Contemporary art and furniture filled the ornate interiors of a 19th-century palazzo in the third edition of L’Appartamento by Artemest, which was on show for Milan design week.
E-commerce platform Artemest invited six interior designers to each transform a room inside Palazzo Donizetti, a historic residence that is not usually open to the public.
Simone Haag, Nebras Aljoaib, Romanek Design Studio, Meyer Davis, Champalimaud Design and 1508 London were given full access to Artemest’s network of Italian artisans and brands to deliver their schemes.
Their designs paired the palazzo’s decorative floors, mouldings and frescoes with colourful chandeliers, sculptural objects, squishy sofas and tactile textiles.
Visitors ascended a striking elliptical staircase to reach the first room, a foyer by Australian stylist Simone Haag centred around a flower-inspired Murano glass chandelier.
Haag created a series of zones to allow natural flows through the space. A sofa was paired with a gridded red glass coffee table, while a pale leather console and green aluminium bar created additional focal points.
Saudi designer Nebras Aljoaib put her spin on the reading room, a space defined by yellow and gold tones.
Her additions included a contemporary chaise longue, an onyx chair, a teal glass chandelier and an asymmetric desk in bronze and eucalyptus wood.
In the grand salon, New York office Meyer Davies picked up on the curved geometries of the wall niches and oval ceiling fresco.
A curved sofa and marble table organised the interior, while other elements included an armchair-pouffe with long black tassels, hourglass-shaped floor lamps and round bronze mirrors.
Los Angeles-based Brigette Romanek designed a decadent dining room featuring tableware decorated with images of suns, stars and snakes, while British studio 1508 London created an after-dinner entertainment room filled with art.
Against a backdrop of heavy green curtains, key pieces here include an architecture-inspired bookcase, a golden bar trolley and a retro-style radiograph.
The largest contribution came from New York-based Champalimaud Design, which had the task of turning a pair of adjoining rooms into a bedroom suite.
Designed to reference “the glamour of 1960s Italian cinema”, the suite included a vanity room featuring a wall of mirrors and an ostrich-shaped bar cabinet, a bedroom with hand-painted floral wallpaper and a plant-filled balcony that doubles as a study.
Artemest first launched the L’Appartamento series in 2023 when it took over an apartment in Milan’s 5Vie district.
The takeovers have become more ambitious each time, with Palazzo Donizetti the grandest yet.
This year, the retail platform also added a seventh room, designed by its in-house team.
One floor up, a dark and cosy lounge framed by red velvet curtains offered visitors a moment to pause and reflect.
The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of Artemest, which was founded by Marco Credendino and Ippolita Rostagno in 2015.
The platform now offers over 50,000 products across furniture, lighting, homeware and art, from a network of 1,000 Italian artisans and brands.
The photography is by Tomaso Lisca and Luca Argenton.
L’Appartamento by Artemest was on show from 8 to 13 April as part of Milan design week 2025. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
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