Can the design of your bedroom improve your sleep?
There is a softness to the design sentiment of Cristina Celestino that is naturally restful. Fond of a palette that traverses buttery neutrals to the pastel prettiness of patisserie-like shades of pink and pistachio, she is a designer whose style doesn’t shout, but rather soothes in hushed tones. She has created bedrooms for residential and hospitality spaces around the world, as well as two beds to date (the ‘Amante’ for Pianca and ‘Plumeau’ for Gervasoni), but when asked for the most important thing to consider, her advice is holistic: ‘Don’t just think of the bed, but the whole atmosphere of the room.’
For this home, located within a rationalist apartment block in the hills of one of Rome’s leafiest neighbourhoods, devising a bedroom that is also a tranquil hideaway was incredibly important. Celestino’s clients are a creative couple whose jobs often bleed into their home life.
The property’s main living areas are open-plan and intended as a place to host meetings as comfortably as dinner parties. It’s a lack of definition between work and home that many of us now know all too well. For Celestino, this blurring of boundaries puts even more pressure on the importance of the space.
‘Personally, I don’t like to have a lot of things in the bedroom,’ she says, describing a minimalism that can be seen in this space. ‘It is only a place to relax and sleep – not for a book or an artistic piece. Nothing.’
This pared-back approach is helped here by a layout that allows for separate dressing rooms (his and hers). Part of what Celestino describes as the ‘night-time’ part of the home, these are dreamy walk-in wardrobes, designed to display the clothes, handbags, shoes and make-up that would otherwise clutter a sleep space. In this dedicated room, they can be celebrated. ‘The client loved The Pink Closet [a boutique in Ravello] we had designed and asked for a similar feminine feel,’ says Celestino, who used Nobilis’s softly floral ‘Uluru’ fabric to upholster the wardrobe doors, paired with blush-pink walls.
Cleared of distractions (fashion or otherwise), the main bedroom is defined by three elements: the bed, the lighting and the view.
The former is a bespoke design, upholstered in leather, that ticks all of the boxes Celestino demands from a bed – ‘I want a low headboard that can embrace you, but is not too much.’ ‘My favourite bed is the “Vanessa” by Tobia Scarpa for Gavina,’ she adds. ‘It is very light in its form.’ That lightness is a quality Celestino appreciates. The ‘Floatation’ pendant light by Ingo Maurer she selected for this room shares the trait. Made of rice paper, it provides a restful, diffused glow. There’s nothing worse than glaring overhead lights in a bedroom.
And then there’s the view. On a fine day, you can see almost to the Vatican from this home. To highlight the vista, a modern take on a bay window has been created using briar-wood panelling to clad the area beneath the lowered ceiling. ‘It frames the light coming in,’ says architect Beatrice Borsetti, who worked alongside Celestino on this project. ‘The window has a shelf that can act as a bench – it’s a place to sit and unwind, read a book, focus on introspection.’
What of tech in the bedroom? The dreaded glowing screens that tempt us to scroll rather than snooze? They are not completely banished from this home. ‘It’s ideal,’ laughs Celestino, but just not realistic.’ Instead, everything digital is cleverly hidden. The bespoke bedside tables disguise all wires, while also including retractable trays to hold a morning cup of coffee.
‘The concept of hygge was central to our decisions,’ says Celestino. ‘We wanted to create a comfortable cocoon where there is not much going on and you can concentrate purely on yourself and your rest.’ cristinacelestino.com
