【Design Record】Renovation of an Old Villa: Balancing Eastern and Western Aesthetics in Five Spaces with Artistic Paint

[Design Record] Renovation of an Old Western-Style House: Balancing Eastern and Western Aesthetics in 5 Spaces with Artistic Paint
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Project Location | Shanghai
Project Name | Organic Renovation of a 1920s Shanghai Old Western-Style House
Design Team | MOZ SPACE / Linzhi Elyn Lin
Artistic Paint | Glazed Down / Crocodile Skin / Pharaoh’s Robe / Armani Color Duo

Prologue: Walls as Medium, Reconstructing a Cross-Century Sensory Dialogue

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, the century-old original beams still stand firm, deep, rough, wrapped in the patina of time. For MOZ SPACE founder Linzhi (Elyn Lin), this is a design challenge: top-tier Italian furniture meets a Republican-era old Western-style house. How can East and West, classic and trend, new and old truly merge, rather than cancel each other out?

Here, the wall is given the role of “medium.” By controlling the texture of artistic paint, the design team redefines the logic of interior color and texture application, making the wall a vessel that carries the narrative of time.

#1 How to Resolve the Conflict Between Chinese and Western Aesthetics

When Eastern classicism meets Italian lines

Solution: Use inclusive colors

The original pine wood of the old Western-style house carries a strong Eastern charm, which can easily create visual conflict with the clean lines of Italian furniture. The design introduces the “Secret Color” from the “Glazed Down” artistic paint. This hue, inspired by the warmth of secret-color celadon, has a strong sense of inclusiveness and storytelling, effectively resolving the clash between two different eras of style. It allows classical furniture styles and modern minimalism to move freely, perfectly complementing the lines of Italian furniture and achieving visual harmony.

#2 How to Make the Overall Space Lighter

A dialogue between reality and illusion in natural textures

Solution: Use a light “Flowing Cloud” texture paired with a meticulously crafted “Crocodile Skin” texture

Here, one wall is occupied by a dark wooden cabinet, as if blocking a wall that hinders dialogue.

By applying the “Crocodile Skin” artistic paint texture in localized areas, the space gains a mature aura and gradient colors. The opposite wall uses a large area of light and elegant “Flowing Cloud” artistic paint texture as a base, with deep layers giving the space a flowing lightness, blending various inspirations from nature.

Different natural materials give the space the necessary breathability, as if hearing a dialogue between natural textures.

#3 How to Achieve Visual Stretching in a Cramped Space

Using color gradient to “elevate” height

Solution: Paint the walls entirely with color, leave the ceiling white

Some rooms in the old Western-style house are narrow, easily creating a sense of oppression. Using the physical properties of color to establish depth order can visually raise the space. The central main wall uses the “Wenyin” color from the “Pharaoh’s Robe” artistic paint, flanked by “Stone Honey” color. The key is to pair it with a pure white ceiling, which visually lifts the ceiling height, giving the originally cramped area a noble aura.

#4 Highlighting the Features of a Special Space

Strategic use of negative space

Solution: Use pearlescent texture as a “light reflector”

In a more private sunken space, to create an immersive reading atmosphere, the design breaks the habit of painting the entire room. Only the wall facing the window is coated with the pearlescent “Armani Color Duo” artistic paint, while the other walls remain clean and white. This strategy of “painting one side, reflecting three sides” turns the pearlescent finish into a light reflector. Here, one can leisurely read while capturing the most moving moments of dusk, preserving a sense of mystery while laying a quiet narrative prelude for the space.

#5 How to Transform a Space with a Sense of Oppression

Turning structural flaws into a “safe embrace”

Solution: Instead of trying to “open up” the space, use dark colors with a pearlescent sheen to enhance its private nature

The smallest space in the house became the coziest corner. Facing the flaw of a sloped ceiling, visual pressure was transformed into a sense of security. The pearlescent “Armani Color Duo” was applied to all walls, enhancing the space’s enveloping feel. The warm tones present gradient layers as the viewing angle changes, creating a music corner for immersive solitude.

MOZ SPACE Design Notes: 5 Spaces, 5 Solutions

Space #1: Resolving the Conflict Between Chinese and Western Aesthetics Through Storytelling

The subtle changes of “Glazed Down” from morning to afternoon give the wall strong inclusiveness, serving as a connecting medium between the century-old wooden beams and modern Italian furniture.

Space #2: Dissolving Oppression Through a Dialogue Between Reality and Illusion in Natural Textures

By contrasting the mature aura of the localized “Crocodile Skin” texture with the large-area light and elegant “Flowing Cloud” texture, the interplay of reality and illusion in materials provides the space with the necessary “breathability.”

Space #3: Extending Visual Depth with a Monochromatic Gradient

Using the dual-color gradient logic of “Wenyin” and “Stone Honey” from “Pharaoh’s Robe,” paired with a pure white ceiling, visually lifts the “ceiling height,” resolving the oppressive feel of a narrow space and endowing it with a noble aura.

Space #4: Guiding Light and Shadow Flow Through the Logic of Negative Space

Adopting a strategy of “painting one side, leaving three sides white,” the pearlescent texture acts as a light reflector, creating a deep and immersive narrative atmosphere.

Space #5: Transforming Physical Oppression into a Sense of Envelopment Through Full-Surface Painting

Unconventionally painting the entire small space transforms the oppressive feel of the original sloped ceiling into an ultimate sense of private security.

Let Materials Return to the Narrative Itself

In the organic renovation of the Shanghai old Western-style house, walls should not be just static backgrounds. They record the subtle flow of light from dawn to dusk and bear the silent collision between history and contemporary design. By harmonizing texture and color deviations, we strive to let each material find its own frequency in the space. When the discussions about “conflict between old and new” fade away, what remains is the most authentic warmth of the space.

THE DESIGNER Designer of This Project

Linzhi Elyn Lin, Space Director of MOZ SPACE / Founder of Moz Design. Adhering to the design philosophy of “Endowing Space with Warmth,” she is committed to creating emotional, warm new art living residences for homeowners.

Why Choose iLuvVivid Artistic Paint?

We understand that clients need not just artistic paint, but a great assistant to enhance space quality. iLuvVivid Artistic Paint: Beauty in one step!
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