ELEGANTLY ECLECTIC A mix of styles brings a classic Rome apartment to life
The Rome abode of designers Antea Brugnoni Alliata and Marco Kinloch Herbertson has been brought to life with evocative chinoiserie and graceful colours
From their apartment on the top floor of a Roman palazzo, Antea Brugnoni Alliata and Marco Kinloch Herbertson have views over the city’s medieval heart. But for Antea, raising her gaze above the jumbled line of rooftops can be equally inspiring. ‘I’m constantly fascinated by the light here and the intense blue of the sky,’ she says. ‘In the south of Italy, a white haziness creeps in, but here it often remains this colour all day, emphasising the beauty of the city.’
This fascination with colour, combined with a deep love of pattern, is evident throughout the elegant spaces of Antea and Marco’s 16th-century apartment. Together they run Roi du Lac, creating wallpapers, homeware and clothes adorned with other-worldly scenes that start life as intricate watercolour paintings by Marco and are often inspired by the Eastern traditions of chinoiserie and japonaiserie.
Naturally, their own palazzo home has become their decorative playground, where their designs have been used on a grand scale. ‘The apartment came with its own grandeur but it needed a sense of our personality, so that it felt like our home when we walked in,’ explains Antea. The result is a style that is a match for the Roman setting but with added exoticism, with wallpapers depicting birds taking flight above stylised branches of cherry blossom and peacocks perching amid chinoiserie lattices.
Their take on palazzo decor is not, Antea admits, a conventional one. ‘Most people in Rome would not decorate a historic apartment like this,’ she smiles. ‘Instead, it would be baroque sofas and wall-to-wall antiques. But, for me, that would feel too heavy.’
Antea and Marco’s sense of style has always erred towards the more creative and adventurous. ‘The aesthetic of our home and of Roi du Lac is inspired by travels around the world,’ says Antea, who has lived in Germany, Morocco, the Middle East and
Sicily before settling in Rome. There is a playful side to the couple’s style, too. It might be expressed with a monkey in a classical scene or a shirt adorned with tigers that wrestle with peacock feathers. ‘We like to add a hint of mischief,’ Antea smiles.
Antea and Marco’s home has a similarly irreverent streak, with a 17th-century painting hung alongside art by contemporary Italian artist Linda Randazzo and surfaces dotted with finds, from a hand-painted ostrich egg to a Bassano region ceramic bowl in the shape of a cabbage. ‘If we choose something for our home it doesn’t need to be valuable, just something that piques our interest,’ explains Antea.
Further surprises come from the wallcoverings depicting creatures, foliage and characters that all play their part in imaginative stories. ‘We are interested in the Western reinterpretations of other worlds. Then we add our own interpretation, which makes it a very layered experience,’ says Antea.
The colours and stories of orientalism are remarkably well suited to their Italian Renaissance setting. ‘There’s definitely a connection,’ says Antea. ‘Both cultures have a long history of celebrating grandeur, grace and beauty. We have simply brought the two traditions together in our own way.’
The Eastern approach to composition also strikes a chord with the couple. ‘We are drawn to arranging spaces that are not so centred on symmetry,’ she adds. ‘We too prefer to bring balance into a space in less obvious ways.’ Their paint shades – pale blue in the sitting room and jade green in the dining room – are reminiscent of oriental glazes. However, when the sunlight hits the walls, the colours take on an entirely different character. ‘The natural light here continues to inspire us,’ she smiles. ‘It’s one reason why we love living and working in this city.’ &