Urban living has acquired a smart and uncluttered look in this handsome duplex home. Located in the centre of the Spanish port city of Valencia, the house was both refurbished and furnished by a local design studio, Rubio and Ros. The clients, an Australian family looking to stay in Valencia, wanted a spacious residence where they could accommodate and entertain visiting family and friends. Accordingly, Rubio and Ros have ensured the house is a careful study in open-plan living.

Throughout the home, it is clear that light plays a central role, from the abundance of natural light to the selection of beautiful lighting fixtures. Among the many well-designed lamps on show, Rubio and Ros have chosen to include LZF’s Totem S3 suspension light. Designed by German-born designer Burkhard Daemmer, the handmade wood Totem light is a sculptural creation that offers a striking focal point.

This Valencian home’s open-plan duplex living space has been designed with family-living in mind, where the large kitchen, dining and lounge area is connected to an upper seating snug by a floaty and graceful brass rail staircase. Despite its contemporary aspect, the space is cosy and intimate, where honest materials, playful details and aesthetic qualities combine to offer a true sense of home. Looking up from the foot of the staircase, the LZF Totem is an eye-catching feature. Despite its somewhat larger size, the Totem light is harmonious with the surroundings, its form both graceful and aesthetic.

In creating a genuine home environment, Rubio and Ros aim to ensure that emotions are augmented through the use of light, colour, texture and sound. One of the principal characteristics of this home is found in the clever mix of design and materials. Warm woods, cement tiles, brass, glass, leather, wool and silk carpets, were chosen with the intention to provide a deliberate balance. Varied hues throughout the abode add character and texture: the blue tiled skirting, the yellow bathroom sink, the orange bedside table base. Such small details, evidently considered and congruous with this home’s attentive attributes, act to heighten its idiosyncratic sense of style. For that reason, the LZF Totem light has found the ideal environment in which to shine.

Written by Gerard McGuickin of Walnut Grey Design Blog

Painting:  Pablo Noguera