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A Livingetc report profiles a Milan apartment designed by Gaia Venuti for real estate entrepreneur Veronica Lafleur. The home pairs bold color and contrasting materials with spaces that serve as Lafleur’s residence, creative studio and business meeting place.
Livingetc has profiled a Milan apartment designed by interior designer Gaia Venuti for real estate entrepreneur Veronica Lafleur, presenting a home that also serves as Lafleur’s creative studio and business meeting space. The design uses saturated colors, cool metal and varied textures to reflect Lafleur’s stated desire for a fresh start and a home that feels personal rather than impersonal.
The report says the collaboration began when Venuti and Lafleur met during the closing of a retail property deal. Lafleur recalled that Venuti wore a color combination she would not have considered herself, but that it worked. The encounter led to a design partnership on the apartment, which Venuti created through her practice, GaiaHomeProject.
The project’s starting point was a pair of Cornaro sofas by Carlo Scarpa for Cassina, upholstered in blue velvet with burgundy lacquered frames. Venuti said the contrast helped define the home’s palette and character. She described the sofas as the project’s “genetic code,” while also linking their combination of soft and firm materials to her view of Lafleur’s personality.
From there, the design brings together burgundy cabinetry, dark marble and terrazzo flooring, with ochre, lavender-gray and chartreuse appearing in other areas. A room overlooking the garden has natural cork walls, set against metal furniture. In the bedroom, lavender-gray walls and chartreuse linen sit alongside a silver faux-leather headboard. Livingetc’s account also credits photographer Monica Spezia and Living Inside for the project images.
A Home That Also Hosts Work
The apartment’s design is shaped by its multiple daily uses: it is Lafleur’s private residence, creative studio and a place to meet for her real estate business, BetterCallVero. That makes the material and color choices more than visual decoration in the report’s telling. The cork-clad garden-facing workspace, for example, is described as absorbing light and noise, while steel furniture adds a contrasting surface and appearance.
The feature also offers a specific example of how a client’s priorities can guide a residential project. Lafleur said she wanted to begin a new personal and professional chapter without bringing objects from her previous home. Venuti’s account emphasizes a design organized around shifts in mood and movement, rather than treating each room as an isolated composition. Those choices matter to readers interested in how a home can accommodate work and private life while still expressing an individual’s preferences.
The report is a design feature, not an independent evaluation of the apartment’s performance or a survey of Milan housing. Its value is in documenting the project’s stated concept, the materials and colors used, and the explanations offered by the homeowner and designer.
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The Sofas Set the Palette
Venuti and Lafleur describe their first meeting as an unexpected starting point for the project. Lafleur said Venuti’s outfit showed her an unfamiliar combination of colors that nevertheless felt successful. The two then worked together on an apartment intended to mark a fresh personal and professional beginning.
Venuti’s stated approach is to use intense color in controlled proportions, either as an accent or to define particular architectural volumes. She also says she thinks about the emotional experience of moving through a home, including how one room or corridor leads into another. In this apartment, she connected that approach to the blue-and-burgundy Cornaro sofas, then carried the palette into cabinetry, surfaces and other rooms.
Lafleur said she wanted a space that could recharge her and reflect who she is. The bedroom palette was chosen, she said, to bring a sense of peace, energy and positivity. These are the homeowner’s and designer’s descriptions of their intentions; the report does not provide an independent assessment of how occupants experience the spaces.
“A house that is too perfect risks becoming impersonal.”
— Veronica Lafleur, homeowner
Details the Feature Does Not Give
The report focuses on design and homeowner intent. It does not state the apartment’s size, address, purchase price, renovation budget or the duration of the work. It also does not give technical details about construction, the sourcing of every finish, or how the rooms function during business meetings.
The article presents statements from Lafleur and Venuti but does not include comment from other residents, visitors or the business. It is not clear whether the apartment’s layout or finishes have been tested over an extended period, or whether the owner expects to make changes as her needs evolve. The descriptions of the space’s emotional effect are attributed to the people involved in the project, not reported as independently measured outcomes.
No Further Project Milestone Listed
Livingetc’s supplied feature presents the completed apartment and does not announce a forthcoming renovation phase, opening or related project milestone. The publication’s report is the latest stated development in the source material. Any plans by Lafleur or Venuti for further changes to the home are not specified.
Readers seeking additional detail would need further information from the homeowner, designer or publication, particularly on the apartment’s location, budget and renovation timeline. The feature itself provides no date for a follow-up or additional project disclosure.
Key Questions
Who designed the Milan apartment?
Gaia Venuti, working under the name GaiaHomeProject, designed the apartment for homeowner Veronica Lafleur, according to Livingetc.
What is the apartment used for?
It serves as Lafleur’s private home, creative studio and meeting space for her real estate business, BetterCallVero.
What inspired the apartment’s color scheme?
Venuti said a pair of blue velvet and burgundy lacquer Cornaro sofas by Carlo Scarpa for Cassina provided the starting point for the design.
What materials appear in the design?
The report describes cork, steel, burgundy lacquer, dark marble and terrazzo, alongside velvet, linen and faux leather in different rooms.
Does the report give the apartment’s address or renovation cost?
No. The supplied Livingetc feature does not provide the apartment’s address, size, budget or renovation timeline.
Source: livingetc.com
