These two Seville-born friends, who have settled in Madrid, Mercedes Peralta and Mercedes Valdenebro, make up the team at Las 2 Mercedes, an interior architecture and decoration studio, which in just a few years (they founded it in 2012) has set the rhythm and future of interior design in Spain and among new generations. “Delicate freshness” is their style, finding the combination of neutral and clean spaces with naughty and risky elements, when it comes to colors and textures in all their projects. They always bet for good materials for finishes and pieces of furniture with a touch of design and contemporary art. “All our projects coincide in the blend, in the pairing of pieces, styles, and times”, they state.
Perseverance and hard work have been their motto to reach the point they are in, always looking to create projects with an exquisite taste, warmth, and a unique identity. They are both lucky to understand each other perfectly while working together; their symbiosis gives all their designs an aura of refinement and warmth. Mercedes Peralta studied Interior Design in Madrid and in the Parsons School in New York, and Mercedes Valdenegro majored in Law, even though she used to work as a photographer before that. Among the projects in her curriculum hotels like Madrid and Barcelona’s One Shot, Sleep’n de Atocha (also in Madrid), restaurants like Midtown and Flores de Alcachofa in Madrid or Seville’s Casa de Indias hotel, stand out.
As it can be appreciated, for now, a great part of their work has focused on hotel and restaurant development, but they are also involved in particular houses and have so much things to tell from now on, in addition to several projects lined up at their door.
MARÍA ANTÓN: How is the perfect project like?
LAS 2 MERCEDES: We think the perfect project doesn’t exist; each one of them is a unique experience that we enjoy very much and which gives us different kinds of learning. We like it when there is nice chemistry between the client and us and so we can create something together.
MA: How do you convince a client about the importance of an establishment’s image in order to reach better results?
L2M: Clients who call us are clear on the fact that the image of a place is very important for their business: we shape the space, use the material and color from their ideas to turn it into a successful proposal.
MA: After years of work, do you already have a market niche?
L2M: Our work so far has been focused on high-end residential projects, hotels, and restaurants. It is true that we have great experience in these fields, but we are open to any kind of collaboration. Lately we have been experimenting with advertising projects.
MA: What is it that makes us fall in love with a place as soon as we see it or, on the contrary, that we don’t feel anything?
L2M: We fall in love with a place at first sight when we imagine its potential. We then ask ourselves, can we transform it into what we imagine? Can we create a cozy place, where people enjoy living or being?
MA: Are you afraid of losing inspiration?
L2M: Inspiration is hard to lose when you are deep into your work: as in everything else, obviously there are frustrating times because the project’s concept is not moving at the desired pace, but you manage to get back on the creative path through effort and dedication.
MA: What does Mercedes Peralta have that Mercedes Valdenebro lacks and vice versa?
L2M: Mercedes Peralta is more dreamy and creative, while Mercedes Valdenebro is more executive and direct. We make up a great team together because we complement each other; each one contributes from her own identity.
MA: What unites you?
L2M: In addition to the professional and personal tune, many years of friendship and a shared history from our childhood in Seville unite us.
MA: What place or space can’t you wait to decorate?
L2M: Our own country house!
MA: What is the antithesis of Las 2 Mercedes?
L2M: Pointless ostentation.
MA: How is good taste taught?
L2M: There are people for whom good taste is a natural expression of their esthetic sense, for others, it is a consequence of their sensitivity to creative stimuli, like art, design, photography, or architecture, etc.
MA: How do you learn how to design interiors
L2M: Majoring in Interior Design is usually a good start; however, you need to be very curious and always be aware of what you see around you. You have to think about the use, the function, and space distribution, as well as the diversity in textures, colors, and materials dressing it up.
MA: Which is the part of a project you really enjoy?
L2M: We both like design’s first stage, when we can let our imagination run free and set its foundations.
MA: What does an interior designer do that most people ignore?
L2M: In addition to being designers, we are psychologists, especially when we are working with housing projects.
MA: If you had a parallel life to design or if you didn’t work in this, what would you like to be?
L2M: The truth is that we are really happy with the fact that life has taken along this path… and to think that Valdenebro had plans to become a lawyer!