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A true tour de force, this 1920s abode is spectacular in every sense - from its bold forms to its alluring saturated hues

- Marzia Nicolini and Juliet Benning

to step into Chiara Moro's fabulous two-storey apartment is to be transported into a technicolour world of rich, saturated tones. Unapologetically bold hues - whether a sensual plum or a playful yellow - create the sense of being immersed in a creative tour de force.

The apartment, inside a 1920s villa on Rome's Via Dandolo, is a stone's throw from the hip Trastevere neighbourhood. Its former inhabitants, two well-known faces on the city's cultural scene, had put up two floors for sale. Chiara, a marketing professional who had been searching for a property for some time meeting with endless disappointment in the process saw the listing and knew straight away from the pictures that she had to view it. 'I called to make an appointment and actually ran out of the office to go and see it,' she recalls. After the first visit, I immediately decided to buy it. As soon as I had crossed the threshold I felt like I'd been put under a spell. The house was so charming - you could breathe in its unique, ancient, romantic atmosphere. It exuded culture and the many stories that it had seen. The spaces were in good condition, but having been lived in for half a century, a renovation was a must.'

Chiara found an instant synergy with her chosen architect, Annalisa Mauri, and gave her free rein on the project, although they were in constant dialogue throughout the revamp. 'Chiara's partner is an artist, which meant she was open to a visual conversation between art, design and architecture; as well as a dialogue between past and present,' explains Annalisa. 'Her only request was to include colour, rather than leaving the spaces anonymous. The apartment already had its intrinsic personality, so it didn't need further elements to enhance it. We didn't want to overturn the spatial identity, we simply wanted to complement it,' she says.