although the final interior predominantly features motifs of sunny beachfront homes and has plenty of natural light, just as the owners wanted, elements of Northern Scandinavian style are also present here. Perhaps nostalgia.