This Wardrobe Stylist’s Barcelona Apartment Has a Stunning Patio

Adrienne Breaux
·8 min read
A living room with sofa and coffee table on a tile floor.
Living Room overlooking dining area with white walls.
A TV on a glass stand with plants and coffee table books.
Framed artwork above a couch with a decorative side table with planted plants.
A circular dining table with wooden chair across from kitchen.
A white book case filled with books and decorative items.
A circular dining table with wooden chair across from kitchen.
A kitchen with white cabinets and blue accent walls.
Coffee maker and lamp on a kitchen cabinet
White bedroom with open doors to a living room with couch and decorative pillows.
Clothing on a clothing rack next to a bed with white sheets.
Two fabric chairs with wooden arms sit next to an entryway.
Dweller poses for a portrait next to the clothing rack.
Two fabric chairs with wooden arms sit next to an entryway.
Large sliding glass door to an outdoor patio space.
A dog rests under an outdoor structure on a bricklayed patio.
Chairs sit outside near a coffee table surrounded by plants.
A woven chair sits outside near a coffee table

“The first thing that drew me to this apartment was the patio,” wardrobe stylist Alissa Ashcraft begins. “We were just coming out of what had been a particularly stringent lockdown period here in Barcelona in 2020. My then-8-year-old son and I had spent the confinement in a tiny sort of junior one-bedroom temporary apartment with very little natural light; in fact, you sort of had to strain at this one window to even see much of the sky. So, outdoor space was our number-one priority. I also knew we would be bringing a dog into our life, so the patio requirement had double importance.”

Dweller poses outside their apartment with their dog.

“I was on a tight timeline to find a place, as I wanted to get us moved before the start of the school year,” Ashcraft continues. “It was proving pretty difficult to find anything with outdoor space in the neighborhoods around my son’s school, so I expanded the search to include other areas that were located next to the metro line, and that included the Eixample Dreta, where we are now. This neighborhood is much more ‘grown up,’ than where I’d always chosen to live in Barcelona, which was mostly in and around the Borne neighborhood.”

Glass wear and fruits sit on coffee table

“It took about a month of full-time searching online to find this place (mostly via the website Idealista). It felt lucky, as it was August and most businesses, including real estate, grind to a halt during that vacation period here. We walked in, and from the front door you are called out to the light on the sizable patio, and I knew it was right for us. I decided in about .5 seconds,” she writes.

Dweller prepares a meal outdoor with their dog close by.

“The building was built in 1896. Apart from the large patio, the apartment also has lots of the typical features people love about Catalan buildings from this Modernist period — the hydraulic tiles, ornate ceilings and moldings, paneled and French doors, etc.,” Ashcraft describes. “I loved that it was an all-white blank slate and it felt incredibly spacious to us compared to where we’d been.”

A dweller looking through a clothing rack in a bedroom

The space came with stunning architectural details, and Ashcraft’s chic interior style perfectly complements it. “I don’t see much difference between my professional work, personal style, and the putting together of a home,” she explains. “In all cases, I’m interested in tension. Tension between objects of different periods, tension between colors, silhouette/form, materials/fabrics/textures, tension between what can be perceived to be traditionally ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ elements.”

Books on a white bookshelf next to a wooden chair.

“And sometimes it’s not just about high-resolution, in-your-face juxtaposition — sometimes a look or a room done in all shades of white and cream contains multitudes of textures and shades that work together to create something with real dimension. It’s like Diana Vreeland said, ‘The eye has to travel.’ I take this to mean there has to be balance. For me, to achieve that, a room or a look must contain something old, something new, and something tacky (my own personal ‘rule of three!’).”

Clothing on a rack in a bedroom with decorated tile floors.

“There is an intense kind of cognitive dissonance in my brain: I’m as drawn to a room with three thoughtfully selected items in it as I am to a layered, collected space. I’m constantly trying to resolve this dissonance by removing, adding, and re-arranging objects in my space. It’s a daily practice.”

Resources

Sofa, stone coffee table with books and candles across from the glass table with TV and plant on it.

LIVING ROOM

  • Kibo Sofa — Pilma

  • Throw Pillows — Habitat

  • Red Stripe Pillow — H&M

  • Acrylic Nesting Tables — Zara Home

  • Coffee Table — Local Antique Shop

  • Poster — Vintage Furniture Shop

  • Upholstered Bench — The Maisie

  • Red Stool — Codeco

  • Pillar — Vintage Furniture Store

  • “Baja” Lamp — Habitat

  • Art Books —Terranova and Finestres Bookshops

  • Vintage Globes Lamp — Vintage Furniture Shop

  • Wooden Pedestal — Antiques Market in Sant Cugat

Dining room table infront of a white book shelf.

DINING ROOM

  • Black Pedestal Table — The Maisie

  • Chairs — Casa Barcelo Vintage Furniture Shop

  • Gold Chairs — Habitat

  • Tablecloth — Zara Home

  • Chandelier — Street Find

  • Ceramic Lamp — Zara Home

  • Painted Canvas — Self-made

Coffee maker and lamp on wooden kitchen cabinet shelve

KITCHEN

  • Toaster — MUJI

  • Sugar Jar — Zara Home

  • Still Life Fruit Painting — MercAntic in Sant Cugat

  • Nespresso Machine

  • Plaster Vase — Zara home

A chrome light on the nightstand next to the bed.

BEDROOM

  • Vintage Headboard — Wallapop

  • Curtains — Zara Home

  • Rolling Racks — Amazon Basics

  • Antifoni Lamp — IKEA

A dog rests under an outdoor structure on a bricklayed patio.

PATIO

  • White Planters — MercAntic

  • Black Chairs — CB2

  • Vintage Bench — Wallapop

  • Vintage Folding Table — Antrazita Antiques Dealer

  • Vintage Wicker Chair — 1st Dibs

  • ROLY POLY Chair — Faye Toogood

Dweller poses for a portrait next to the clothing rack.

SUNROOM

  • Vintage Chairs — MercAntic

  • Acrylic Shelves — Habitat

  • Framed Photograph — @Ando_______________(My Boyfriend)

  • Lamp — IKEA

Thanks, Alissa!

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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