Houzz Tour: Madrid Renovation Makes Room for Entertaining

An architect who loves to have people over revamps her apartment with a fun tile floor and a handy charging station

Bea González January 29, 2019

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This apartment was once part of a larger unit that was split in two. “My parents live next door to me,” says owner Cristina Barrón, pointing to the other door on the landing. We’re standing on the seventh floor of a building in Madrid’s classy Salamanca district, having just walked through its common areas, which are embellished with moldings and stained-glass windows. “This building dates back to the 1930s and has high ceilings,” she says.

Barrón, an architect and co-founder of Barronkress, has owned this apartment since 2009 but only recently decided to renovate it. “We christened the project Narnia,” she says, referring to the fantasy world in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. “I finished one room first and, while I was living in it, every time I opened its door, I felt like I was opening the wardrobe to Narnia.”

Javier Bravo

Photos by Javier Bravo

Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Cristina Barrón of Barronkress
Location: Madrid
Size: 969 square feet (90 square meters); two bedrooms, two bathrooms

“My suggestion to anyone who is about to begin a renovation would definitely be to think it through completely before you start and not while the work is in progress. Think about every detail, even where you want to put particular electric outlets,” Barrón says.

“Since it was my own home, I gave priority to my clients’ projects, and that’s why the renovation took a little longer than expected,” she says. She is pictured holding mugs bearing the initials of her studio.

Javier Bravo

The goal, besides insulating the apartment, was to optimize the space by combining the kitchen and the living room. “I love having people over, and now I have room for many more,” she says.

Most of the furniture was designed and produced by Barronkress, the studio Barrón runs with Benjamin Kress. This includes the bed, the coffee tables and the storage furniture and shelves in the kitchen, which are major highlights in the home. “You need time to design and to hire someone with the same vision. This helps you develop a lot of patience,” Barrón says.

Find a cabinetmaker in the Houzz pro directory

Javier Bravo

Two open shelves in the living room, designed by Barronkress, are made of untreated bent steel.

“The top of the coffee table was originally part of an island in black porcelain stoneware. It was a bad choice we’d made [for another project], and we’d been storing it in our workshop. I decided to use it in a table with an untreated steel structure,” the architect says.

Javier Bravo

“One of my favorite corners of the home is the area with a little armchair and windows next to the radiators. Seated with a book while sipping tea and leaning on the windowsill, you can see the sky from some angles,” Barrón says.

To enhance the insulation, the team installed triple-pane windows and an outdoor motorized roller blind system, which keeps blinding sunlight out without blocking all natural light from the interior.

Find armchairs in the Houzz Shop

Javier Bravo

“I’m terrible at taking care of plants. There is one that I once gave to my grandmother and that has been with me for 10 years since I got it back,” says Barrón, referring to the peace lily pictured on the right. “She’s the only one that can stand me — and she’s 20 years old now! She communicates with me really well, putting her leaves down when she wants me to water her. I also have basil and cactuses that take care of themselves.”

Javier Bravo

The flooring in most of the apartment is natural oak finished with a colorless water-based varnish. In the kitchen, hexagonal tiles in four colors create a color gradient that flows into the wood floor.

The lower cabinets are gray, while the uppers are white. The counter and backsplash are by Neolith. From the living room, the appliances are mostly hidden from view. Only the compact steamer microwave — which is perfect for small spaces — is visible.

“I gave an informal housewarming dinner with wine and cheese after I was done with the renovation,” Barrón says. “The truth is, I’m not a chef, but I use the oven every day to prepare vegetables, macaroni and cheese or chocolate fondants.”

Javier Bravo

The dining table is made of solid oak. It is the heart of the home, tying the living room and the kitchen together. Barrón says it serves a variety of purposes: It is a place for dinners with friends, quick breakfasts and working from home, and it doubles as a kitchen counter. “It was really important to be able to have guests over, this being the main reason for the renovation. I needed a dining room for up to 10 or 12 people. It is in the brightest spot in the home,” Barrón says.

Beautiful pendant lights, which she inherited from her grandmother, have a strong presence in the room.

The metal girder comes with an interesting story. “There had been a thick partitioning wall there. We tore it down once we realized it wasn’t load-bearing — and there was the girder. My sister, who was there at the time, was horrified. I, on the other hand, was fascinated,” she says. They ended up having to cut the tabletop — and then the tablecloths as well — to allow the girder to slide into it.

Shop for pendant lights on Houzz

Visita privada: El hogar de una arquitecta en un barrio señorial

“In the renovation, we managed to distribute the spaces without losing any square meters in the hallways or entryway,” Barrón says.

Javier Bravo

The closets in the main bedroom are organized by category. There is a space for hanging clothes, some drawers, a place for shoes and another for bags and accessories.

A unique touch is the niche designed to hold Barrón’s purse when she gets home. It even has an outlet for charging her phone.

Javier Bravo

There is also a Barronkress-designed chest of drawers made up of a white structure and custom-made oak drawers.

Javier Bravo

The bathroom next door is finished in hexagonal mosaic tiles in an aquamarine color. They’re paired with gray floor tiles. The mirror is illuminated with a magnetic lamp — the disk on the mirror connected to a cord. It can be moved anywhere on the mirror.

Shop for bathroom tile by color, shape and size

Javier Bravo

Barrón uses the second bedroom as an office. The poster is from an exhibit put on by a relative. “The scales belonged to my grandfather, who was a physician,” Barrón says. Vitra’s Eames elephant also stands out.

“I’m a big fan of the Eames duo. Their chairs are really in fashion, while the elephant and the bird [pictured in the living room] are less popular, says Barrón, adding that the Barronkress spirit identifies with the Eameses in emphasizing “the production of functional items instead of purely aesthetic or artistic ones.”