‘Chinese red reminds me of Parisian and Asian jazz clubs’

In the long, low-lit hallway of Simona Molinari and Gianluca Zammarchi’s apartment is a small alcove that has been hand-painted with black and white stripes. ‘ We call it the circus wall,’ says Simona, a professional jazz singer. It displays a collection of photographs that depict the life of a Romanian circus troupe. ‘I wanted to devote a corner of the house to these nomadic artists.’ It is here that she’s placed the Chinese cabinet that once belonged to Gianluca’s mother. The deep red lacquer that decorates its interior provided the starting point for this home’s bold décor.

The apartment is located in the Piazza Duse, a small historic square in central Milan. The owners, who have an 18-month-old daughter, Anita, bought the 200-square-metre property in 2014 and spent five months renovating it. They replaced both bathrooms, built a music studio in what was the main bedroom, and knocked through an internal wall to allow some light to pass into the hallway, which runs like a blood-red artery through the interior.

‘The house doesn’t get that much light, so we had the idea of creating this theatrical atmosphere,’ says Simona. Taking the Chinese red lacquer as inspiration, the walls and internal doors of the hallway are painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Radicchio’. ‘The colour is warm and relaxing. It reminds me of Parisian and Asian jazz clubs.’ The red continues through to the main bedroom. ‘ We’ve taken it across the ceiling. It makes the room look like a womb. We are like babies when we go to bed,’ she adds.

The rest of the apartment is painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Down Pipe’ – a dark grey that allows the couple’s unique collections to shine. ‘ We love to mix up styles,’ says Gianluca. ‘ We have Asian artefacts from the 17th-century, Eames chairs that were once my mother’s, Ikea cabinets and Art Deco rugs. Some things are affordable, some valuable – we just pull together all of the things we love.’ ➤