Inside a 'white box' apartment transformed into an Anglo-Italian dream

HOUSE TOUR | ROOMS & GARDENS | WORLD OF CABANA

The Stage of Your Life: In an exclusive extract from the now sold-out Issue 24 of Cabana Magazine, interior designer Giuseppe Porcelli tells Camilla Frances how he transformed his once-featureless 1930s pied-à-terre in Milan into a dramatic Anglo-Italian dream.

BY CAMILLA FRANCES | ROOMS & GARDENS | 5 MARCH 2026

There is an unusual kind of alchemy to rooms designed by Giuseppe Porcelli, particularly those that could have been distinctly underwhelming in less talented hands: poorly proportioned rooms, poorly lit rooms, and purpose-built rooms devoid of architectural character. In the hands of the Campania-born architect, formerly Art and Design Director at the acclaimed Dimorestudio, these once awkward, lackluster places appear to bend the rules of space and time. They are mere canvases for Giuseppe’s considerable decorative flair.

A ’30s pied-à-terre on a residential street in Milan, once a plain, white-box space, now sings with an attention to scenography seldom seen in contemporary interior design. The formerly featureless main bedroom has become a striped Napoleonic tent with a trompe l’oeil entrance framing the bed, which faces a large Chinese lantern atop an English antique chair. 

Paying homage to a room he loved, designed by Madeleine Castaing and inspired by Napoleon’s military tents, Giuseppe covered the bedroom with floor-to-ceiling hand-painted wallpaper. Both playful and grown up, the tented refuge is quite stunning in its whimsy and execution. The single-story apartment was not the historic home Giuseppe and his British partner, a fashion designer, had been searching for, but they embraced the chance to start a full-scale renovation.

“We bought it from an old lady who had last renovated in the ’90s,” says Giuseppe. “It had white walls, no moldings, and plain, super-glossy white lacquered doors. We really needed to bring back warmth and drama.” The pair also lamented its lack of rooms. “We wanted two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dressing room, and an open kitchen-sitting room for cooking and hosting. So we made a lot of adjustments on the floor plan; I created rooms that are smaller than the originals, but totally suit our needs.”

The transformation is significant. Audacious color and pattern combinations now cover the walls—deep aubergine with leopard print, for example—while the newly drawn rooms hide multiple surprises. A “very eccentric” boudoir-esque bathroom, where the bathtub is framed by heavy silk curtains, awaits guests in the second bedroom, which also conceals a box bed with a David Hicks-inspired canopy. 

Challenges became opportunities for more creativity too: when the room’s three-meter ceilings meant Giuseppe was unable to source enough material (a glorious rug-like fabric) for the bed’s curtains, he added a mustard-striped jacquard at the bottom and reused it for the canopy. Inside, the bed is decorated with bespoke leopard-spot wallpaper reminiscent of Carlo Mollino’s bedroom in Turin.

Keen collectors, the pair designed plenty of storage for their respective clothes, travel souvenirs, and flea market finds. “That’s what creates the story of a home; it’s the history and luggage of our lives. Every object reminds me of something or someone,” says Giuseppe.

The apartment also reflects the heritage of both occupants, featuring an Italian country house fireplace, English antiques, and kitchen cabinetry inspired by Milan’s Villa Necchi, as well as ceiling moldings inspired by an Oxfordshire estate. “It’s a mix of British and Italian references, but what’s funny is that all the British choices were mine and all the Italian ones were his."

The characterful apartment also reflects the design story that Giuseppe started in 2021, when he left Dimorestudio after seven years to start his own business. “I loved working at Dimore; it made me the architect I am today. But when I started my own adventure, I needed to establish my personal identity as a designer. I needed to find something of my own.” 

He began to investigate references from his early life, styles that had been foundational to him as a designer, but which he’d rarely used at Dimore. “Houses in the south of Italy, where I grew up, are very different to the contemporary design environment in Milan, they are filled with antiques and traditional furnishings, ‘Nonna style’, which I love. I started to dig into those memories: the houses I’d lived in, the houses of my parents’ friends, churches, old buildings, Naples, Sicily. All of these things held a huge fascination for me.” 

Whispers of Italian masters past and present—Renzo Mongiardino, Piero Portaluppi, Osvaldo Borsani, Studio Peregalli—are ever-present in Giuseppe’s schemes, helping him to deliver rooms that provide both a sophisticated space for living and a moving experience, akin to theatre. Rooms that stir the soul with their depth and lyricism. “I do add a lot of drama and decadence to my schemes,” he says. “After all, your home should be the stage of your life.”

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This article was first published in Cabana Magazine Issue 24