Country blue

I’m a designer today maybe because my parents made me feel very close to beauty, design and aesthetics since I was a kid, and years latter my friends when they came to my house always said it was different from the others. I grew up in a somewhat minimalist house considering it was the 70’s, a bit unusual by that time… the only thing that matched that period was a bit of color, not the furniture.

Regarding this project, the client gave us total freedom to work, as he knew me from other projects, including some we were doing at the same time for him. 

The house had a dark wooden floor as well as the ceiling, also wood and also dark, so the first decision was to paint the ceiling (white) and remove the wooden floor as it was so old and every time we walked around the house the floor crunched; instead, we used polished concrete.

My inspiration comes from the sea as it is very close to Comporta and the magical Alentejo fields with its multiple straw colors in the summer.

It was a ‘clean’ project as we could have done it in just one day, because we bet, mainly, on simplicity. We tried to assure the house would have a simple and yet cozy atmosphere, that it would have only the essential, but it would never be cold. We used a single color over white, a clear blue turquoise that links us to the beach and wooden appointments and in addition some natural tones (seen on rugs and chairs) that would remind us of the Alentejo’s ‘searas’ (harvested fields) colors.

The difficult task was convincing the client to remove the wooden floor and have instead a polished concrete one.

We used one color and it is perhaps the most minimalistic design we have ever done.

I’d point out 3 decisions we’ve made that until today I find very accurate: The way we’ve combined the 2 colors – white and blue - together they transmit serenity but at the same time liveliness and also a relaxing atmosphere. 

* Simplicity because in this house well find only the essential: a table with chairs, a sofa with 2 chairs and a rocking chair in the living room while in the bedroom a bed with 2 tables and a wardrobe built into the wall.

* The fact that we took advantage of the ceiling when we painted it in white, which makes the house have a different amplitude and thus take advantage of the beautiful natural light of this city called Alcácer do Sal, which is also so white.

https://www.casanovastore.com/which is our online store where you can find several collections and different pieces.

http://www.ligiacasanova.com

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photographer: Bruno Barbosa

Photographer's website: https://www.bbphoto.pt/index