Dear friends,
Please take a pause for a second and join us in performing the following thought experiment. Imagine that you find yourself in a coffee shop. The furniture is made from reclaimed wood. Around you there are people working on their laptops. The storefront is made of a huge glass panel. There are low-hanging old style light bulbs. There is a price list on a chalkboard about the till, or at least a board that is meant to imitate a chalkboard.
Now based on this mental image, try to think in which city you are most likely to be. Is it New York, London, or Paris? Or maybe Hanoi, Warsaw, or Lima? If you have difficulties to tell, we think we know the reason. Because they all look the same! This is not an accident and it’s not your fault. In an attempt to design spaces with a look that satisfies all types of customers while maintaining some sense of history, the style of the coffee shops has converged to a global average. This homogeneity is spreading across the world fast. It is also spreading outside of just coffee shops. Bars, restaurants, even offices are suffering from the same fate.
The worse impact though can be seen in our ultimate private space. Houses. In a 2016 article in The Guardian, commentator Kyle Chayka described this phenomenon as “Airspace”. He describes the process of how the desire for “authentic” yet familiar experiences is driving us into the places that look increasingly the same. The reasons for that is mostly increased global mobility (both tourism and remote work), global social media aesthetic, and Airbnb. The Airbnb-style flat is now so ubiquitous, that like the coffees shop example above, guests can’t tell in which city they are by looking at the decoration. So what’s wrong with people taking ideas from Airbnb flats for decoration? And what’s the link with Spanish Real Estate?
At Artemis Assets we refurbish and manage your properties with strict criteria. The property should bring out the local Spanish elements of decoration. Even further, it should bring out the local regional decoration (for example, Catalan beams and tiles, Valencian brick and masonry etc.). As a property manager we want your asset to be homely but also to stand out from others. We are working hard to get these 5-star reviews for you by offering a great service, but we also know that half of the work is done during refurbishment and decoration.
If you believe that property investments can also be an exercise in style and taste, please reach out to us. We have a track record of transforming unused spaces into highly coveted cozy nests.
Until the next one!
