Curved cream bouclé sofa in a double-height room with an Kristina Aksentova’s artwork, two oval wall sconces, and a low walnut console holding books and plants.

Fort Lauderdale Midcentury

A 90s tropical house with a mid-century character reinterpreted through warmer materials, vintage furniture, custom objects and unique art pieces. Personalized interior, connected to the home’s architecture and surrounding tropical landscape.

Location:: Florida

The house was built in the 1990s with clear midcentury influences and is surrounded by a beautiful, overgrown tropical landscape. Its interior, however, reflected the period in which it was built: black wood floors, stark white walls, stainless steel cable railings and a limited material palette lent the rooms a cold, generic quality that seemed out of sync with the architecture and the garden beyond.

The project was about making the house feel more personal, more comfortable, more specific to its context. The bathroom was completely reconfigured while the rest of the house was updated through material changes, new furniture layout, lighting, art and a combination of vintage and custom-made pieces.

Two dark wood chairs with sculptural cream backrests beside a stone-topped table, facing a teak sideboard topped with a silver vase of greenery.

Small dark ceramic sculpture with bronze glaze on a pale stone surface, framed through the cutout backs of two wooden chairs, with a wood cabinet behind.

The biggest intervention was in the living room. Its old layout made the space difficult to use and prevented it from working as the house’s center. We reconfigured the room to make the conversation pit with a huge custom sofa and oversized lounge chairs we found and re-upholstered in a cozy moss-like fabric. The new arrangement created a defined gathering space that now feels like the heart of the house.

Cream bouclé sofa with cushions before a low wooden console and abstract black-and-white artwork, flanked by two oval wall sconces with warm light.

Round dark-wood coffee table with a chess set mid-game beside a curved cream bouclé sofa on an olive-green rug in soft light.

Warm-lit mushroom lamp with white shade and black base atop a walnut cabinet housing a vintage turntable, with green palm fronds in the foreground.

Midcentury living room with olive bouclé chairs, a round wood coffee table set with chess, a carved sideboard, round mirror, and warm lamp light.

The finishes were replaced by warm-toned woods, woven surfaces, natural fibers, and tactile materials. Midcentury vintage furniture was selected for its high craftmanship and relationship to the architecture while custom objects added unique details for the project.

Kristina Aksentova’s artwork inspired by Greynolds Park adds movement to the interior, reflecting the shapes and patterns of Florida’s natural environment. Little details throughout the house are reminiscent of tropical leaves, shells and other things found on the coast. These references are still subtle, through form, texture and material rather than direct decoration.