Designer Carola Pimentel crafts a spirited yet soothing tropical modern home for a young international couple that artfully balances life, work, and fun.
Written by: Jean Nayar
Known for a design approach that channels the seaside spirit of South Florida, California, and Brazil, designer Carola Pimentel was totally in her element when designing the interiors of this new home in Miami in collaboration with the architects, CMA Design Studio, from the ground up. Situated on an expansive family compound amid lush tropical gardens, the site brims with colors and textures that easily align with materials and colors that resonate with the designer. “Our signature materials generally include white oak, walnut, natural stone, porcelain tiles, and terrazzo, which add warmth and visual interest,” says Pimentel, who founded her Coral Gables-based firm, Assure Interiors, in 2000. An emphasis on easy-going indoor-outdoor living was requested by the clients, which is another hallmark of the designer’s work. “We always give great consideration to the climate in any decorating scheme suitable for tropical living,” she adds.
In this home, work, entertaining, and daily living shared equal weight in the mandate from the owners, a young couple with children who were moving from a condo in Miami Beach to the 10,000+-square-foot, two-story house to accommodate their growing family as well as their careers. The husband, a tech entrepreneur, wanted a very smart home, and the wife, a fashion executive and accomplished cook, wanted a stylish house with a kitchen finely tailored to her culinary needs. “In addition, they needed a home office that could flexibly allow both of them to work from home,” explains the designer, who hails from the Dominican Republic. “To accommodate their life with young children, the couple also requested two separate family rooms and a playroom.”
Tapping into her history of working in buildings by some of the world’s top architects, such as Rem Koolhaas and Norman Foster, and influenced by the mid-century modernist ethos of Latino masters like Lina Bo Bardi and Luis Barragan, Pimentel crafted a fresh, welcoming environment throughout by layering richly textured materials, such as warm woods, tactile leather, and smooth porcelain in sandy tones, and contrasting them with cushions and soft furnishings upholstered in nubby bouclé, cool linen, and plush velvet fabrics in peacock blue and emerald green hues that echo the exterior environs. “In the living room, a curved velvet blue sofa is positioned to enjoy views of the terrace and the garden, while accents of antique brass catch reflections from the Miami sun and inject warm light,” notes the designer. “Both living areas and bedrooms have a serene feeling suitable for family life, yet we played with strong blues and greens for the public spaces to add a sense of wow factor that reflects the clients’ love of entertaining.” Private spaces, in contrast, are swathed in calmer, more relaxing neutrals.
The designer’s predisposition toward sculptural forms—inspired by her experience as the daughter of prominent collectors of contemporary and Latin American art—appears throughout with striking light fixtures or shapely side tables. Form and function also meet in the open kitchen, which the design team fitted out with custom cabinetry and a quartz-topped island, as well as a secondary dining area furnished with a restrained Japanese table. The accent on materials extends outdoors, where a deck of keystone surrounds the pool and echoes the facade of the clubhouse-like gazebo, which houses an upstairs gym and home cinema. An outdoor kitchen and bar area accommodate larger groups when relatives from other parts of the family compound join in. Filled with plenty of natural light, the ultra-comfortable home ultimately serves the family’s tropical lifestyle well, seamlessly blending indoor and outdoor living areas with a refined yet laidback style.
