Milan designer makes home an ode to art

Italian fashion designer Daniela Gerini displays art from the '30s, '40s and '50s against the white walls of her Milan apartment

From Elsa Klensch
CNN Style Correspondent

MILAN, Italy (CNN) -- Italian fashion designer Daniela Gerini has turned her art deco apartment in Milan into a bright, welcoming home and a showcase for her passion: art.

Ceramic sculptures and paintings from the '30s, '40s and '50s grace every room, plus the entrance, which Gerini says she considers more than just a passageway. Gerini displays two ceramic collectors' pieces by Campi as well as rare lamps and lights.

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Click to see Daniela Gerini's home

White walls dominate her apartment, giving Gerini a backdrop for colorful artwork. She chose a painting by Galileo Chini, done in the mid-1920s, as the focus of the living room.

"It represents the earth (and) the fruits of the earth," she says. "It is part of a pair. The other half represents Neptune and the sea."

Opposite the painting are two pieces of ceramic; they are as nice to look at, she says, as they are to touch.

Daniela Gerini

"One is a ceramic by Salvatore Meli. It represents a big sea elephant, and the other is a ceramic by Ferri that represents a bull. They are very tactile."

She doesn't think about where a piece of art will go when she buys it, Gerini says.

"I buy things I feel emotional about," she says. "If it moves me -- even if it's something small or big -- it doesn't matter. I only buy something I feel emotional about. It's not a collection that follows any logic because I like a lot of styles."

The kitchen is Gerini's favorite room. It's not just a place to cook, she says, but to eat, to live... and to display more art.

"There are four paintings on copper by de Poli, from the '50s. And they represent the four seasons," she says. Underneath are multicolored vases from the '70s.

In the dining room, Gerini has tables covered in white linen. When they're not being used for eating, she displays different objects such as small crystal balls from Venice.

The bedroom boasts paintings of women, by women.

"I really love the female form -- all its expressions," Gerini says. "I like female nudes. I like the female expressions."

Gerini says she'll never grow tired of collecting art.

"I don't ever want to stop because it's my passion. I'm very curious, and I want to discover new and interesting things. And it doesn't matter what style. I'm a collector. I like to keep looking."

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