Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Property type:
family holiday apartment in the center of Tel Aviv
For:
a couple of parents and their adult children
The area of the apartment:
about 95 square meters
One of the most special apartments in the city is located on one of the central streets of Tel Aviv, but until recently its situation was quite different: "I received a call from an old and dear customer of mine - a businessman from the north, who during the city meeting in Tel Aviv came across an old apartment that was for sale, which he thought about renovating and turning for a vacation apartment that will be used by his wife, him and their four adult children, who often come to visit the center," says interior designer Daniel Michaeli, who is responsible for the new design. "I arrived at the apartment and even though it was old, dark and neglected, I immediately understood the potential: its facades face two streets - one bustling and main, looking towards the sea and the other, quiet and intimate, so that in terms of planning I could create for them a public space that overlooks all the good that the city has to offer and a private and quiet space in it The bedrooms are located."
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
The interior design is completely different, and an apartment that was divided into small, dark rooms has now become a space almost completely devoid of built walls, with most of the new divisions being modular, made of glass showcases, which can be opened and closed as needed, thus changing the appearance of the rooms.
"We worked in collaboration with a building engineer and with his approval we were able to create a space almost completely devoid of internal divisions. We replaced the old windows with modern and advanced aluminum systems, and instead of planning built walls we chose glass showcases that move on hidden ceiling tracks that leave the floor completely free and allow us to produce different constellations according to different scenarios and depending on the quantity the guests that are in the apartment at any given moment. For example, we created a large, open interior balcony that can be defined by closing the display cases, or alternatively, its area can be appropriated for the living room or the bedroom, thus increasing their area. The display cases allow to neutralize the street noise almost completely, so the apartment remains quiet and pleasant throughout All day".
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
The one who accompanied the planning stages closely is the owner of the apartment who was very involved in the choices and design. "This is a profound, spiritual and knowledgeable woman who has experienced the world and deserves credit for the details and details that we incorporated into the apartment and give it the unique eclectic look," notes Michaeli. "For example, the lighting fixtures in the apartment - she shopped around among the stores and suppliers and finally created lighting fixtures with the materials and colors she likes. The powder-peach shade lighting fixture she chose for the living room was the inspiration for the color of the pillows we chose. She is also the one who integrated natural vegetation throughout the apartment - a choice that makes the northern family feel At home. At the same time she and her husband, with whom I worked over the years on quite a few projects, gave me a free hand so the dynamic was excellent."
The apartment, which includes a spacious public space and two master rooms with an attached shower, is floored with a multi-layer parquet in a fishbone pattern that brings warmth and blends wonderfully with the walls covered with architectural plaster in various shades of gray and the granite stone surfaces in the kitchen. The floor of the urban balcony is covered with smoothed concrete which brings a more industrial dimension to the given space. Between one of the bedrooms and the balcony is a display case that can be opened and combined between the arenas. Between the second bedroom and the adjacent bathroom, a screen door divider disappears into a pocket, which can be locked and turn the bathroom into a guest bathroom. In the public space and in the rooms, the designer created plenty of storage spaces for the family members out of bleached oak veneer.
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
"We tried to create a house as functional and comfortable as possible that would meet as many scenarios as possible. There are times when family members all come together to stay, that's why we created a non-standard living room in the center of which is a modular sofa that stands FREE STANDING in the space and consists of cubes that can be turned into a huge bed for 5 people or alternatively a sofa bed deep and extremely luxurious. Like every item in this house, we put thought into it and chose every element carefully - the pillows move with the help of weights so it is very easy to change the configuration. The high-quality mattresses and the backrests are padded with feathers. The power wall in the living room has two dimensions, each of which is covered with architectural concrete in a different texture and shade As in the entire apartment, the carpet in the living room was also designed CUSTOM MADE in a size and colors that fit the space
. When necessary, 15 diners can easily be accommodated around it. At the other end of the island I designed an equipped bar cabinet that faces the accommodation space. The owners of the apartment chose a particularly luxurious kitchen model - the facades are made of aluminum with straight and precise lines and the body of the kitchen is made of sandwich birch. Since this is a vacation apartment, most of the meals are based on orders from outside, so a large part of the cabinets are used for hidden storage. The refrigerator is also integral and leaves the public space clean and continuous. The surfaces in the kitchen, as well as the covering of the niche in the center of the high facade, are made of high-quality natural granite stone that was cut and hewn by hand. It is resistant to heat and scratches and you can put boiling pots on it without anything happening to it."
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Michaeli wrapped the back wall of the bed in the master bedroom with carpentry covered with bleached oak veneer. Similar to the seating system in the living room, the bed was also custom designed and upholstered with quality fabric. The TV in this room is mounted on a pole and can be turned towards the balcony when desired. The showcases that define the space, and are about 2 meters wide each, can be opened and closed as mentioned and completely change the being in the space.
The other bedroom is located in the space that was previously used as the kitchen area. The existing column was chosen by the designer for the team for a built-in niche, thus turning the area into an interesting architectural corner. The concept is modern and very reminiscent of luxury boutique hotels and visually, the back wall of the bed is painted in a dramatic black color from the Ralph Lauren color series produced by the paint giant Benjamin Moore.
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Design by Daniel Michaeli/Sharon Sarfati
Michaeli chose to cover the two bathrooms with precision ceramic tiles 2.7 meters high and 1.2 meters wide: "The whole world is moving to use tiles as large as possible on the back of which patterns without divisions are printed, so the pattern becomes alive, dynamic and powerful" he explains. "This is an excellent way to use the wall as a design piece - to dare and go for non-standard things and illustrate the pattern from floor to ceiling height. Meanwhile, I created in these two rooms extremely large showers (1.5/0.9) and in each of them two shower heads and two spouts. In one room the bath cabinet covered in oak wood and adds a bit of warmth to the dramatic space that was designed entirely in shades of black and white. The second bathroom, which I covered with tiles that simulate wet stone in a black shade with touches of turquoise green, also includes a trough sink that I custom-made, the front of which was painted in an oven."
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