A stunning maisonette apartment near Pavia, Italy, showcases how contemporary interior design trends can be masterfully implemented in real living spaces. The Milan-based design studio Boro has completely renovated this family home, enveloping every surface – including walls, floors, ceilings, and even the staircase – in a warm butter yellow hue that demonstrates the popular "color drenching" technique while maintaining sophisticated minimalist principles.

Located in the heart of Siziano on the outskirts of Pavia, a historic university town often overshadowed by its proximity to Milan, this multi-level residence offers a series of unexpected perspectives that seem to reveal themselves view by view. As Sergio Arnao, founder of Boro Design Studio, explains, the project reduces architecture to a minimum to focus on the sensory experience of living. The approach creates what he describes as "a flowing, continuous environment where every element dialogues with the surrounding box."

The living room exemplifies this philosophy with its comprehensive butter yellow treatment. The gentle hue flows seamlessly from floor to ceiling, from walls to select furniture pieces, creating a cohesive visual experience. Only the kitchen distinguishes itself through walnut wood high cabinets and a dark glass dining table by The Masie, providing strategic contrast within the monochromatic scheme. A custom-made sofa and black side table by Muuto complete the carefully curated space.

The color drenching extends throughout the home, reaching even the fireplace and staircase area. Arnao strategically introduces more intense color accents that function like graphic symbols to define the space – including lighting fixtures, custom shelving, and the dark glass table. The remaining elements, including the sofa and chairs by Ton, deliberately blend with the architecture to maintain the unified aesthetic.

Arnao recommends using a palette of warm, neutral tones that envelop spaces and create a muted, uniform atmosphere. The result appears as if a soft, yellowish veil has been draped over the entire apartment, extending even to the sleeping areas. Nothing escapes this cheerful color drenching treatment, including the staircase, which forms the architectural focal point of the home.

The designer views the staircase as a sculptural element that breaks the architectural severity of the ground floor with faceted, almost theatrical geometry, creating a connection between formal strictness and lightness. This stair sculpture, completely rendered in butter yellow from steps to railings, functions as a light, sculptural ribbon connecting the maisonette's two levels.

The ground floor benefits from exceptional brightness, achieved both through the delicate butter yellow walls and large windows that allow natural light to shape volumes and model depths by casting soft shadows that chase each other across the walls. To further emphasize the interior's harmonious atmosphere, not only the walls and synthetic resin floor coating are rendered in yellow tones, but also select furnishings.

Arnao carefully calibrates every element to avoid visual overload, ensuring that proportions and the interplay between solid and void determine the room's atmosphere. The ground floor therefore favors integrated solutions, such as the butter yellow fireplace that visually merges with the architecture. The kitchen, crafted by Cappellini Cucine to Arnao's design, presents a special case where the kitchen island maintains a subdued cream tone while floor-to-ceiling Canaletto walnut high cabinets fill the room's entire back wall, emphasizing depth through their dark tone.

The dining area plays with harmony and contrast, where the dark glass table echoes the walnut kitchen fronts in the background while yellow chairs by Ton harmonize with the butter yellow synthetic resin floor. A pendant light by Santa & Cole serves as an airy, light yet monumental element that underscores the interior's graphic, architecture-focused design.

One of the most impressive views of the maisonette emerges from the staircase, where a floor-to-ceiling interior window of the bedroom allows visibility of both levels. Only a large glass panel separates the upper floor bedroom from the staircase, making the space brighter and emphasizing the overall butter yellow look. A built-in Canaletto walnut cabinet (matching the kitchen) occupies an entire wall and conceals the passage to the bathroom.

The designer paid particular attention to choosing the bed's upholstery fabric, which unexpectedly appears in an intense blackberry tone, setting a crucial color accent that enlivens the space with surprising, vibrant elegance. The bathroom, conversely, conveys an understated, calm mood where Arnao's intention was to enhance perception of the space itself, designing every element to harmoniously integrate into the whole.

A glass partition allows natural brightness to reach even the shower area, because in this apartment, not only color but also light must flow freely. The butter yellow treatment extends even into the children's room, maintaining the home's consistent aesthetic approach throughout every space. The project successfully demonstrates how contemporary design trends like color drenching and minimalism can be combined to create a sophisticated yet livable family environment.