Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11ThatPainter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn More
These five Italian homes show that “old and new” is not a single decorating style. In a 2022 Architectural Digest home tour, historic apartments, a former summer camp, a modernist Milan building, a newly built country house and a transformed attic each receive a different contemporary response. Some owners place new furniture beside antiques; others preserve an earlier decorator’s architecture, or change light, circulation and surfaces altogether.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The result is a useful design lesson: begin with what the building already says, then decide whether your intervention belongs in the furniture, the finishes, the color scheme or the structure itself. The residences below are reported examples from that feature, not a current directory of homes open to visitors.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
How these Italian interiors combine past and present
The five projects differ in age, scale and authorship, but they can be compared by four questions: What historic character remains? Where does the contemporary work happen? How strongly do color and furnishings drive the room? Does the intervention alter the space itself or mainly its surfaces?
#1 Best Overall
- COMPLETE 5-PIECE BRUSH SET FOR EVERY PAINTING TASK — Includes 1 Inch Flat, 1.5 Inch Angle, 2 Inch Flat, 2 Inch Angle Stubby, and 2.5 Inch Angle brush giving you every size professional painters use daily. Get all 5 for less than the price of a single brush from hardware store brands — professional grade performance at a fraction of the cost. Perfect for walls, trim, cabinets, doors, furniture, and detailed cutting-in work on any project.
- ZERO BRISTLE LOSS — GUARANTEED BY PRECISION ADHESIVE BONDING — Every bristle is locked in place with precision-set adhesive that keeps them in the brush — not in your paint job. The coated steel ferrule provides structural support while the adhesive bond ensures clean performance on every stroke. Premium SRT synthetic filaments load more paint and release it evenly for a smooth streak-free finish on walls, ceilings, and trim. Works with latex, oil-based paint, primer, sealer, and wood stain.
- INCLUDES THE ANGLE STUBBY MOST SETS LEAVE OUT — Professional painters know the 2 Inch Angle Stubby is the go-to brush for tight cabinet interiors, window sashes, inside corners, and detailed trim where standard angle brushes are too long. Combined with the 1.5 and 2.5 inch angle sash brushes you have precision cutting-in covered at every scale — baseboards, crown molding, door casings, and ceiling lines.
- FLAT BRUSHES FOR BROAD SMOOTH COVERAGE ON ANY SURFACE — The 1 and 2 inch flat brushes deliver even coverage on walls, furniture, shelving, doors, fences, decks, and wood surfaces. Ideal for applying primers, stains, varnishes, polyurethane, and specialty coatings. Solid wood handles provide all-day comfort and control for both professional contractors and weekend DIY homeowners tackling interior or exterior painting projects.
- TRUSTED BY PROFESSIONAL PAINTERS AND CONTRACTORS NATIONWIDE — Pro Grade delivers professional-grade results at a price that makes sense for crews who go through brushes on every job. Ideal for property managers, remodeling contractors, apartment turnover crews, maintenance teams, and commercial painting operations. Backed by thousands of verified reviews from working painters. Washable and reusable for multiple projects.
| Home | Historic element retained | Contemporary intervention | Primary design lever |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alessandro Mendini’s retreat, Olda | Stile Liberty (Italian Art Nouveau) architecture and antiques | Mendini’s own furniture and objects displayed alongside the period pieces | Curated contrast between objects |
| Tamu McPherson’s Milan apartment | Wood paneling, mosaic floors and a U-shaped historic plan | Antiques, upholstery and color-blocked furnishings selected with Raimondo Garau | Furniture, textiles and edited collecting |
| Alexander Werz’s Milan apartment | Renzo Mongiardino’s pilasters, arches and alcoves | Updated systems, moss-colored silk wall coverings and planting | Architectural preservation plus finish renewal |
| Margherita Missoni’s house near Varese | A new house designed with a clear architectural framework | Owner-led interiors built around bold colors, contrasting prints and mixed-era pieces | Color and shape over period matching |
| Memphis-associated Milan attic | The attic’s difficult L-shaped footprint, reworked rather than disguised | New openings, terraced levels, book-matched marble and precise linear detailing | Light, circulation and surface geometry |
This range matters because it prevents a common mistake: treating Italian design as one national look. Each interior is a negotiation between a particular building and the people who live in it.
1. Alessandro Mendini’s Olda retreat: make the room a dialogue
What the house carried forward
North of San Pellegrino Terme, Alessandro Mendini’s private retreat occupied a building that had once been a summer camp managed by nuns. Its earlier Stile Liberty character—Italy’s term for Art Nouveau—gave the residence a strong period identity before any furniture entered the rooms.
How the contemporary layer works
Mendini did not try to make his intervention disappear. He treated his own furniture and objects as an exhibition, placing them directly beside Liberty-style antiques. As he told Architectural Digest, “I put my own furniture on display as if it were a museum and positioned them next to Liberty-style antiques.” The sentence describes a deliberate curatorial act: the new pieces are not neutral replacements, and the antiques are not props. Their differences are the subject.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteWhat to take from it
This approach works when the owner is willing to let individual objects remain visually legible. Instead of matching wood tones or copying historic motifs, choose a contemporary piece with a distinct silhouette and give it enough space to converse with the older item. The room becomes a sequence of encounters rather than a period reconstruction.
2. Tamu McPherson’s Milan family home: let layers of ownership remain visible
What the apartment retained
McPherson’s historic three-bedroom Milan apartment is organized around a U-shaped plan with separate wings. Wood paneling and mosaic floors establish the architectural continuity, while the apartment’s history of passing through family generations adds another kind of patina: the rooms already carry memory before they are redecorated.
Rank #2
- Great Value Pack Artist Paint Brushes: Soucolor 20 brushes in 10 sizes professional paintbrushes set — no shedding, holds paint well, cleans easily, Acrylic, watercolor, oil, gouache, Halloween pumpkin decoration & face painting, rock painting, ceramics. Fantastic high quality gifts for creative, artistic siblings to share!
- Awesome Set of Paint brushes: Professional paint brushes can cover all of your needs. The multi-purposed brushes are ideal for Watercolor, Oil, Gouache, enamel, Acrylic Painting, Body, Nail, Face Painting, Miniature, Model, Wood, Glass, Cup, Ceramic, Fine work, Art class, Craft Art Painting, DIY Art Crafts etc.
- Soft and long-lasting: The bristles are soft and strong, with nickel metal ferrules and blue wooden handles. After cleaning, the bristles will become soft and fluffy again and will not fall off.
- Easy to clean: it’s very convenient to Wash well in soap and water. Retain shape after drying. the brushes hold up very well. Nice selection to beginners and professionals. Keep them clean and they last a long time.
- Halloween Pumpkin Ceramic Crafts Supplies: A Great painting gift for family, friends, kids, girls, women, student, classmate, teacher. For using in school, travel or used in the home and office.
How the rooms were refreshed
McPherson’s mother-in-law passed her the key and connected her with antiques dealer and interior designer Raimondo Garau. Their work used collected furniture and upholstery to make the inherited setting feel inhabited rather than preserved behind glass. A photograph caption identifies color-block chairs and an antique sofa upholstered in Kvadrat fabric, pairing assertive contemporary color with a familiar, older form.
Why the plan matters
The separate wings allow different moods without forcing the entire apartment into one scheme. A collector can use one area for stronger color or modern seating while allowing another to stay quieter around the paneling and mosaics. The lesson is spatial as much as decorative: when a floor plan already offers separation, use that distinction instead of flattening every room into a single palette.
3. Alexander Werz’s Milan apartment: preserve the signature, replace the infrastructure
The inherited architectural language
Werz’s apartment is in a modernist building whose interior had previously been transformed by Milan designer Renzo Mongiardino. Mongiardino’s pilasters, arches and alcoves were recognizable, built-in features rather than movable decoration. Removing them would have erased the apartment’s most distinctive layer.
The update by Giorgia Longoni
Working with architect Giorgia Longoni, Werz retained those elements while updating the systems that make a home function. Moss-colored silk wall coverings and plants supplied a fresh atmosphere without competing with the preserved geometry. The strategy separates hidden performance from visible character: electrical, heating or other building systems can be renewed even when the architectural vocabulary stays.
A practical preservation test
Before demolishing a dramatic period feature, ask whether the problem is actually its condition or the infrastructure around it. If the pilaster, arch or alcove is sound, a new finish, better lighting and repaired services may deliver a more coherent result than replacement. Contemporary comfort does not require contemporary-looking architecture.
Rank #3
- 【All sizes of art brushes】: The 10 sizes of multi-functional brushes have various shapes, making the mixing color easier, which is very suitable for artists, students, teenagers, children and painters at all levels. Wonderful Present ideas for friends and family who like painting!
- 【general brush set】: Professional paint brush can meet all your needs. Multifunctional brush is very suitable for watercolor, oil, gouache, acrylic painting, body, nail, face painting, miniature, model, ceramics, arts and crafts painting, etc.
- 【high quality process】: It is designed with anti falling bristles, anti-rust nickel ferrule and solid wood handle. You can use the brush to focus on the painting and always be creative.
- 【easy to maintain】: After using the brush, it is very convenient to clean the brush with warm soapy water and reshape the tip of the brush. Air dry the brush and place it on top of the top for long use.
- 【100% satisfaction guarantee - buy now】1 packs of set brushes, you can also get friendly customer service, any questions feel free to contact us, within 24 hours to help you! There is no risk in buying our paint brush kit.
4. Margherita Missoni’s house near Varese: choose color over historical uniformity
Building a new framework
Near Varese, Margherita Missoni and her husband, Eugenio Amos, commissioned Milan-based architect Aldo Cibic to build a four-bedroom house. Unlike the other examples, this project was not primarily about rescuing a pre-existing historic interior. Its challenge was deciding how a new structure should acquire personality.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Interior authorship
Missoni handled the interiors herself. The rooms draw on the Missoni family’s bold colors and contrasting prints, allowing pattern and form to carry the identity of the house. A guest-room caption identifies both a Gio Ponti Superleggera chair and a Missoni Home chair, an explicit pairing of two design languages rather than an attempt to make every object belong to one era.
The stated principle
“Color and shape took priority over period coherence,” Missoni said in the feature. That is not a claim that chronology is irrelevant; it is a choice about what should organize the room. If color relationships and silhouettes are convincing, pieces from different decades can share a visual logic even when their historical references do not match.
5. The Memphis-associated Milan attic: turn constraints into geometry
Reworking an awkward footprint
The Milan attic associated with Memphis Group designers Nathalie Du Pasquier and George Snowden began as a windowless, L-shaped space. Architect Luca Cipelletti cut through walls to bring in light and create terraced spaces, treating the plan itself as the main design problem.
Surfaces that organize movement
Marble is book-matched across floors and walls, and a fine linear motif runs through the surfaces. These details do more than decorate: they guide the eye around the bends of the L and make the newly opened areas read as a connected sequence. The result is precise and edited, not a literal reproduction of Memphis graphics.
Rank #4
- Bates paint brushes come in a convenient 6 pieces with 3 flat and 3 angled bristle styles, including (1”, 1.5”, 2”) flat and (1.5”, 2”, 2.5”) angled bristles, perfect for tackling any surface painting or staining job.
- The sturdy natural bristles of each brush are designed to hold more paint, creating a smoother finish with fewer streaks and saving you time on the job.
- The lightweight wooden handles provide extra comfort and ease during long painting processes like walls, trims, cabinets, and doors.
- These versatile brushes are ready-to-use, easy to clean, and can be reused multiple times, making them economical as well as reliable tools for any painting project.
- Bates paint brushes can be used for both oil-based paints as well as latex stains and are ideal for home or commercial projects such as decks, fences or DIY painting jobs.
Its relationship to the 1980s Memphis movement
The residents’ association with Memphis—the design movement launched in 1980—provides cultural context, but the apartment is not presented as a period homage. Its contemporary character comes from editing, proportion and controlled material repetition. In a difficult attic, altering light and circulation can be more transformative than adding another layer of furniture.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the five homes reveal about Italian design
There are several valid scales of intervention
Mendini works at the scale of the object. McPherson’s apartment is shaped by collecting, upholstery and the way rooms are assigned different moods. Werz preserves architectural decoration while renewing the systems behind it. Missoni uses color and form to give a new house an identity. The attic changes openings, levels and the route through the plan. “Modernizing” therefore describes a range of actions, not a specific appearance.
Historic continuity can be visible or structural
Some continuity is easy to see: Liberty details, mosaic floors, paneling, pilasters or arches remain in view. Elsewhere, continuity lies in the decision to respect a building’s proportions while changing what happens inside them. A successful update does not have to display an antique; it can preserve scale, rhythm or circulation.
Color is a decision about hierarchy
Bold color can either compete with architecture or clarify it. In the Milan family apartment, color-blocked chairs punctuate inherited surfaces. In the Varese house, color and shape are the organizing principle. The distinction is useful: decide whether color should be an accent against a historic backdrop or the dominant structure of the room.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Authorship changes the atmosphere
These homes are personal projects, not standardized demonstrations of a national style. Mendini exhibited his own designs; McPherson worked through a family handover and a specialist adviser; Werz collaborated with Longoni around Mongiardino’s legacy; Missoni directed her own interiors; and Cipelletti solved a spatial brief for Memphis-associated residents. The human decisions are as important as the materials.
Best Value
- 2 Inch Angled Paint Brush for Precision Cutting-In – Designed for clean, sharp lines around trim, baseboards, ceilings, corners, and detailed edge work. The perfect size for control and coverage.
- Value 3-Pack for Pros & DIY Projects – Includes three professional 2-inch angled sash brushes — ideal for contractors, remodelers, and homeowners tackling multiple rooms or repeat paint jobs.
- Smooth Results on Walls, Trim & Cabinets – Great for interior wall painting, cabinet edges, furniture projects, and trim work where a smooth finish and crisp control matter most.
- Works with Latex Paint, Oil-Based Paint & Stains – Premium synthetic filaments hold more paint, reduce streaks, and provide a clean finish with latex paints, oil coatings, and wood stains.
- Works with Latex Paint, Oil-Based Paint & Stains – Premium synthetic filaments hold more paint, reduce streaks, and provide a clean finish with latex paints, oil coatings, and wood stains.
Context beyond the five residences
Other Italian projects show that the same past-present conversation extends beyond private homes, but they should not be folded into the five-residence selection.
Palazzo Senza Tempo, Peccioli
Mario Cucinella Architects describes Palazzo Senza Tempo as a contemporary intervention within Peccioli’s historic hill town. New openings, skylights, bay windows, a glass roof over a courtyard passage and a glazed new building connect modern light and circulation to the existing urban fabric. It is a useful contextual example of adaptive work at town scale.
Palazzo dell’Arcone, Florence
The official project description combines references to nineteenth-century Florentine painting with early twentieth-century Rationalism and Art Deco. Its exterior plan also calls for recovering an earlier two-tone appearance. This is another example of using historical references as an active design vocabulary rather than freezing a building in one date.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Palazzo Durazzo, Genoa
The Genoa building dates to 1624, and its seven-year restoration was directed by architect Emanuela Brignone Cattaneo. The account describes a preserved façade and frescoed rooms alongside contemporary works by Sam Falls, Nam June Paik and Tomás Saraceno. It is now a twelve-suite hotel, so it demonstrates hospitality restoration, not a private residence.
How to apply the approach in your own home
- Inventory what is genuinely distinctive. Record original paneling, tile, arches, ceiling height, window proportions and the plan before choosing furniture. These features establish the building’s voice.
- Choose your intervention scale. Decide whether the project needs objects and upholstery, new finishes, upgraded services, or structural changes to light and circulation. Do not use demolition to solve a problem that belongs to lighting or furniture.
- Set one clear organizing principle. It might be contrast between old and new objects, a controlled color relationship, repeated geometry or a material sequence. A principle prevents an eclectic room from becoming random.
- Keep at least one strong reference visible. A retained arch, mosaic field, antique sofa or original proportion gives later additions something to answer. Removing every trace of the past erases the conversation.
- Use contemporary pieces deliberately. Give a modern chair, lamp or textile enough room to read as an intentional choice. Do not surround it with near-matches that dilute its shape.
- Test the room at different distances. Check the composition from the doorway, from the main seating position and in photographs. Historic details and new interventions should each remain legible without one overpowering the other.
Scope and date of the home tour
The five residences were profiled by River Davies in Architectural Digest on August 23, 2022. The descriptions reflect that dated editorial feature. Several homes are private, and the available account does not establish present-day access, current interior condition, product availability or authenticity of any named furniture. Treat the projects as documented design references rather than visitable attractions or shopping lists.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
