One could say their cozy flat in Barcelona had it all, square meters, charm, views and locations, but guess what, she always thought it lacked something all the same. He would tell her "you can't have it all", and she would explain that it wasn't a matter of having it all but rather a need of "putting her finger" on whatever was what she was lacking.
Designed by Egue y Seta
Photographed by VICUGO FOTO
The matter would haunt her whenever it could: Picking up the kids from the umpteenth after school activity of the day or whenever she would log into that real state app to kill some time and for sport.
Any given Sunday, as they were returning from Girona, before leaving the station, as they were waving her in-laws good-bye, it suddenly hit her: that flat is not lacking an ensuite bedroom, neither hardwood floors nor and open plan live-in kitchen...What your home is missing is a good pair of grandparents. Her husband said he didn't know one single designer who could design one of those and they had a good laugh. They forgot the whole thing until destiny managed to put the issue back on the table.
The apartment was a very true to its time postcard from the 50's. An ugly tile and granite fest spreading through too many tiny bedrooms, all filled up with tons of dark and heavy wooden classic Spanish furniture. Not all was so "black and white" though. The place, despite its excessive partitioning, had all together a very generous size, and nearly every room looked over nice views bathed in lots of natural light.
The task then consisted in stripping down all ceilings and floors while re-thinking the location of most walls, according to current life-styles.
There,were an oversized laundry room use to be located, we ended up setting a home-office behind crystal walls. When its curtains are shut,it turns into a guest room. When these are open it allows you to work while enjoying the light and views coming from the dining room and its balcony–terrace.
Three formerly small bedrooms were merged into a generously sized quite happening living-dining-kitchen space that also integrates to it layout the surrounding circulation spaces in order to make it look even bigger and more extroverted.Inside, within the more intimate half of the unit, two of the original bedrooms provided the square meters for the new ensuite masters bedroom including a walk-in closet and double sink bathroom.Right next to it, the former clothes line patio saw its windows isolation properties upgraded so it could be turned in to one of the children ́s bedrooms
Style wise, the choices combined little by little the needs of warmth and lightness along with those hints of colour, pattern and texture clients wanted to incorporate within their new relocated home
There is however, in this home, something extremely precious and valuable that photos cannot convey. Something even better than the fanciest covering or the most famous furniture piece. In this place there are grandparents you can ́t possible “design” or replace for better ones for they turn any place into a home just by being there
There are those who have good neighbours, and can therefore consider themselves very lucky.But those who get to call the next-door lady “mum”, are definitely the luckiest of them all. That ́s worth commuting, teleworking, moving and renovating...For everything is little when compared to the chance of truly “going back home” at the end of each day.
