Introduction
Renovating an old family house for parents is never just a makeover.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
It’s a quiet re-editing of time, memories, and relationships— so the elders feel at ease, the children come home more often, and the house once again becomes a place people want to stay.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
In this semi-detached villa in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, the layout was opened up, light was reintroduced, and life truly settled in around one thing:
Italian Minimalist Home Design
the calm, always-in-use sofa in the living room.
It doesn’t seek attention, yet it carries the weight of daily family life.
Italian Minimalist Home Design

Living Room | The Sofa as the Center of Family Life

The first floor was reshaped into a fully open public space, with the living room at its heart.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
The sofa is arranged to feel enclosing but never closed off, forming a natural “family magnet.”
Italian Minimalist Home Design
It’s a low-back, deep-seat, modular sofa:
  • A friendly seat height that makes it easy for parents to stand up
  • A generous depth where kids can sit cross-legged or lie down freely
  • Flexible modules that adapt to different group sizes
Italian Minimalist Home Design
Rather than becoming a visual focal point, the sofa brings calm through proportion and balance.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
Sunlight enters from the courtyard, drifting down through the double-height space.
The sofa absorbs the light, softening the atmosphere of the entire room.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
Here, the sofa isn’t just for sitting—it’s where family members pause and move closer to one another.
Italian Minimalist Home Design

Dining Area | Extending the Rhythm Beyond the Sofa

The warmth of the kitchen and dining area stays at a natural distance, yet is always felt.
When food aromas fill the space, the sofa is often the first place people gather.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
Someone waits there before meals;
after eating, conversations continue there.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
The sofa becomes an extension of the dining rhythm, not a separate zone.
This is the true value of furniture in a multi-generation home:
it doesn’t dictate behavior—it follows life.
Italian Minimalist Home Design

Tea Room | A Gentle Shift Toward Stillness

At the far end lies the tea room, the quietest corner of the floor.
It doesn’t oppose the living room but offers a softer, slower pace.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
The transition—from the relaxed sofa to the calm tea table—happens naturally.
Someone may rise from the sofa to make tea,
Italian Minimalist Home Design
while others stay seated, watching, reading, or simply being present.
Seeing each other without disturbing each other—
this makes the sofa the hinge that connects the whole space.
Italian Minimalist Home Design

Bedrooms | When the Sofa Brings Peace to Private Rooms

When shared spaces are truly accommodating, bedrooms can remain simple and pure.
The parents’ rooms focus on comfort and security;
Italian Minimalist Home Design
the children’s rooms preserve independence and quiet.
And all of this is possible because
Italian Minimalist Home Design
the emotions of the day have already found rest on the living room sofa.
A truly good sofa never rushes people back to their rooms.
Italian Minimalist Home Design

Conclusion | A Good Sofa Is a Home’s Shared Language

In this home—rebuilt for parents and shaped for reunion—
the sofa was never meant to show style or complete a design statement.
It’s simply been sat on, leaned into, and lived with.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
It has witnessed conversations before and after meals,
naps under the sound of the TV,
Italian Minimalist Home Design
children tumbling and laughing,
and parents sitting quietly in the sun.
Italian Minimalist Home Design
A good sofa doesn’t create ceremony.
It lets closeness happen, naturally.

Design Team | GongJie Design
If there's infringement, please contact for removal.

 

January 18, 2026 — MaMark