A place of my own: Colour meets craft

After a six-month student exchange in the city 13 years ago, Elise Bossuyt made Barcelona her permanent home a year and a half later, when she returned to pursue a master’s degree. Having lived in eight different apartments across the city, she jumped at the opportunity to take over the lease of a friend’s beloved home just off Passeig de Sant Joan in December 2014. She met her partner, wooden furniture craftsman Javier Picos da Silva, in February 2016, and he moved in with her six months ago. 

Elise fell in love with the original features of the apartment: “It has a lot of light, high ceilings and a really beautiful tiled floor.” A lot of inspiration for the interior decor came from the space itself, and she decided on a colour scheme to match the floor. It urged her to consider a different palette. “I don’t usually wear much colour,” said Elise, “so it was nice to be able to experiment with that.” 

And she hasn’t held back. Splashes of colour—fluorescent pink and purple lights angled from different corners of the living area, electric blue in the TV unit and coffee table legs, and vibrant greens from various plants—provide a sense of modernity and fun to the apartment’s traditional structure, reflecting the couple’s unique blend of styles. Original, quirky artwork from independent artists sit alongside tiny plant pots handmade by friends. “We try to live in peace here,” joked Javi, talking about compromise in style. “A few months ago, Elise asked me if I liked the look of the apartment and I said honestly, it’s not really me, but I definitely saw the potential for an interesting fusion.” 

Favouring a rustic, simple edge with a firm focus on sustainability, Javier has always had a passion for handcrafted objects and has made many of the apartment’s pieces of furniture. “Since Javi moved in, there’s definitely been an increase in natural elements. The greenery is all him, mainly because he knows how to take care of plants and I don’t!” laughed Elise. Javi’s handmade creations appear all over the apartment, from Elise’s favourite piece—a shoe rack made from reclaimed wooden beams—to her bespoke desk, the bed (complete with built-in storage), and coasters made from Spanish floor tiles. 

After developing a love for carpentry in his native Uruguay, Javi followed his grandfather’s ancestry to Spain in 2004, and set up his business, Tacua Design, a few years ago. “I try to use reclaimed materials wherever possible. When they renovated the roof of the church opposite the apartment, I reused the beams to make another shoe rack similar to the one we have.” Most of the materials that he uses have come from the renovation of nearby buildings, either sourced straight off the street or from rubbish bins. “It’s sustainable, and you also keep the authentic elements of the old buildings alive by giving them a new lease of life.”

"I try to use reclaimed materials wherever possible... It's sustainable, and also keeps old buildings alive."

A cosy corner next to the apartment’s balcony doors, complete with armchair and reading lamp, is the couple’s favourite spot. “At the moment, the chair’s from Ikea,” laughed Javi. It’s clear that there’s still plenty left for the two to put their stamp on, including their dining room and occasional workshop, where Elise makes her own jewellery. The space doesn’t have any natural light, so it doesn’t get much use. “A friend suggested covering one of the walls in mirrors to make it brighter, but we haven’t quite managed to get around to that yet.” 

The focus on lighting doesn’t stop there; from the soft touches of pink and purple light, strategically placed dim lamps and a reliance on natural sunlight, the couple know how to take advantage of it to create a serene and relaxed atmosphere. Perched above the frantic city life below, their favourite time to be at home is in the early hours of the day: “The light in the front of the apartment is so beautiful first thing in the morning, and at the weekend it’s surprisingly calm, despite being so close to the centre.” This naturally makes their balcony another treasured spot. “We love beginning the day there, preferably with a cup of mate.”