Warm Layers Transform A Coral Gables Home Into A Soulful Retreat

Constanza Collarte begins every project by listening. Deeply hearing her clients is a given, but she also carefully tunes in to a home’s architecture. The goal, the designer explains, “is about creating a dialogue between place and person.” So what did she hear from the owners of this Coral Gables abode—and the house itself? “They were drawn to it for its layout, but the interiors leaned contemporary and a little cold for their taste,” Collarte reports. “The brief centered on softening and infusing the home with warmth and character.”

To temper the sharp angles of the architecture, the designer drew inspiration from Cy Twombly’s hazy Polaroids, the sculptural furnishings at Hubert de Givenchy’s Loire Valley estate and the verdigris on Alberto Giacometti’s ironworks. She set out to render a serene, textured environment that feels refined as well as connected to its natural surroundings. “We were inspired by the verdant greens outside, allowing the lush landscape to inform our palette and guide the overall mood of the interiors,” Collarte says. “This translated into a thoughtful use of neutrals—soft, nuanced tones that provided a quiet backdrop for richer, more organic hues to emerge.”

A need for speed also drove the project. The clients—a husband and wife with two teenage sons—were relocating from Chicago, bringing none of their furnishings with them, and wanted to move into their new house soon. “There was a lot we couldn’t adjust because of the timing,” the designer says, pointing to elements that remain the same, such as the kitchen. “So we focused on changing wall surfaces and created a lot of warmth with tadelakt plaster.”

The material’s creamy, organic finish sets the neutral foundation—as do pieces like the living area sofas, upholstered in a slubby ivory fabric, and the pair of travertine coffee tables between. Joined by a daybed covered in a dusty-green linen and a bamboo floor lamp in the style of Gabriella Crespi, the grouping speaks to the layered approach Collarte used to shape the residence, blending not just colors but also textures and materials to yield the comfort and soul the owners craved.

Throughout the home, the designer relied on vintage and antique finds, a move that served multiple purposes. For starters, the clients have an affinity for history, so using objects with a past fulfilled that desire. On a practical level, working with trusted dealers to source furnishings that had the right aesthetic allowed Collarte to avoid the long lead times necessary for custom pieces. As a result, vintage Malayer and Mahal rugs cover the floors in most spaces, a pair of 1940s Italian lounge chairs occupy the family room, and the office is a midcentury modern haven of finds. In the dining area, the designer arranged a pair of statement-making tables—a 10-foot-long piece and a 19th-century console—and hung a stunning 18th-century Aubusson tapestry fragment with a floral motif that appeals to the wife’s love of botanicals.

The multifaceted sensibility extends outside, where Collarte’s frequent collaborator, landscape architect Carolina Monteiro, worked her magic. “We gave life to the backyard by adding new tropical plants to create layers that were missing,” she explains, describing outdoor “rooms” framed by trees. The wife also brought greenery inside, amassing a collection of plants that underscores her penchant for florals and lends another dimension. “They function as accessories to the furnishings,” observes the designer, who acquired pots and vessels—such as a tall, glazed piece in the family room—to showcase the wife’s acquisitions.

While Collarte might have finished the project, an evolution persists—thanks to keeping her ears open. “We continue layering, which reminds me that design isn’t about an end point,” she reflects. “It’s an ongoing dialogue between the space and the lives within it.”

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