As architects and designers Anna Foresio and Pietro Carlino of Fo.Ca Studio approached the recent renovation of a 463-square-foot Milan apartment, they asked themselves how exactly to make use of every square inch. Their final design is a small home in which there is room for every essential thanks to its abundance of covert storage space, reflecting the focus on functionality that was central to the studio’s vision for this project.
“The client’s idea,” they explain, “was to maintain the apartment’s existing layout, while finding ways to allow more natural light in and give new life to the different rooms through a combination of design and color strategies.” With a focus on their client’s needs, the designers created an open and colorful environment with two entrances to the kitchen (one from the hallway side and the other from the entry). Here, “the whole kitchen was custom designed,” including the gray microcement floor and yellow countertops. Combined with the midnight blue elements, these colors give an elegance to the entire apartment.
Located on the second floor of the building, the apartment’s original entryway was dark. Fo.Ca Studio chose to maintain some portions of the existing wall between the kitchen and the entrance while removing one that sat between the living room and the kitchen in order to create a single open living area with two windows, thus brightening up the entryway.
