We’re in a small, quiet campo city square in Venice’s Castello sestiere. It’s precisely here, in the most authentic Venice, far from the tourist routes, that a French gallery owner chose to live her romantic dream.
She did so by purchasing a small apartment on the top floor of an 18th Century building, with a splendid view over Venice’s rooftops and the dome of the nearby Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
“The sound of the bells chiming the hours gives me a deep sense of home and reconciles me with the world”, confesses the owner.
Passionate about Italian cuisine and art history, the owner renovated the apartment while respecting its original features, wanting the interiors to retain the authentic charm of a Venice of yesteryear.
She paid particular attention to the kitchen, where she aimed to recreate the warm atmosphere of old Italian homes: she restored the ancient wooden ceiling beams, resting on shaped stone corbels, the terracotta floors, and the large fireplace. She finished the room with lime plaster and reclaimed old bricks.
For the windows, she specifically chose hand-blown glass panes which, with their slight distortions, transform the outside world into an enchanted landscape.
In this highly evocative setting, the kitchen needed to rise to the occasion: supremely functional and high-performing, but also able to integrate harmoniously with the carefully restored historical surroundings.
Given her great passion for traditional Italian cuisine, the gallery owner could only choose an Ego kitchen by Abimis crafted from stainless steel with a warm finish, orbitally polished by hand. She personally designed it to meet her specific needs – not just those of a chef desiring a high-performance kitchen, but also those of a cultured and sophisticated individual who loves to harmonise diverse ideas of beauty in a single space.
For her Venetian home, she wanted a custom-made kitchen from the Ego line: a low element for cooking and washing, flanked by two symmetrical tall units – one for the refrigerator and one for the larder. Above the worktop, she positioned two thick steel shelves with integrated glass holders, which stand out against the dark, anthracite-grey painted wall.
The stainless steel kitchen, a neutral yet character-packed material, creates a delightful contrast with the warm texture of the surrounding wood, terracotta, and stone. Indeed, with its understated elegance, steel adapts to any environment. It does so discreetly, without dominating, but instead naturally enhancing any interior style.
This Venetian project tells the story of a woman who decided to live immersed in beauty, surrounded by bygone atmospheres and furnishing choices that fully respect the spirit of the place.
It is a choice that confirms Ego’s versatility: the Abimis kitchen capable of feeling at home in historical residences just as much as in designer homes. And always with the same unmistakable elegance.
