Joana Diogo

Habitat Improver

Furniture decorator

©habitatimprover

The architect of decorative restyling

Joana brings new life to existing furniture through decoration
She creatively uses applied arts techniques and a variety of materials
She makes these one-of-a-kind pieces from her garden studio

Joana Diogo holds an architecture degree but chose to restyle furniture instead. “It sounds surprising but there are actually similarities with building rehabilitation, as both have a before and after.” This shift in her professional ambitions occurred after winning a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship to study wood restoration, marquetry and gilding at the Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro in Florence. Back in Portugal, Joana opened her workshop, in a small garden office in her family’s weekend house, to manually restyle furniture using applied arts techniques. Each piece is highly detailed. “Sometimes I use a dentistry tool to perfect a finishing.” Whether in a public space or a private house, Joana’s pieces initiate intergenerational conversations. She works today with private clients and designers.

Interview

©habitatimprover

©habitatimprover

How does an architect choose furniture styling instead?: When training as an architect, I was especially interested in the rehabilitation of old buildings and seeing the before and after stages. I feel that same emotion with the furniture pieces I work on and somehow the smaller scale and endless transformation possibilities appealed to me more.
What different techniques do you use in your work?: It depends on the piece. I use decorative arts techniques such as découpage, marbling, faux tortoise, stenciling, gilding and other decorative painting methods. I also like to integrate fabric, wallpaper and napkin découpage in some of my pieces.
Is it possible to innovate when restyling an old piece of furniture?: Yes, when I restore Portuguese furniture pieces, the form of the furniture as well as some fabrics and prints may be traditional as are the decorative art techniques, but I innovate by mixing materials in an original and unexpected way.
What was a particularly memorable piece you refurbished?: That would have to be the grand piano for a boutique hotel lobby. It had to be dismantled for me to work on separate parts due to its size and weight. I only saw the final piece when it was assembled on site. It is much loved and photographed by the guests.

Joana Diogo is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2009