Country style: the countryside at home

Country style: the countryside at home

Scent of countryside, the relaxation of a warm and welcoming home, the search for a natural but at the same time refined style. All this is the Country style and more and more people are choosing it for their home furnishings.

country kitchen

a bright Country Style kitchen with white furnishings and glass inserts

MEANING OF THE WORD

Synonyms of the term country are “countryside, rustic, rural”, therefore everything related to the earth, to nature. A return to our peasant origins in opposition to a world that chases technological progress with increasingly aseptic environments.

Simplicity and refinement make it current even if its origins are distant. In fact, it was born in England in the late nineteenth century, when the English nobility needed to get away from the Victorian splendor and rediscover the country peace.

This style of furniture in fact favors wood and, more generally, all warm and natural materials. It can also be declined in variants such as: romantic, Provencal, chic, rustic, American or modern according to the taste and preferences of those who choose it for their home environment.

country living room.

a Country Style living room that enhances the details with dark wood.

country bedroom

A room that marries the country style also in the choice of embroidered fabrics.

THE DOMINANT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY STYLE

The country style is characterized by classic furnishings, with shaped profiles and interior decorations. Its best expressed in an environment with exposed stone, ceiling with wooden beams and a nice warm fireplace in the center of the living area.

The aim is to be able to convey the sense of relaxation typical of a country house even in a city context. However, the “rusticity” of the style is enhanced by an extreme refinement in the elements and details that fill the environment and nothing is left to chance.

Typical complements of country furniture are the tables in solid untreated wood, the chests made entirely of wood or with elegant metal legs and the curtains that also become an integral part of the furniture.

In this country-style kitchen we made, the checkered curtain takes the place of the doors under the sink. Refrigerator and dishwasher are strictly built-in, while the oven and hood are visible and represent the heart of the kitchen. Speaking of details, here each knob has its own characterization and has been chosen with care.

 

country style kitchen

Our Country Style kitchen with a touch of color and refined details.

country style kitchen details
country style kitchen details
country style kitchen details

Details of the sugar paper shaped hood and knobs.

Are often used recycled furniture such as old sideboards, bedside tables, dressers, wardrobes. In the country bathroom, a free-standing bathtub with a vintage look and stone walls cannot be missing. Vintage and “decorative recycling” objects are inevitable, that is glass bottles, jars or all those small objects that, cleaned and decorated, can change their intended use and become nice decorative elements or containers.

To enrich the environment, knick-knacks are welcome, especially if in ceramic and old crochet doilies. Vases with plants and flowers cannot be missing either, the impression must be that of a really countryside house. Flowers are an essential element because they give delicacy and a touch of romantic mood to all rooms.

country bathroom

Two examples of a contemporary country style bathroom area, with a focus on the choice of colors.

COLORS AND MATERIALS

Country style prefers natural colors, such as those of wood, used as a base for more decisive color combinations, like cherry red, sun yellow, baby blue, ivory and all shades of green.

These shades immediately give to the environment a decidedly welcoming and romantic atmosphere. For the armchairs and other upholstered items, the choice goes to the floral textures, which are then embellished with many colored or neutral colored cushions.

In fact, the country foresees a great use of fabrics with particular textures and decorations, such as checks for tablecloths and flowers and polka dots for curtains and sofas. Even for the bedrooms you can opt for wallpapers and, as a complement, themed bedspreads and sheets.

The materials to be used are wood, stone and wrought iron especially in the chandeliers and headboards of the beds. For the back of the kitchen and for the bathroom, white ceramic tiles or in some patterns of blue, gray, sage or delicate pink are preferred.

country style elements

The Modulor selection of colors, textures and furniture references for the Country moodboard

country living room.

A very bright living room that emphasizes the Country style in the choice of fabrics.

MODERN COUNTRY

The variants of the country style are many, but the one we prefer is the Modern Country style, less characterizing but more suitable for everyday use.

The Modern Country mixes vintage furnishing accessories with minimal or industrial ones. Sometimes it is enough to leave stone walls or exposed brick walls, opt for a large solid wood table and it is already possible to recreate a country atmosphere but not overly ancient.

This flavor of modern country can also be found by modernizing the style of old peasant houses with pieces of modern design that make them more refined. Here we present the living area of ​​a splendid Sicilian Villa in which the ancient stone oil mill is located in the center of the room, surrounded by traditional dark wood furnishings and stone walls, but also very minimal backlit elements.

 

country style sicilian villa

The ancient oil mill, classic and modern furnishings.

traditional villa Sicily dining table
traditional villa Sicily kitchen view

Details of the large living area between traditional furnishings and new elements.

Those who choose the Country style have a romantic spirit and love to enjoy their “home sweet home” in relax.

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.

feng shui

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”.

Boho Chic Style: a mix of vintage and modern

Boho Chic Style: a mix of vintage and modern

Very popular in recent years, the Boho Chic style is characterized by the combination of various other styles that flow into a balanced mix of furnishings. Since there are no precise guidelines, if not the freedom of spirit of its inhabitants, we must be very careful not to furnish the house in a chaotic and disharmonic way.

living room reference

Entrance and living room in Boho Chic style.

The meaning of the word

There is a lot of talk about Boho Chic style, but what is the meaning of this term? Boho comes from the abbreviation of “Bohémien“, a French word born in the nineteenth century to identify the unconventional lifestyle of penniless artists, writers, musicians and actors of the major European cities, combined with the word “Chic” which indicates the modern trend to make even a style that was originally more rustic and natural elegant and refined. This expression took hold at the beginning of the millennium in the fashion world but soon merged into interior design as well. The Boho Chic style is an original combination of Nordic, ethnic, hippie and modern furnishings that everyone can interpret in their own way, also as regards the colors and finishes, different from each other and the unique pieces that distinguish it. Each space must tell the story of those who live there and the houses furnished in this style have some common points but they never resemble each other.

 Parisian style dining room

A bright Boho Chic style living area, with play of colors and wallpaper.

Boho Chic living room

In comparison, a living area in the same style based on the dark tones of wood and leather.

Vintage and unique pieces

A necessary element in this type of style is the recovery of antique or vintage pieces of furniture to be combined with other modern ones. The two eras in comparison give this cross-section of “timeless home” to the environment and each piece of furniture, each object and each decorative element contains a history and a personal and indissoluble bond with its owner. A Boho Chic home is constantly evolving, up to the filling of every available square meter. Thus an eccentric environment comes to life, made of unique colors and objects, travel memories and emotions.

Boho Chic living room

Boho Chic living room with antique sofas and armchairs, of different styles and eras.

 Parisian style living room
 Parisian style dining room

Here are two images of a living room and a dining area that Modulor created in Parisian Bohemian style

Materials and Colors

The colors are strong and lively in the Boho Chic furniture, even if light and bright tones are preferable, especially for the walls that highlight the color of the furnishings and accessories, whose shades can range from the ivory of the curtains to the terracotta of the vases, green plants or the textures of carpets, cushions and chandeliers. Colors reminiscent of foreign spices, such as turmeric, paprika, cinnamon and saffron, are highly recommended, or in recent years the most popular themes for any wallpaper on the walls are jungle and tropical. Very important are also the fabrics, the velvets, the opulent or geometric patterns that recall countries such as Morocco and India and the woven wood of armchairs and sofas.

texture and colors in Boho Chic style

Wallpapers and natural colors are fundamental in the Boho Chic style.

boho chic entrance

An entrance characterized by woven wood furnishings.

bathroom reference

Bathroom with neutral colors, wooden elements and green plants.

Lights and Plants

Having a lively domestic vegetation is fundamental in the Boho Chic home, the insertion of plants, vases on the ground, wall and ceiling makes the house even more warm, welcoming and hippie. Plants can also be functional elements of the space in their function of separating the various portions of the home environment. Another fundamental element are the lights, which are not uniform and homogeneous as in modern furniture but are located in several parts of the environment and with very different characteristics, both in intensity and in type. The soft lights must not be missing and also the projection of textures on the wall through lanterns with geometries engraved on the surface.

green as furniture reference
lights Boho Chic

Lights and plants, undisputed protagonists of the Boho Chic style.

Boho Chic living room
Boho Chic living room

Oriental rugs, plants and decorations in these Boho Chic living areas, undisputed giants of Boho Chic style.

Those who choose the Boho Chic style love to travel, even if only with their thoughts and bring many cultures and souls into their home that make it a real cosmopolitan environment.

Luxury style: care of detail and high quality

Luxury style: care of detail and high quality

Timeless and always updated, the luxury style is surrounded by refined and elegant interiors. The care of detail goes perfectly with the choice of high quality materials, manufacturing and design.

Luxury living room

Zona living in stile luxury. GEZA Gri e Zucchi Architettura, DLN Penthouse. Foto: Gianni Antoniali

Modulor elegant dining room

Careful furniture selection for this Modulor dining room

Modulor burnished brass display cabinet

Burnished brass details enrich this display cabinet in the living room

The luxury style in the western concept

Speaking about luxury style could means excess and opulence of Arab culture with furniture covered in gold leaves, mirrors and golden mosaics with excessively sinuous lines. It is therefore important to refer of this style in its western concept, which renounces opulence and excesses dictated by a deliberately exhibited richness in favor of attention to detail and refined preciousness. The luxury style in its western sense rather expresses a taste of elegance and uniqueness of the products, often owner-oriented designed.

Modulor luxury kitchen Milan

Plays of reflections for this Modulor kitchen of neutral colours

luxury industrail apartment 08

An entire marble covering bathroom shows all its elegance between linear shapes and polished metals

Finishes and material

Traditional materials are chosen for their timeless beauty, even more if characterized by a fine finish. Without a doubt, the luxury style is the explosion of the marbles in their most colorful veins. Coming from all over the world, they show their preciousness with strongly characterizing ventures or slight chromatic alterations. The precious essences of the wood are also protagonists, often matching refined finishes. These were accompanied by fabrics with particular textures and the inevitable velvets, which have come back into vogue in recent years. The heart of luxury style lies in privileging quality: quality of materials, manufacturing and design. In its contemporary sense then, the luxury style meets brass details, inserts in painted glass and plays of reflection of shiny materials.

Modulor luxury materials selection

The marbles in the most colorful essences are the undisputed protagonists of the Luxury style

luxury fabrics Milan apartment

Velvets, suede and metal effects for this Modulor-signed bedroom

Modulor wooden finish

Inner lighting and wooden textured covering for this luxury wardrobe

Modulor selection luxury furniture and fabrics

Velvet and fine fabrics accompanied by metal finishes enrich the furniture.

Modulor 3D wood finish

An elegant and contemporary 3D finish for this Modulor work

The contemporary luxury style

One of the most constant styles in the history of interior design, it owes its continuous success to the ability of adapting to stylistic changes over the years. Contemporary luxury in particular eliminates even more excesses and extravagances. In combination with the minimal style, it becomes more and more a sort of “added value” inside the domestic interior, standing out for its particularity. It tends to enhance the interiors in which it is, rather than the single product, becoming an elegant but delicate stylistic imprint. Contemporary luxury is a lover of brass finishes, even better if combined with velvets and suede. It meets stylistic variations according to the context. It manages to appear light and delicate if contextualized in essential interiors or with a strong impact if set on dark color ranges.

detail hanoi vietnam

Care of detail and high quality materials for this prestigious Modulor work in Hanoi, Vietnam

master bedroom

Burnished brass and velvet define the details of this Modulor master bedroom

reference luxury bedroom
reference luxury living room
reference luxury kitchen

Selection of contemporary luxury references, between feeble chromatical palette and particular material finishes

Choosing the luxury style means choosing quality materials and refined design. Perfect for those who are addicted to details and a lover of elegance. Suitable for determined personalities and people fascinated by perfection.

How to equip a bathroom with laundry corner

How to equip a bathroom with laundry corner

A functional and aesthetic analysis of the laundry corner. An environment that in contemporary reality is forced to give up its autonomous room to blend in a small bathroom or equipped corridor. The aim is giving space to the services that define our daily life, making them aesthetically interesting.

laundry corner

Laundry corner with showed washing machine, basin and compartments furniture

equipped corridor

Optimize spaces equipping corridors with serviced wardrobes View the project

Space to services

Speaking of interior design, we are used to imagine elegant living rooms and modern kitchens, contemporary bedrooms and essential-style dining rooms. Over the past few years , the interior design has increasingly taken on the aesthetic meaning of architecture. Let’s remember, however, that design was born as the perfect combination between aesthetics and functionality. The morphology of furniture is nothing else than the natural result of perfect efficiency. It is exactly with this spirit that we want to highlight those “corners of the house” that we usually tend to hide because they are not “beautiful” even though they are basics in the functionality of our domestic spaces. The project layout of each house gets us used to dividing rooms between “living area” and “bedrooms”. The first includes all those rooms that are used to welcoming guests, designed with the aim of return the best public images of the owners. In the “sleeping area”, the most intimate and personal rooms of the owners come to life. However, in this typological distinction are missing all the rooms which, whether private or public, carry out a real function. Among these, just think of the laundry room, which over the years has changed its conformation adapting to the needs of the time.

washing machine recess

A laundry niche uses the available passage corner to house the washing machine and shelves View the project

From public washrooms to bathrooms equipped with laundry corners

Over the years, the home laundry has become increasingly important in private houses. Whole rooms were equipped with basins and ironing corners, which gradually witnessed the coming of appliances capable of simplifying manual work and obtaining excellent results. Private rooms that replaced the traditional public lavatories for an increasingly elitist concept of personal care and cleaning. The widespread use of washing machines, and modern dryers, has meant that laundry rooms take up less and less space inside private houses. Furthermore, in the contemporary vision of the house, open spaces have swarmed the architectural panorama more and more, reducing the functional closings to the bare minimum. As a consequence, to optimize space, the laundry room is often eliminated in favor of bathrooms equipped with washing machines, dryers and service cupboards. Making the appliances “invisible” was the next step. Here then come equipped wardrobes able to hold not only washing machines and dryers but also baskets and pull-out compartments for cleaning products.

laundry bathroom detail

A bathroom with contemporary wooden surfaces hide extractable functional elements. View the project

Composition of a laundry-corner

Equipping a bathroom with a laundry corner first of all means providing an insertion point for the washing machine. This can remain visible, favoring the opening of the porthole without interfering with any surrounding doors or being built-in the washbasin cabinet. To better hide the washing machine, however, it is necessary to provide a service cabinet that rests on the ground. It means excluding suspended solutions or light supports, and study a customed solution that allows the opening of the tray and the easily maintenance of the appliance. To this is often added a service cabinet with internal shelves and removable baskets that can contain cleaning products and accessories of different sizes. Often these latter two solutions come together in one, with folding or sliding doors, which act as a closure for the furniture element. Internal accessories such as dividers and hanging elements are additional options that can make the space more functional and optimize the overall dimensions.

bathroom with washing machine in view

The bathroom cabinet with wooden top and finishes houses the washing machine View the project

bathroom cabinet with open drawers

Drawers of different heights are extremely functional elements for organizing personal products View the project

bathroom service closet

A large service cupboard with internal shelves and removable basket for the bulky products View the project

It is the functionality that defines the composition of these equipped corners. Our task is to optimize spaces in the best possible way by creating practical and aesthetically satisfying solutions. Whether they are service points hidden in other rooms or clearly visible and recognizable elements, it is essential to be able to organize them in the best way, using all the available centimeters without however giving shape to narrow solutions.

Discovering Scandinavian style: essential and functional

Discovering Scandinavian style: essential and functional

Being able to identify the style that best suits our personality is a strong point in the design of domestic interiors. For this reason, we have thought to collect for you a series of references that can best show the different styles of the interior design. Accompanying you in their discovery means setting the first references that will allow us to undertake customized solutions, in which different stylistic elements harmonize in a unique and identifying way. We start our journey with a Scandinavian style, essential but extremely functional. We will show you images of our creations matched with material and chromatic references and with extremely identifying design icons and interiors in order to give you the best overview of this style.

The Scandinavian style in its architectural settings

Scandinavian style has swarmed our home’ interiors in recent years. Originally from Northern European countries, it has fascinated us more and more with its essentiality and harmony with nature. It is from the latter that Nordic designers and architects, first of all Alvar Aalto and Arne Jacobsen, drew inspiration to create projects in perfect harmony and functional balance. Before on the furniture terms, the Scandinavian style analyzes the relationship between Man and Nature on an architectural level. From this, the choice of the orientation of the building and the relationship with natural light become of fundamental importance. This, at high latitudes, in the winter months becomes very scarce, if not completely absent. It is therefore essential being capable of making the most of what nature offers with large windows and bright surfaces.

Alvar Aalto Carrè House Scandinavian Style

Alvar Aalto, Maison Carrè

Arne Jacobsen St. Catherine's College

Arne Jacobsen, St. Catherine’s College

Colors and materials

Fresh and bright environments are the distinctive feature of the Scandinavian style. If on one hand the architectural conformation wants to make the most of natural light, on the other it is up to the chromatic choice the ability to illuminate and lighten the interior. Here then the white becomes the undisputed protagonist of the interior. The visual delicacy identifies this style and is obtained by adopting soft colors, preferring pastel shades. To these are added the natural essences of woods, a material certainly preferred in the Nordic interiors. But pay attention to this: wood is chosen for its naturalness and refinement. Therefore, painting and surface processing that alter the original perception of the material are excluded. Favor the natural essences of oak, walnut, oak, larch, ash and first of all birch.

Scandinavian style, reference 01

Sinuous lines for greater ergonomics of the furniture

Scandinavian style Modulor palette

Natural materials and chromatic palette in neutral tones

Modulor selection forniture and materials

light wood essence chosen for essential furniture

Scandinavian style kitchen

Pastel colors for a fresh touch and character

Modulor pastel colors palette

Pastel colors for a touch of grit without sacrificing delicacy

Lines and geometries

Above all the essentiality that characterizes this style is given by the conformation of the furniture and the interiors themselves. Simple and regular geometric lines are preferred, which allow themselves to be fascinated by the sinuous forms of nature but only if justified by greater ergonomics. Geometric patterns and organic lines influence each other to give shape to a light image, but first of all to respond to greater functionality.

traditional villa Sicily kitchen front view

White with its brightness is the color par excellence in the Scandinavian style, as this Modulor kitchen

Scandinavian style living room

Essential furniture and delicate colors for this living room

living room library

Recessed library between wooden essences and pastel colors

Conclusions

Choosing the Scandinavian style means choosing a delicate and fresh interior. If your personality is careful to detail and a lover of simplicity, you will surely be fascinated by it. Airy and bright spaces like your light thoughts and delicate and natural colors like your character, in symbiosis with nature and its perfection.