Updated 4.12.24

In his first feature-length English-language film, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar weaves a deeply emotional yet visually captivating story. The furniture and decor in The Room Next Door play a central role in shaping the film’s visual language, using bold and colourful pieces as a backdrop to the evolving bond between Ingrid, a novelist (Julianne Moore), and Martha, a war reporter (Tilda Swinton).

Once close during their youth while working together at Paper magazine, the two women lost touch as life led them down separate paths. They reconnect under tragic circumstances when Martha, battling cancer, asks Ingrid to help her end her life. Together, they rent a beautiful house in the woods where they plan to spend their final days as friends, while Martha waits for the moment to feel right.

Martha’s Manhattan apartment

Before arriving at their idyllic Upstate New York retreat, where the story’s most poignant moments unfold, the audience is treated to a glimpse of Martha’s Manhattan apartment, a striking example of sophisticated urban design. With breathtaking views over New York City, the apartment reflects the meticulous choices of production designer Inbal Weinberg and Almodovar’s attention to decor details.

The kitchen features a pair of Flowerpot pendant lights, a design classic created in 1968 by Danish designer Verner Panton, one of the luminaries of Scandinavian 20th-century design. The Flowerpot, with its playful and characterful aesthetic, became an icon of the 1970s. Thanks to its timeless appeal, it remains a popular choice today and is available in a variety of cheerful colours. The lights are stunning whether displayed individually or as a cluster, as seen in Martha’s apartment. Fans of design might also recognise the Flowerpot from its appearances in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the BBC adaptation of Conversations With Friends.

The turquoise sofa in the apartment, where Ingrid and Martha share heartfelt conversations, is a standout piece with circular bolster arms detailed with red piping. Contact us for more details on this sofa which comes from a Paris-based interior design shop.

The sofa is complemented by two glossy red side tables, which are adorned with white globe table lamps and vibrant decorative pieces, including a red, black and white striped vase and a multicoloured glass totem. Shops such as Artemest offer contemporary totems in a similar style.

Above the sofa hangs a Louise Bourgeois artwork, adding an artistic touch, while the large mustard-yellow coffee table in front is piled with books, a red ashtray, and a pair of Pantone mugs.

Ingrid finds a lost envelope in Martha’s desk: On the Roche Bobois Ramsy bookcase behind we spied an Olivetti Studio 45 turquoise portable typewriter (currently available on eBay from £45 to £299)

On the dining table, where the two continue their conversations, we find a beautiful red/orange Murano glass bowl. You can find very similar on Etsy.

The countryside retreat: A House in the Woods

When the story transitions to the countryside, the modern house the pair rent is simply breathtaking. “Our ‘House in the Woods’ is set in Upstate New York, an area that features traditional farmhouses, but also quite a few examples of early modernist houses built by architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer and Gerald Luss. When we started the research process, I sent Pedro a variety of references for local house styles, and he was especially attracted to the modernist ones” production designer Inbal Weinberg told us.

Filming however took place at the stunning Casa Szoke, nestled at the base of Madrid’s mountains near the historic town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Weinberg continues: “Once Pedro and his team came to the USA to scout, we travelled to see some of those homes in person. Pedro was impressed by the clean yet warm look, aesthetic use of colour and wood, and the interaction of the interior with the exterior. We therefore decided to return to Spain and search for a contemporary house that was inspired by the luminary modernist architects”.

 

Designed by Madrid-based architects Aranguren + Gallegos, Casa Szoke takes inspiration from Le Corbusier, with its interconnected angular ‘boxes’ crafted from glass and corten steel. Surrounded by lush pine forests and scattered rock roses, the property offers spectacular views, including the iconic monastery of El Escorial.

“We were thrilled to find Caza Szoke, but in order to fit it for our film we had to do extensive work on the interior and landscape. The original location featured very unaesthetic interiors, with blonde wood, white walls and generic furniture. It was important to me that the house feels warm and inviting, despite its contemporary clean look, so the characters felt welcome and comfortable. We therefore painted all of the walls an off-white colour, clad the existing blonde wood walls in warmer wood, and covered many of the built in furniture in coloured vinyl”.

Weinberg and set decorator Carlotta Casado incorporated iconic modernist furniture, and mixed them with contemporary pieces in mid-century style. For example, the kitchen table and chairs are by Jean Prouve, and the Capitol Complex dining chairs are by Pierre Jeanneret (available from Chaplins).

The interiors of the house are designed with sophistication and serenity, yet Almodóvar’s use of colour shines through: From the forest green sofa where the friends watch films together to the Fazzoletto (Handkerchief) yellow Murano glass vase designed by Fulvio Bianconi for Venini.

The two sofas in the House in the Woods are Roche Bobois Allusion in customised green and red fabrics. It turns out that Almodovar loves Roche Bobis furniture, and the design teams collaborated with the company on a number of pieces including the coffee table which is Roche Bobois Quintet.

The inviting, colourful outdoor chaise loungers in red and green (contact us for exact details), along with the Prada porcelain geometric mug placed to one side, contribute to a visual narrative that complements the emotional journey of the story.

On working with Almodóvar, Weinberg adds: “Working with Pedro is very unique, because he has a rich and colourful inner world. His gift is creating spaces filled with unexpected combinations of colour, texture and pattern, and he does so in a very instinctive way. Specifically in this film, he wanted to portray rich and colourful interiors to counter the dark content of the story. The simultaneous existence of beauty and darkness, joy and sadness, is a trademark of his filmmaking, and the spaces he creates on screen”.

Explore the furniture and decor in The Room Next Door for yourself – it’s in cinemas right now, and is a must-watch for lovers of design and heartfelt storytelling.