How to choose dining chairs that people want to sit on all evening
A good dining chair disappears under you. A bad one ends dinner early. Height, depth, back, seat and frame: what to check before you buy a set.
The Journal
Living
Plywood or particleboard: why the material you never see decides how long furniture lasts
Two wardrobes can look identical on the day they arrive. What sits under the finish decides whether one is still standing straight in ten summers.
From moodboard to render: how a villa interior takes shape before the first board is cut
Bring the images you love. Leave with a 3D render of your own rooms, furnished and lit, and approve every piece before anything is made.
Terrace and garden lighting for long evenings
On the coast, the terrace is where summer evenings happen. How to light it so that it feels warm, works for dinner and still lets you see the stars.
The bathroom in a premium villa: furniture that copes with steam and the season
Steam, splashes and a house shut up all winter. Why bathroom furniture fails first in Istrian villas, and what lasts instead.
The Mediterranean bedroom: calm, cool and well made
A bedroom by the sea has one job above all: to stay cool and quiet when the day outside is hot and bright. Colours, fabrics, light and furniture that help it do that.
Entrance halls and hallway storage for coastal homes: sand, shoes and beach bags
The entrance is the first room guests see and the one that takes the most punishment. How to plan a hallway that copes with sand, wet towels and suitcases and still welcomes people in.
Made to measure, not made for millionaires
Custom furniture has a reputation for being expensive. Here is where the money in a piece of furniture actually goes, and why local craft changes the equation.
Made to measure or flat-pack: an honest comparison
Flat-pack furniture is cheap, fast and everywhere. Made-to-measure furniture costs more and takes longer. Here is where each one makes sense, and where it does not.
Choosing outdoor furniture that lasts by the sea
Salt, sun, the bura and a summer of guests: which frames, woods, weaves, tabletops and cushions survive a coastal terrace, and which give up after one season.
Materials that live with sea, salt and sun
The Istrian coast is beautiful and unforgiving. Which woods, stones, metals and fabrics age gracefully here, and which give up after two summers.
Plywood kitchen cabinets: why the carcass matters more than the doors
Kitchen showrooms sell doors and worktops. The part that decides how long a kitchen lasts is the box behind them, and in a kitchen it meets water every day.
Small bathroom ideas for coastal apartments
A few square metres, steam every morning and a different guest every week. How to make a small bathroom in a coastal apartment feel larger, work harder and last longer.
Choosing a sofa for a holiday villa: frame, fabric and size that last
A villa sofa is sat on by more people, in more swimsuits, than any sofa at home. What to look for in the frame, the cushions and the fabric so it still looks good after many summers.
Istrian stone and oak: an interior language that does not date
Trends come and go every season. In Istria, two materials have quietly outlasted all of them.
Built-in wardrobes: design, materials and what it takes to get them right
A built-in wardrobe is the largest piece of furniture most bedrooms will ever hold. How to plan the inside, choose the doors and pick a board that survives coastal humidity.
Veneer or solid wood? An honest guide to what lasts
Solid wood sounds better, veneer sounds like a shortcut. In a house by the sea, the truth is closer to the opposite, as long as you know what sits under the veneer.
The dining table: the most important piece in a Mediterranean home
In Istria, life happens around the table. Long lunches, late dinners, homework, wine with the neighbours. It deserves more thought than any other piece in the house.
A home office in a holiday home: how to work comfortably from Istria
More owners now stay for weeks rather than days, and bring their work with them. Where to put a desk in a villa, and how to make it a place you can work in all day.
Lighting a villa room by room: a practical plan
From the front door to the pool at night: how to layer light in each room of a holiday villa so it feels warm in the evening, works for guests and flatters stone and timber.
Outdoor living: terraces, pergolas and furniture for long evenings
From May to October, the terrace is the real living room of an Istrian house. Design it like one.
Inside the atelier: from sketch to your living room
How a made-to-measure piece comes into being, step by step, and why each step matters.
Flooring for Mediterranean homes: stone, terracotta, oak or tiles?
The floor is the largest surface in the house and the hardest one to change. How the main options behave with heat, humidity, sand and underfloor heating.
Guest bedrooms with hotel-level sleep
Your guests will forget the art on the walls. They will remember how they slept. A short guide to bedrooms people do not want to leave.
Kids' rooms in a holiday villa: safe, durable and fun
A children's room in a holiday home sleeps different families every week. It has to be safe for a toddler, fun for a ten-year-old and tough enough for both.
Living room design for a Mediterranean villa: layout, light and furniture that work in every season
The living room is where a villa either feels like a home or like a waiting room. How to plan it around the view, the evenings and the people who will actually use it.
Murano glass lighting: what it is, how to recognise it and how to live with it
Seven centuries of glassmaking on a small island in the Venetian lagoon, and why a hand-blown chandelier still changes a room in a way nothing else does.
Rugs and textiles for a warm climate: what to choose for a Mediterranean home
Linen that breathes, rugs that can be rolled up for August, cushions that survive salt air. Textiles decide how a house by the sea feels on a hot afternoon.
Villa kitchens built for cooking and for gathering
In a Mediterranean house the kitchen is never just a workroom. It is where the evening starts.
How to choose a chandelier: size, hanging height and glass
The rules of thumb for sizing a chandelier, how high to hang it over a table or in a tall room, and how clear, frosted and coloured glass change the light.
Storage ideas for a villa: where everything goes, room by room
Linen, luggage, beach gear, garden cushions and the owner's own things. A villa runs smoothly when every object has a place before the first guest arrives.
Colour palettes from Istria: five schemes taken from the landscape
Red earth, white stone, olive leaves, Venetian facades and the sea at dusk. How to turn the colours of Istria into interiors that feel calm in July and warm in January.
A family-friendly holiday home: how to design a villa that works with children
Wet swimsuits, sandy feet, early mornings and late dinners. A holiday home for families has to be relaxed for children and restful for adults.
Mediterranean interior style: a guide without the clichés
Forget anchors, rope and blue-and-white everything. A real Mediterranean interior is built from light, shade, honest materials and a way of living, and Istria has its own version of it.
Small apartment on the coast: how to design it so it feels twice the size
Thick stone walls, small windows and a few square metres to share. A coastal apartment rewards careful planning more than any villa does.
In collaboration with Lampisa
Made in Istria, made for your room
Tables, beds, sofas, kitchens and storage, drawn for your house and built in Istria on a plywood structure, never particleboard. Better than the retail park, without the showroom price.