Laura Aviva collaborates with artisan workshops in Latin America to create L’Aviva Home’s lighting, textiles, and furniture. She approaches traditional craft as a springboard for sophisticated, entirely new designs and loves getting her collaborators to apply their skills in undreamed of ways.
Her pieces land in impressive settings that are featured on the company website. But what kind of rooms does Laura herself envision them in? Based in NYC, she recently bought an apartment in Mexico City to officially declare CDMX her home away from home. And she transformed her new flat into both living quarters and a showcase for what she and her team does.
“Normally, we design products to shine in a range of contexts,” Laura tells us. “With this space, we flipped our creative process and designed a Platonic ideal of where we would like them to live and how we would like to live with them.” Join us for a tour.
Photography courtesy of L’Aviva Home (@lavivahome). Above: Laura’s apartment is in a 1950s tile-covered modernist building in La Condesa, which she describes as “one of the most architecturally interesting and creative neighborhoods in the city.” The entry is at the center of two halls, one leading to the kitchen/living area and the other to three bedrooms—that’s essentially the original setup, but the resemblance ends there. Laura rejiggered the floor plan (the kitchen, for instance, had been a library) and reconsidered every element—take a look at the Before shots below.
“A goal of the project was to shine a light on all of the artisans involved and to create a space that feels considered and crafted by hand,” says Laura. She worked with architect Gilda Valencia of Colectivo A on the transformation—”Gilda was a dream collaborator: she oversaw the project as a whole and the construction—because of seismic considerations, we needed structural engineers, too. Gilda made it all happen.” Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.
![the small kitchen now sits at the heart of the apartment divided from the livin 18](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-maureen-m-evans-photo-2.jpg)
![all of the built ins, including the kitchen cabinets of stained parota, were ma 19](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-3a.jpg)
![\2\20;there were some things i had my heart set on and people humored me 20](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-3b.jpg)
![after isaac castañeda made the kitchen screen and companion shutters for h 21](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-4a.jpg)
The pendant lights are L’Aviva Home’s blown glass Tobalá Pendants made in Oaxaca.The collage was a commission made for the apartment by Laura’s friend Maddalena Forcella of Madda Studio, which specializes in naturally dyed textiles and rugs. As for the pine floor, it’s original to the apartment—”it was that orangey yellow that pine gets over time,” says Laura. “I wanted it to feel earthy, so we tried staining it then realized we had to bleach it and start again. It took several tries to get the color right.” Photograph by Fabian Martinez
![the living room\2\17;s wall of windows are original and are what sold th 22](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-5.jpg)
![the stoneworker who built the dining table base also created the living room ba 23](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-6.jpg)
![what began as a kitchen screen led to l\2\17;aviva home\2\17;s ju 24](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-marianne-m-evans-photo-6b.jpg)
![laura purchased paint locally and tested \2\20;800 different shades& 25](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/maybelaviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-marianne-m-evans-photo-7.jpg)
![more piedra collection sconces and ceiling lights of marble and onyx line the h 26](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-marianne-m-evans-photo-8a.jpg)
![the baño huéspedes—guest bathroom set in the former maid&# 27](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-marianne-m-evans-photo-9.jpg)
![the seat off the entry, designed by laura\2\17;s friend raul cabra of oa 28](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-marianne-m-evans-photo-8b.jpg)
![laura commissioned marina santana, a ceramicist from jalisco, to make her first 29](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-12.jpg)
![the custom cut slate tiles reappear in laura\2\17;s bathroom. phot 30](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-11a.jpg)
![the bathtub—\2\2\1;each indentation is the stroke of a hammer& 31](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-11b.jpg)
![a popotillo (wheat straw) wreath by oaxifornia hangs in laura\2\17;s bed 32](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-fabian-martinez-photo-10.jpg)
![\2\20;this apartment took a year of my life,\2\2\1; says laura. & 33](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/laviva-home-cdmx-apt-showroom-marianne-m-evans-photo-10a.jpg)
Floor Plan
![working with architect gilda valencia of colectivo a, laura kept the apartment& 34](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/laviva-home-mexico-city-apt-floor-plan-from.jpg)
Before
![the living room formerly flowed into a library, now the kitchen. 35](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mexico-city-apt-before-1.jpg)
![the kitchen was in a room of its own and had been updated over the years. 36](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mexico-city-kitchen-before.jpg)
![a bedroom offers a look at the multi toned pine floors—they required ble 37](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mexico-city-bedroom-before.jpg)
We’ve been following L’Aviva Home from the get-go. Here’s a sampling:
- A Sisal Alternative: Soulful Rugs from Colombia
- Channeling the Laid-Back Look with L’Aviva Home
- Shopper’s Diary: L’Aviva Home
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