TL;DR
Get cleaning gear delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
A Livingetc report profiles a Milan apartment designed by Gaia Venuti for real estate entrepreneur Veronica Lafleur. Its color-led interiors, including burgundy and blue sofas, ochre walls and steel furniture, reflect Lafleur’s personal and professional fresh start.
Interior designer Gaia Venuti has created a color-led Milan apartment for real estate entrepreneur Veronica Lafleur, with the home serving both as her residence and as a workspace for her business, BetterCallVero. A Livingetc feature describes how bold color, contrasting materials and distinctive furniture were used to give the apartment a personal character and mark what Lafleur called a fresh start.
The design began with a pair of Cornaro sofas by Carlo Scarpa for Cassina, upholstered in blue velvet with burgundy lacquered frames. Venuti told Livingetc that the contrast between soft fabric and hard, dark lacquer captured Lafleur’s character. She described the sofas as the “genetic code” of the home, making them both a focal point and the starting point for the wider palette.
Across the apartment, the designer combined burgundy cabinetry, dark marble and terrazzo flooring with strong colors in specific areas. An ochre-yellow room is shaped by afternoon light, while the bedroom pairs lavender-gray walls with chartreuse linen and a silver faux-leather headboard. The feature also highlights cool metal furnishings, set against warmer finishes and tactile surfaces.
One room overlooking a garden functions as a workplace and meeting area. Its natural cork walls add warmth and absorb sound, while metal furniture provides a sharper contrast. Lafleur told Livingetc she brought nothing from her previous home, saying she wanted the apartment to represent a new personal and professional phase. The report does not give the property’s address, dimensions or renovation budget.
A Home That Also Hosts Work
The apartment’s design is tied to how Lafleur uses it: not only as a private home but also as a creative studio and meeting place for her real estate business. That combination makes the rooms’ visual character relevant to daily work as well as domestic life. The cork-lined space, for example, is described as a practical setting for meetings, with the material softening both light and sound.
The project also shows how a strong palette can be organized without applying one color everywhere. Venuti said she uses intense shades as accents or to define particular architectural volumes. In this apartment, the approach links distinct rooms through recurring contrasts—such as soft and hard surfaces, warm and cool materials—rather than a uniform scheme. The article presents this as the designer’s method, not as a universal rule for interiors.
Products Worth Considering
Blueair Blue Pure 511i Max Smart Air Purifier
Sony BRAVIA 5 85-Inch Mini LED 4K HDR Smart TV (K-85XR50)
Shark IZ362H Cordless Anti-Allergen Stick Vacuum, Red
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Design Built Around a Fresh Start
Venuti, who works under the name GaiaHomeProject, and Lafleur met during the closing of a retail property deal, according to the Livingetc account. Lafleur recalled noticing the designer’s unusual combination of colors and seeing that it worked. The meeting led to the collaboration on the apartment.
The project was conceived around a change in Lafleur’s life and work. She told the publication that she wanted the home to represent a complete fresh start, which helps explain why she chose not to bring possessions from her previous home. The design brief was therefore personal as well as visual: Lafleur said she wanted a space that could restore her energy and reflect who she is.
Venuti told Livingetc that she thinks about movement through a home as a sequence of emotional and visual experiences, rather than treating each room as isolated. She described the corridor as a place where a visitor might encounter a “chromatic plot twist” behind each door. The report documents this specific apartment and does not establish broader claims about Milan interior-design trends.
“The sofas aren’t just furniture — they were the genetic code of the entire home.”
— Gaia Venuti, interior designer, speaking to Livingetc
Details the Feature Leaves Out
The Livingetc report focuses on the design and Lafleur’s account of the project. It does not state when the apartment was completed, its address or size, how much the work cost, or whether any structural changes were made. It also does not provide independent measurements of the cork walls’ effect on noise or explain the sourcing and cost of the featured furniture and finishes.
Descriptions of the apartment as a portrait of its owner and of particular materials as creating a specific feeling are presented as the homeowner’s and designer’s perspectives. The source does not include assessments from other residents, visitors or design experts, nor does it report whether the business meetings held there have changed the way the space is used.
No Further Project Update Listed
The source is a published home tour, not an announcement of further work or a scheduled event. It does not identify a next renovation phase, a public opening or a follow-up from Lafleur or Venuti. Readers can expect any further confirmed details to come from the homeowner, the design studio or subsequent reporting; none are specified in the feature.
For now, the report’s account ends with the apartment in use as Lafleur’s home and as a base for BetterCallVero. The feature offers no timeline for future changes to the rooms, so it is unclear whether the current design is intended to remain as shown.
Key Questions
Who designed Veronica Lafleur’s Milan apartment?
Gaia Venuti, who works under the name GaiaHomeProject, designed the apartment, according to Livingetc.
What inspired the apartment’s color scheme?
The design began with Carlo Scarpa’s Cornaro sofas for Cassina, which pair blue velvet with burgundy lacquer. Venuti said that contrast informed the home’s wider design.
Does the apartment also serve as a workplace?
Yes. Lafleur told Livingetc that the apartment is her home and also a creative studio and meeting space for her real estate business, BetterCallVero.
What details about the apartment remain unknown?
The report does not give the apartment’s address, size, completion date or renovation budget. It also does not describe any future plans for the property.
Source: livingetc.com
