The Most Budget-Friendly Renovation: Great Ideas from Spain

This apartment is located in northern Spain and belongs to a young couple. When the couple bought it, there were no high ceilings or spacious rooms — but there were suspended ceilings and many small, dark spaces.

The couple approached architects from Babel Studio to do something about the unfortunate layout. They also wanted to incorporate vintage items that the apartment owners had collected over time.

First, the architects removed unnecessary internal partitions. The old finish was stripped off, the ceilings were demolished, and the original beams were revealed — and it immediately became clear what potential was hidden in this apartment. The interior now has more light, and natural air circulation has improved.

Since the clients love vintage, loft motifs, and mid-century modern furniture, some walls were left exposed to brick, while the kitchen was decorated with wooden and minimalist elements, just as they liked in the middle of the 20th century. The signature pink color of that era was also used for the front door.

They selected convenient and minimalist furniture, naturally not forgetting iconic items: for example, lamps designed by Le Corbusier and Jean Louis Domèche in the living room and Arne Jacobsen’s ant chairs in the bedroom. These iconic chairs were also duplicated as souvenirs on a sideboard in the living room, reduced to a fraction of their size. By the way, this is an excellent decorative technique.

The bedroom turned out to be the most tranquil space, and to add a special touch to the atmosphere, the dresser was decorated with an old helmet (the owners say it once belonged to a Russian cosmonaut — interesting, is it true or just a beautiful legend?), as well as an anatomical chart and family photos.

The bathroom is probably the most unconventional room in the apartment. The walls and floor were clad with micro-cement, and the vanity unit was made from an old carpenter’s bench — it looks very stylish. The bathroom design is hard to rival in impact, except perhaps for the way the clients’ football passion was integrated into the space.

Notice the carpet pattern in the living room: it looks like a design on footballs, right? If you look closely at the pendant above the dining table, it's easy to guess that it’s an old stadium spotlight and a very elegant, refined way of telling the story of the people who live here without breaking the style.