“Just renovated, but with no charm or personality” — judging from the time we’ve spent browsing Zillow, this is the precise way we’d describe so many homes that have hit the market in recent years. So it was for this 2,000-square-foot holiday apartment in Madrid, which was recently refreshed by local studio Casa Josephine for a young American-Kuwaiti businesswoman — who owns Ecru, a lifestyle brand based in Kuwait and India — and her family. Throughout the home, the designers have deftly blended a mix of influences, from Moorish to the Middle Eastern, to create a space filled with rich, contemporary textiles in colors that are unmistakably Spanish.

Located in an elegant late-19th-century neighborhood near Retiro Park, the newly redecorated apartment  celebrates various fabric-weaving and carpet-making heritages and nods to the client’s business. “The color palette is bright and based on burnt orange, honey-colored wood, and beige matte stone from Cabra, in the south of Spain,” founders Iñigo Aragón and Pablo López Navarro say. “There are direct references to Islamic architecture (the red and white of the Great Mosque in Cordoba, Spain) and to India (the Ikat textiles), as well as pieces from the North of Africa (mainly Morocco) and Syria.”

Custom designs include the spotted carpets that cover the floors and a collection of furniture pieces the designers titled Weekend, encompassing sofas, armchairs, and tables arranged amongst a wide variety of vintage items. But the show-stoppers are the giant tapestries hung on the walls and over the beds, adorned with simple yet striking patterns that put a fresh spin on an age-old decor tradition. Will 2024 be the year that tapestries make a long overdue comeback? Let’s hope so!