This remarkable house design refresh is also incarnate evidence of a great friendship between stylist and creative consultant Bettina Lolas and Carlos Mota, Venezuelan-born interior designer, stylist, writer, and founder of Casa Mota.
Bettina's newly designed Lima home is now dressed in a symphony of color and texture, and punctuated by furnishings sourced from Paris to New York. The property is a far cry from its formerly crisp and modernist identity.
‘I met Bettina through her sister Iliana when I was invited to hers for dinner in Lima and we became really good friends,’ Carlos recalls from his apartment in New York City.
‘Bettina had lived in her Lima house since the early 90s. It had been her marital home and while she still loved it, after her divorce she felt it needed a renaissance. Together we wanted to fill the house with freedom, happiness, and sunlight,’ Carlos says.
Carlos describes the style of the house, designed by Swiss architect Theodor Cron, as ‘refined brutalist’. ‘It had great proportions and high ceilings with a central courtyard, but the former owners had cut up the main sitting room with divisions going at weird 45-degree angles, so one of the first things I did was take out those walls and make it into one huge gallery,’ Carlos says.
Carlos continues, ‘The property is situated in one of the best neighborhoods in Lima. It has a large garden at the back with mature trees and a pool. At the front is a big, leafy square, so you are surrounded by green.'
Once the layout was reconfigured, Carlos and Bettina could get onto the serious business of shopping for furnishings and accessories. It was on these sourcing trips that they truly forged their friendship.
Carlos recalls, ‘We went to Paris a few times, which was where we bought a suite of three purple chairs. We’re both foodies so we’d have these great dinners. We also bought pieces in Milan and Spain.'
He continues, ‘Bettina wanted a real change and she was ready for it. I told her at the beginning that I don’t do beige and she accepted that and, in turn, became very curious about color.’ Carlos does not consider his work to have any kind of hallmark – instead, he takes pride in it being unidentifiable.
Carlos explains, ‘For me, a project is great when you don’t know who did it. I’ve never wanted to be one of those designers whose work is recognizable. I’m very intuitive and I just go with the flow. I’ve had pragmatic clients who want to see everything planned or presented on a mood board, but if I go shopping, I never know what will be the first piece I buy.’
His set pieces for Bettina’s domestic landscape include wall and ceiling wood veneer, inspired by Jean-Michel Frank, ribbon and stud trim, lacquered ceilings, and giant palm trees. Carlos explains, ‘One thing I always love doing is many different seating areas. There are four in this project'.
He continues, 'The dining room follows the same philosophy. Unless you live in a castle, there’s no need for a great, long table. I like to have two tables if I can. In this case, there is a smaller table that seats four and it can be combined with a larger one to seat up to 14 guests.’
Carlos lives by the philosophy that, if you have the funds available, you should never put off anything that can be enjoyed in the immediate future. His appetite for travel, art, furnishings, as well as human and animal companions, is immense.
Aesthetic influences spring from every possible direction with new obsessions coming thick and fast. Any client of his becomes the beneficiary of his roaming mind and original vision. As such, Bettina’s home is an exceptional distillation of two lives being well lived, a cherished friendship, and a love of shopping trips.
Meet the designer
The designer and founder of Casa Mota shares his style inspiration
What's your biggest indulgence?
To be able to travel with my clients and source the most beautiful pieces from all over the world.
What small change has a big impact?
Taking out all the walls in the big gallery room.
Your go-to color?
Greens, purples, and I’m obsessed with mustard yellow at the moment. Anything but beige.
Can you reveal somewhere unknown you rely on?
I don’t know how off the radar this is, but Invaluable.com tells you about all the different auctions going on in auction houses worldwide.
Favorite place to visit?
I love the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.
Where do you escape to?
My place in the north of Dominica. It’s very wild and I have lots of animals, including peacocks and around 100 hens.
