Conversations with Farré&Costa

BF: How did you realise that you wanted to dedicate yourselves to Interior Design?

F&C: There has never been a day “0”. This profession is something very vocational, so it has always been something that we have both felt and that, luckily, we have been able to dedicate ourselves to it… and the curious thing about this profession is that the more time you dedicate to it, the more it attracts you!

BF: Where did Farré & Costa come from and why?

F&C: From the ambition of both of us to want to grow in our profession and from a few laughs and a few wines between two friends.

We had known each other for some time and had worked together as interior designers in another company and from there, for personal reasons, we took different paths that crossed again. It has always been said that “unity is strength”, hasn’t it?

BF: What do you think are the added values that you bring to your clients?

F&C: We always want them to be part of the Farré & Costa family, we want them to get involved, we want them to get to know us and for us to get to know them, so that a professional relationship is established where trust and professionalism can be felt. Once this point is reached, the rest flows by itself.

BF: Which of the comprehensive interior design services you offer is the one you like the most? And why?

F&C: There is a huge difference between contract and residential projects.

Our relationship was forged in a company specialising in hospitality, so we feel very comfortable in this world, designing hotels, retail, restaurants… they give you freedom when designing and you also learn a lot. As they are larger scale projects, you always find new obstacles to overcome and provide solutions, so it is a constant learning process.

On the other hand, turnkey residential projects are very rewarding when the client enters the house and finds it ready to live in. That moment is very special.

BF: If you had to say two words to a designer who is just starting out in the professional world, what would you say?

F&C: Entusiasmo y perseverancia.

BF: What is the differentiating element of home staging?

F&C: To make your house or premises, with little budget and little time, capture the attention of the public or visitor.

BF: Who are your favourite interior designers? 

F&C: Well, we can name some like Patricia Urquiola, Kelly Wearster, Iris Apfel, Pascua Ortega… there are countless names in the world of design from which to take references, although it is true that we understand interior design as a tailor-made suit where each project is in a different space and time.

BF: How do you find inspiration before tackling a project?

F&C: Knowing the client and seeing their lifestyle gives us many guidelines when it comes to channelling the project. Somehow they give us clues which we extrapolate in materials, colours, textures?

Ibiza also inspires us a lot! And it gives us the inspiration to maintain a style and design concept that gives Farré&Costa its name.

On the other hand, at the end of the day, the world of design is very trend-driven, so it’s very important to keep up to date and soak up trends!

BF: Which of the hotel projects you have had, with Beltá Frajumar furniture, would you say is your favourite?

F&C: Hotel Boutique Las Mimosas.

Hotel Boutique & Spa Las Mimosas, Ibiza

BF: What do you think are the biggest challenges an interior designer faces when he/she arrives at a building or house where he/she has to work? What is the first thing he/she has to think about? 

F&C: Knowing and understanding the client’s needs in order to see the viability of these needs in the space they are going to interact with.

The challenges can be very different depending on each project and this is precisely what makes our work so exciting and appealing.

In the end, the biggest challenge is to meet expectations and make the client happy with what has been done. 

BF: Do you have any building in Ibiza where you would like to transfer your design concept?

F&C: We love the idea of taking an old Ibizan finca lost in the countryside and transforming it into an agrotourism or boutique rural hotel.

They are the kind of projects that allow you to reach a very interesting level of detail and also work within design guidelines with which we feel very comfortable, natural materials, textures, colours of the island, vegetation…

BF: Why does someone decide they want to be an interior designer?

F&C: We believe that it is something vocational, a profession to believe in and you see it as indispensable when it comes to understanding space as the envelope that determines the development of your business or the space where you live.

BF: What was your last job, and what would you do again?

F&C: We are currently finishing several hotel and residential projects such as Marina Palace Ibiza, 2 hotels in Cabo de Gata, some tourist flats in Seville or residential housing in various parts of the island.

More than repeating, we are looking forward to what is to come!