A Once-Gray Rome Apartment Is Now a Bold, Color-Filled Home

“We began to think about how to enhance it rather than replace it with a new one, and from there began the relentless hunt for the most colorful objects that caught our eye, leading to the current situation,” begins Giacomo, who with partner Luca, has owned this two-bedroom apartment, built in 1971, for four years.

The apartment’s yellow floor tiles — or really any of its current color present — weren’t apparent when they first moved in; they describe the space as being “very gray, very aseptic” in the beginning.

Along with unearthing and enhancing the original ’70s yellow tile floors, they’ve put a lot of work into the home, which they call Casina GiaLù. A bold blue accent wall in the living room is their own DIY of boiserie panels that they cut, glued, installed, and painted themselves, giving the space a lot of color and texture.

They transformed the bathroom the most, however, completely renovating the entire space. “The concept was to relax in a bamboo forest,” Giacomo explains of the bedroom’s design scheme. “In the bathroom and bedroom, in fact, unlike the living area where the decor is bursting with dopamine, we decided to use more relaxing tones, with a predominance of green and wood,” he continues.

While the couple has done a lot of updating, they say they’re not sure if they’ll ever really be “done.” Their next project? The kitchen!

• Living Room  — Luxens “Denim Blue” 
• Hallway — “Green MAIBIANCO” 

• Mirror — Flea market
• Yellow turntable — Argon Audio 
• Lotus Lamp — Ozarke

• Green armchair — IKEA
• Suspended bookcase — Miliboo
• Pink cuckoo clock — Karlsson
• Yellow display case — Mustard Made
• Be Late Clock — BRUTTO

• Forest wallpaper — Photwall Sweden

• Lume Green tiles — MARAZZI

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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