The couple met while studying interior design, and shared an apartment for many years until they came across this English-style townhouse with construction details not often found in Buenos Aires, let alone in rentals. The building also has an interesting story: “The three consecutive houses were built in the early 1900s by two brothers and their cousin, one of them was a contractor and the other worked at a carpenter’s shop. Though they were built as individual units, they installed doors for their families to roam freely between them. The kids could play in the shared backyard, or go up to one attic and come down in the other end, a childhood dream!”

Fernanda and Gustavo thought very carefully about every change made to the space to turn it into their home. It took them three years to come up with the perfect shade of gray for the ground floor, and they haven’t made their mind yet about curtains. “In the meantime we like having passers by looking in because it makes it seem like a window display!” While that’s something that most people would try to avoid, they welcome the curiosity by hosting open showrooms every week and tell the story of every item on display to their visitors.

“We have a thing for combining furniture designed by us with things we pick up from unexpected places—usually thrown away by our neighbors! We enjoy discovering the marks of time in them, and treat them like sculptures. Aesthetically it adds a lot of value to our spaces.”

Our Style: We like defining our style as simple and deprived, taking mostly neutral tones from nature. We feel very identified with the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, where the marks of time in objects is appreciated and the imperfection of its beauty is accepted, creating a neutral, relaxed, and timeless aesthetic.

Inspiration: Most of the time we find inspiration in the shapes of nature, like the leaves or bark from a tree and simple textures that captures our interest. We also look for inspiration in designers from around the world, like Faye Too Good, Oliver Gustav, and John Pawson, to name a few.

Favorite Element: We love the black branch sitting next to the library. We found it once walking by our neighborhood and thought that it’d be the perfect piece of art for that space. 

Biggest Challenge: Our biggest challenge has been painting our front door black. The old varnish had gotten so deep into the wood that it was very tough to strip! We didn’t want to be left wanting a black door, since we live in an English-style house. When we came home from a trip to London the decision was already taken!

What Friends Say: Most of our friends highlight the wall colour we chose for the living walls; they love how it looks with the floors and wooden staircase. We love hearing that because it took us a while to pick the exact shade and we think that it looks great too!

Biggest Embarrassment: We don’t have curtains in the living room because we haven’t decided which ones to get yet. In the meantime we like having passers by looking in because it makes it seem like a window display!

Proudest DIY: It’s definitely our kitchen. We wanted to use a color that played well with the rest of our home palette and the wood tone of the upper cabinets. We are very happy with the result because it was a minimal intervention that added a lot of freshness to a space that we use daily.

Biggest Indulgence: When we traveled to Stockholm we were very eager to visit Perspective, an interior design studio that we find very inspiring. We chose a candle holder that makes us remember that day every time we look at it.

Best Advice: Our strongest recommendation is to be aware of everything that surrounds us and creates our home. In our case we are highly focused on the things we use daily. We think they are so much more than objects; they make our souls feel good.

Dream Sources: Perspective Studio, Hole & Corner, Too Good, Oliver Gustav Studio, Labour and Wait, Cos Stores, Frama, González & González, Design Tales, Le Labo, Dry Studios, Apparatus Studio, Tibods, Ferm Living, Artilleriet Store, Nat Geo, Max Lamb, Noma, Chef’s Table, Axel Vervoordt, Acne Studios. 

• Living room: Alba — Camino Urbano (15yy 33/043)
• Kitchen cabinets: Alba — Gris Sofisticado  (31bg 26/004)
• Bedroom lower half: Alba — Gris Alambre (30bg 31/022)

• Round Pouf Set — Estudio Pennsylvania
• Antique desk — Bought at an auction sale
• Wooden bench — Estudio Pennsylvania 

• Chairs and dining table — Estudio Pennsylvania

• Cutting boards — Casa Social Deco

• Comforter —Silai Home Deco
• Pillows — Casa Social Deco
• Nightstands — Estudio Pennsylvania
• Glass lamp — Merecido BA
• Brass lamp — Astor Luces
• Black leather chair — Found at the Buenos Aires Flea Market 

Thanks Fernanda and Gustavo!

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