Earth Tones Transform This Sleek South Florida Apartment

Similarly, they shared the same dialogue when it came to reimagining the residence, a Sunny Isles Beach apartment with cork-paper walls and wenge-wood accents that didn’t align with the client’s desired atmosphere. “He said, ‘I have 360-degree views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the ocean, but the interior is very dark. I want light—and to breathe,’ ” Fuentes recalls. It was an innate request for the designers, whose portfolio the owner admired for its abundant palette of warm whites, taupes and grays—a combination rooted in Fuentes’ heritage. “Toward the center of Spain, you’ll find color,” the designer explains, “but the Catalan area is all about these soothing earth tones.”

The duo also understood the client’s need for comfort, including a calming primary suite and a cozy media area to play video games with his grandsons. Layout changes weren’t required, so ceiling, floor and wall treatments were used to add depth. “Jorge and Adriana beautify spaces with millwork—it’s one of their trademarks, and it’s always fun to do that for them,” Rojas shares. Artwork would strike poses, and the kitchen would be dramatic, but the overall look would be cohesive, Fuentes emphasizes. “We wanted it to be a fluid conversation from room to room,” he says.

Helping to establish this unity is new flooring in Lacruz’s favorite stone: travertine. “It provides not only texture but also interesting color,” she notes, pointing to varieties such as smoke and serpentine. The other harmonizing features are the wood-panel accents—some backlit with LEDs, others recessed and lacquered—that enliven select walls. “Millwork is a language we carry throughout the apartment,” Lacruz says. These structural embellishments lay the groundwork for sculptural furnishings in soft yet masculine textiles. “Leather and linen are the ultimate subtle sophistication without going too rough or ‘cigar bar,’ ” Fuentes adds.