Great Gables Interiors
Home & Garden
THIS MONTH'S INTERIOR IS THE ARANGO TAKE ON A GABLES ESTATES HOME
Ivette Arango
Ivette Arango is one of South Florida’s – and Coral Gables’ – most respected interior designers, having relocated her studio to Palermo Avenue X years ago from Miami’s DACRA. Her style is clean, contemporary and ultra-customized to her client’s space, including one-off furniture that she designs.
For this Gables Estates home, Arango worked from the start with architect Cesar Molina who designed the building. “The feeling of this house is very light,” she says. “It’s on the water with lots of windows, so it gives you a feeling that is refreshing but elegant. It’s casual, but it’s not a beach house.”
Arango says she kept her color palette simple and muted to harmonize the colors from outdoors with the highlights inside. “We used a lot of textures. I love to use textures and natural fabrics; they are soft and the colors are very neutral to carry [highlights] throughout the room, to carry the colors of the onyx [bar back board] for example, and to create a feeling of continuity.”
FAMILY ROOM
The backs of the bar stools are a dark wicker that blends with the top of the bar, which is man-made Caesar quartz stone. The inset behind the bar is onyx, its colors showing movement and mirroring the accents of the room. The floor is a light beige marble. The oversized coffee table is walnut; the chairs and sofas are textured fabric.
BED ROOM
The master bedroom shows how the interior balances the colors of the outside. The Turkish-made rug is wool. The lamps are crystal with linen shades, designed to be transparent. The chandelier is framed in finished nickel; it is designed to provide atmospheric lighting to augment the “top hat” inset lighting fixtures. Both the bed and the chests are custom made.
KITCHEN
The surface of the huge island consists of three marble slabs; the same marble is carried over to the splash behind the stove. On either side of the refrigerator and freezer are wine cabinets. The work areas on either side of the stove are Caesar stone quartz. The pendant lamps over the island are for accents; most lighting comes from the inset top hats.
BATHROOM
This is the master bathroom with his and hers sinks. The shower is encased in travertine that resembles wood. The sinks are white marble with polished nickel faucets. The bathtub is a composite of granite and other stone, made in Georgia. The sconces on either side of the sinks are LED for a natural white light. The mirrors are custom made.
