my new muse

The first thing I want to show you is a building that for me, right now, is the most inspiring piece of architecture in Florence.  It's a building that most tourists don't even see.  Off the beaten path but right around the corner from our apartment is Piazza Santo Spirito.  This is Elly's favourite bird chasing spot and where we stop in the morning for fresh produce at the daily market.  There are also some great restaurants, a gelato spot and a fantastic pizzeria!  And presiding quietly over it all is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Santo Spirito.

The Basilica of Santo Spirito

This was Brunelleschi's final architectural project.  The design couldn't be more different from his better known work - Florence's Duomo, pictured below.  Where the pink and grey marble-clad Duomo looms large over the Florence city scape (but that's for a later post), this simple Basilica offers a peaceful and inviting lack of adornment tucked away in a quiet Florentine piazza.  

A glimpse of the Florence Duomo...and my handsome husband ;)

The Basilica has it's own Duomo, but the facade is the star of this show

The facade front and centre...diners in the foreground

  
I'm in love with the effortless serenity of this facade.  I want to create rooms that feel just like this!  Paired down, quiet, yet somehow glamorous.  The uncomplicated symmetry and sweeping curves are all it seems to need.  In a way, the bedroom of our rented apartment achieves this feeling....simple furnishings and artwork against pale pink plaster walls.  Maybe it's the light or maybe it's the exposed timber ceiling, but it gives me the same peacefulness I feel when I pass by the Basilica each morning.

Our spartan but peaceful bedroom