INTERIORS Amalfi Coast style in Rome
Hotelier and lifestyle brand founder Carla Sersale’s apartment in Rome, filled with treasured heirlooms and eclectic textiles, exudes inviting warmth for cosy winter months
When Carla Sersale and husband Antonio bought their apartment in Rome in 2004 “it was a mess”, she says, but for the owners of one of the most beautiful hotels on the Amalfi Coast – Le Sirenuse – “that’s also why we loved it, as we could do whatever we wanted”.
A major renovation transformed it into the perfect entertaining space, filled with richly embroidered Suzani tapestries that Antonio’s father collected, as well as contemporary art and ornate pieces Carla bought in Istanbul.
The designer turned hotelier talks to hello! about her inspirations and approach.
Where do you find your inspiration? Carla, what sparked your interest in interiors?
“I must admit, my husband is the creative force. We do it together, but he’s more decisive.” “You get inspired by your past, and you evolve too. I remember my father-in-law renovating Le Sirenuse in the late 1980s and then redoing it ten years later. He had evolved in his tastes.
“You also get inspired by what you don’t like. The inspiration is constant in everything you see – hotels, private villas, museums, galleries.”
Where’s your go-to for interior shopping?
“We always go to Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Antique furniture now is not even that expensive because everyone is buying into 1950s and 1960s pieces, so the really old pieces are sometimes actually a bargain.
“Late 19th century is probably our favourite era, but not always the easiest to find.”
Where do you begin when decorating on a larger scale, as with Le Sirenuse?
“We’ve done it slowly and decorated over time, so that all the rooms are different. You might get a collection of something, or a painting, or pieces of stone, and we decorate the walls with
that. And we reshuffle the furniture and make changes.
“Some people always request the same room, other people like to change rooms and explore the hotel. Usually, the repeat clients don’t like any change, but you need to refresh things, otherwise it easily looks tired and old.
“We renovate so that’s it consistent with the story we’re telling, like adding contemporary art, which completely changed the face of the hotel, but not the spirit. Each piece has been chosen very carefully and we’ve invited the artist to stay, and the pieces are so intensely thought about for the space that they almost melt into what was there before. But not the cosiness, that’s not lost.”
What is your most treasured piece of furniture?
“Maybe my oversized sofa. The idea is that it’s a bed/sofa, so it’s very large and very long and you can lie on it and read a book comfortably for hours. The cushions on top are made from a fabric I bought in Beijing from the market for maybe €10. They were originally fabrics to wrap babies in and are very finely embroidered.”
What’s your favourite room in your home?
“The living room. It’s why we bought the house: it had that large living room where we could invite people for dinner. Rome lives outside, so most houses have a terrace; we don’t so we got the house without any competition. We don’t mind, as we spend the summers in Positano.”
‘The inspiration is in everything you see – hotels, villas, museums, galleries’