Interior designer María Acha brings to this Bilbao apartment a luminous architecture that looks toward Japanese tradition and mid-century style

Interior designer María Acha has carried out in Bilbao one of those transformations that reorganize a dwelling and redefine the way it is lived, reinterpreting a spacious, well-preserved apartment that remained anchored to an old-fashioned layout. She returned to the space a new breath: more intuitive, serene and luminous.

The owners of this 250-square-meter home, a couple with two teenage children, needed a dwelling able to accompany their current pace through a coherent distribution: two independent studies, a guest bedroom with its own bathroom, a day area that encouraged shared living, and a kitchen that could become the true heart of the family, all without giving up a warm, measured and sophisticated aesthetic.

From that premise, the designer conceived a house organized into three clearly differentiated yet harmoniously interwoven realms—day, night and work. The renovation treats light as if it were a structural material, redefines internal circulations and builds new atmospheres through color, wood, proportion and texture.

A house open to natural light

One of the main challenges was transforming a long corridor that connected the different areas. The interior designer decided to break it up, divide it into two moments, introduce a sliding door to bring privacy, and turn it into a spatial sequence full of rhythm.

The central platform—the former darkest area of the apartment—was slightly elevated to become the heart of the home, a kind of contemporary tea room where the kitchen and dining room come together. There, a skylight recovers the light that once lacked, and the wood that wraps ceilings and furnishings converses with the stone materials of the countertops and the lightweight enclosures that shape the space.

María Acha uses natural light as an invitation to move through the home. The eye glides from the living room toward the central space: a dining kitchen openly connected to the night area. Everything unfolds with a natural ease reminiscent of Japanese dwellings, where transitions matter as much as the rooms themselves.

The day area: enveloping serenity

The living room is defined by a brilliant gesture: cladding the structural pillars in wood to integrate them into the interior architecture and extending that gesture to the ceiling, which adopts a coffered design inspired by Japanese tradition. This horizontal plane in natural oak sets the tone with an enveloping serenity, visually linking the living room with the central dining-kitchen space.

The restored original fireplace recovers the classical memory of the apartment, while the neutral-toned sofas, the custom rug and the vibrant pieces—armchairs and blown-glass side tables in intense orange hues—introduce a contemporary warmth. The chromatic palette blends greys, beiges and whites with terracotta and reddish accents, achieving a balanced, rich and subtle composition.

In the entrance hall, wood again becomes a guiding thread: textured panels, glazed partitions with natural fabrics, and a custom coat cabinet that acts as a quiet sculptural element. Works by Marina Arregi and sculptures by Arbe and Maite Carranza complete a language that moves between restraint and artisanal detail.

The kitchen at the emotional center of the home

Few decisions are as powerful in interior design as placing the kitchen at the physical and emotional center of a home. Here that gesture becomes architecture: the cabinetry—designed by Acha herself—forms a pure volume of lacquered wood and oak, with Dekton countertops and an island clad in high-gloss porcelain inspired by Patagonia Stone, adding a vibrant counterpoint within the overall calm.

The overhead skylight filters the light and transforms this area into a gathering place for the family at different times of day. Circulation is resolved through a rear corridor with two symmetrical openings, avoiding the need to walk through the kitchen to reach the night area. An elegant and highly functional solution that demonstrates how spatial thinking directly influences domestic wellbeing.

Dining room: a space that breathes

The dining room, wrapped in wood finishes and warm fabrics, is organized around a round walnut table that becomes a sculptural piece. Furniture is kept to a minimum to reinforce the presence of wood and allow the space to breathe.

The cleaning and laundry area, reinterpreted as a small “little house,” introduces olive ash wood in a space where the grain reveals a more contrasted character. Its aesthetic—almost that of a minimal pavilion—expands the Japanese narrative and introduces an unexpected note that enriches the global composition.

The night area: intimacy, texture and quiet

As one enters the most private zone, the home becomes more hushed. The main bedroom is wrapped in warm grey tones and wood, creating an intimate atmosphere of soft light. A slatted headboard frames the bed and bedside tables organically; reading lamps and fabrics in tobacco and mustard tones add a warm, serene nuance.

The en-suite bathroom unfolds a play of rounded volumes and carefully designed lighting that models the planes. It is a suite conceived from calm, where the most powerful gesture is the purity of form.

The youth bathroom cleverly resolves an initial difficulty—the location of the window—and turns it into an opportunity: a two-level vanity with a swiveling mirror creates two independent zones within a single space. The choice of patchwork flooring refreshes the composition and gives the room a youthful and functional character.

A house that tells its own story

This project rewrites the way of inhabiting, adapting architecture to the new dynamics of family life and building a home where every area coexists in harmony without losing its own personality. María Acha once again demonstrates her ability to create atmospheres where serenity coexists with detail, light structures the experience, and wood—her great ally—brings continuity, depth and warmth. In this dwelling, the designer reiterates the idea that runs through all her work: “much with less,” a precise synthesis of order, emotion and material.

Project: Abando.
Location: Bilbao.
Surface: 250 m².
Completed: 2024.
Interior design: María Acha.
Photography: Amador Toril.
Styling: Cristina Rodríguez Goitia.
Construction: Joanvaz Construcciones.
Carpentry: Ebanistería Rua Alberti.
Source: ComuniKateMas. Marta Alonso.

María Acha

María Acha is a Bilbao-based interior designer with a consolidated career of more than fifteen years, specialising in fully integrated interior design projects. Her professional approach is defined by the search for a unique language in each commission: she does not simply decorate, but builds spaces through a personalised narrative shaped around the needs, personality and aspirations of the people who inhabit them.

María believes that the spaces we live in decisively influence how we move, feel and relate to one another —a conviction that permeates each of her interventions.

Her work reveals a clear sensitivity towards nature, stillness and authenticity. Her designs tend to evoke an atmosphere of harmony, serenity and connection with the environment, combining fluid spatiality, organic lines, natural light, raw and tactile materials —wood, clay, linen, ceramics, microcement— and a warm, neutral palette.

She is especially drawn to what others might consider “residual spaces” —entrance halls, corridors, thresholds, transitions— granting them volume, character and meaning. This idea of turning “invisible spaces” into subtle protagonists allows her to create homes with soul, where every corner matters.

Her aesthetic brings together a range of influences, from Japanese architecture to mid-century modern design —a combination that enables her to craft interiors that are unique, understated, elegant, warm and deeply human.

María Acha’s vision goes beyond aesthetics: it is a commitment to transforming the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit, to restoring dignity to the everyday, to weaving functionality with emotion, and to creating homes that invite reflection, wellbeing and a renewed connection with nature. The result is a series of dwellings conceived as personal refuges —unhurried, characterful, soulful.

Her work stands at a crossroads between contemporary interior architecture, artisanal sensitivity, emotional wellbeing, and that essential added value of material sustainability, constructive honesty and true personalisation.

Project by María Acha