Temporary Oasis

Our wonderful clients live in a rental house of great proportions and appreciate quality. After some time on the market looking for the perfect permanent home and realising that this may take many more months, they decided it was time to work with an interior design team to maximise the potential of their temporary address while the search continues. Enter Spaces for Life Interiors, i.e., us. The challenge here was two-fold: design all spaces with no possibility for structural changes to the property; and select timeless pieces in proportions that will allow for future repositioning. In terms of style, we worked with a coastal neutral palette reminiscent of the ocean with tones of blue and cool greys creating harmony from one room to the next.

Open Plan Living - Dining

When it comes to designing a unique space, nothing says character better than wall paper. So, in a situation where that was out of the question due to building restrictions, we opted for wall paper on the back of a display cabinet. This solution allows for so much flexibility: not only have we added much needed storage space to a busy dining room but we have also introduced pattern and colour to express our client's personality. The result is a clean, minimalist room we can't take our eyes off.

Photography: Analia Lazzari

For the living area we decided on a traditional L-shaped modular sofa that can be reconfigured in different ways and even separated into single armchairs in order to adapt to a potential new space should our clients move in the near future. The attached corner ottoman can make for an interesting modern sofa setup if placed between two full elements. A large tone-on-tone outdoor rug provides softness and aids acoustics while proving a resistant choice for a lot of foot traffic and play time. Through the use of pattern and textures we added personality to the large pieces, which were intentionally left neutral. The space feels warm and inviting, stands the test of use and is very flexible.

Master Bedroom

A restful oasis. Simple, minimalist, functional, meaningful. This master bedroom is made up of only four pieces of furniture: a comfortable bed, a pair of side tables in light oak and a hand-crafted, made to order sideboard from RH for storage. Meaningful family and landscape photography wrap the space up in meaning. We used clever ideas to avoid strong shadows and spread soft light instead: a covered lamp shade with finial on the sideboard and tinted top lightbulbs for the nightstand lamps. A woolen made-to-measure hand-knotted rug grounds the large bed and makes it a pleasure to enter the space at the end of a busy day.

Small Home Office by the Stairs

The brief for this space was to give this stair landing a purpose and to untilise its full potential. Our clients had envisioned a work station/reading corner where they could enjoy the expansive view, so it was clear the desk would be facing the window. That was our starting point. We proceeded to develop the reading aspect of the design by reutilising an existing comfy chair and adding good lighting, luxurious textiles, and corner shelving where our clients can organise their books as well as display meaningful mementos. The space feels light and airy, the end result is a landing that's not only functional but also beautiful on the eyes. A turning cane desk chair custom made in Spain steals the show.

The Study

Our client runs a business from this office, so we had a to design a hard-working space that would cater for very long days. Bearing in mind that this is a rental home and therefore no structural changes can be made, we redesigned the space using colour and furnishings to create four room sections for different purposes. For privacy reasons, we're not showing you our client's multiple desk zone, where we used height adjustable desks in light oak and black. But we can share the lounge, formal sitting and storage area. A comfortable sofa with custom made piped pillows acts as a wall to create a sitting space behind it that can be used for a meeting, lunch, dinner, or a quick change of scenery. An accent Farrow & Fall tone plus a custom made room divider redefine the fireplace corner as a relaxing lounge complete with coffee table and side chair. The divider creates room for extra lighting and storage. By repeating our decorative accessories we create a harmonious look. And the thread tying it all together is the use of dark furniture. The space feels elevated, timeless and organised. The existing rug was repositioned to host both lounge and formal seating.