How One Creative Couple Turned A Traditional Milanese Apartment Into A Modern Design Haven

When the design curator Valentina Ciuffi and her husband, creative director Andrew Haug, needed more space after having their first child, they were hesitant to leave the Cita Studi neighborhood Ciuffi has called home for most of her fifteen years in Milan. For Ciuffi, a self-identified “researcher” who runs the multidisciplinary creative firm Studio Vedèt and co-founded the collectible design fair Alcova, it was hard to picture the apartment they now share together, located in Caiazzo, outside the city center, as a family home. But Haug, who made the final decision after Ciuffi’s initial round of house-hunting, believed in what they could make it. Together, they’ve created not just a home, but a long-lasting tribute to Milan’s spirit, their love of design, and the people who inspire them daily.

Homeowners Andrew Haug and Valentina Ciuffi.

The couple brought on Maddalena Casadei, who designed their previous home together on Via Stoppani, to oversee the necessary renovations. Primarily a product designer, Casadei managed to bring an inventive eye to the home’s challenging floorplan and to find creative solutions where others might see limits. The apartment had an irregular, almost trapezoidal floor plan, with a long hallway, typical of Milanese homes from the 1920s and ’30s, that ended in an unexpected triangular-shaped room. It lacked proper guest rooms and, though it had two bathrooms, one was practically unusable. Still, Casadei felt that “the home didn’t need to be redone, but rather tailored for Andrew and Valentina. My role was to support their vision, accompanying them in creating a space that would truly be theirs.”

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Her first order of business was to reimagine the layout to instill order alongside personality. She dreamt up multifunctional spaces, such as a ship’s cabin-like guest room heavily influenced by Japanese aesthetics, fabricated by Stefano Monticetti, and found a way to give a sense of purpose to that long hallway, which now leads to a study and feels, per Ciuffi, “almost contemplative.” “Walking down it each morning, right after waking up, is a calming ritual, and I’ve learned to notice its architectural beauty,” she says.

Haug stepped in to support Casadei along the way, visualizing the layouts of certain rooms and turning Ciuffi’s artful melange into livable arrangements. “In my last apartment in New York I finished one room per year over seven years. That can have its advantages in terms of detail, and it’s fun because each room ends up representing a moment in your life and taste,” says Haug. “I think the co-design process with Maddalena and Valentina has helped this project feel more coherent.”

In the primary bedroom, the carpet is by Stefania Ruggiero and the curtains are by VIMAS. The painting above the bed is by Tuukka Tammisaari.

The house was shaped by collaboration as much as Ciuffi’s vast network of friends and makers. “In short, we are surrounded by ‘our people,’” says Ciuffi. “And we keep involving them in the project. Not long ago, during a dinner, Cristiano De Lorenzo, Joy Herro, and Andrea Mancuso went room to room with us holding a large painting, trying to decide where to hang it. We ended up in the bedroom, half of us perched on ladders trying to find just the right spot. Making a home this way is fun.”

Sean Santiago is ELLE Decor’s Deputy Editor, covering news, trends and talents in interior design, hospitality and travel, culture, and luxury shopping. Since starting his career at an interior design firm in 2011, he has gone on to cover the industry for Vogue, Architectural Digest, Sight Unseen, PIN-UP and Domino. He is the author of The Lonny Home (Weldon Owens, 2018), has produced scripted social content for brands including West Elm and Streeteasy, and is sometimes recognized on the street for his Instagram Reels series, #DanceToDecor