Entering the home of Andrea Cicini is like stepping out of reality and into an Andy Warhol painting. The 32-year-old Italian's 156 sq m apartment crackles with retro energy, while keeping a modern touch.

This is the look Cicini says he has spent the last two years perfecting.

"I have always been obsessed with the 60s era, but am too young to have experienced it. In my home I want to celebrate the old but harmonize with the new," he said.

As soon as they step into the house, visitors are immediately hailed with a horde of color emanating from the bright orange walls and intricately patterned Uygur rugs lining the wooden floors in the entryway.

Each of the 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room and kitchen have their own energetic color scheme, Cicini said, designed to match every different aspect of his animated personality.

"The main inspiration for each room is my mood. When I wake up in the morning, I want to turn on some good tunes and feel at home," he said.

In the living room, the lime green and orange walls provide a vibrant backdrop to a Buddha statue, an antique stereo and a contemporary looking red and white 'bubble' chair, creating an interesting mix of nostalgia and modernity.

Cicini, a general manager for Viva Group Company Limited, a Rome-based communications and event planning company, pays 8,000 yuan per month for his apartment, located in Sanlitun Nanjie near the Chaoyang Hospital, a seemingly cheap price for the chic retreat. But, when he first rented the space in 2008, the apartment was a 'fixer-upper,' he says

"Nobody had been living here for a year. The place was bare, smelled, and the floors were in horrible condition," he said.

But after more than two years of renovations the home resonates with Cicini's customized touch.

Though the apartment screams sophistication, Cicini's favorite section is probably the simplest. In the right hand corner of the vibrant living room, separated by a bright green bushy plant, is a small, quiet nook where Cicini harvests his creativity.

With a large wrap-around window surrounding the alcove, the small space is bathed with natural light during the day. Facing the window is an easel housing a canvas with his latest painting and a notepad jotted with Cicini's ideas for future designs.

Pride of place goes to an antique Chinese Kang bed, which is one of Cicinis' most treasured antiques. Costing him just 3,000 yuan, he said the antique bed was a bargain when he bought it in a small village market three years ago.

But it's at nighttime that the small space really comes alive, Cicini said.

"At night I sit and paint as I watch the city skyline glow with lights," he said "On the weekends when I don't have work to do, I will fall asleep there and wake up to the sunrise. It's the most peaceful place in the house"

Competing for top room in the house is Cicini's dining room. The crimson red- themed room radiates with an intimate energy, the perfect mood-setter for when Cicini hosts one of his 'famous' Italian dinners. The centerpiece of the room is a dark lacquered table flanked by six chairs, both the table and chairs containing a red-stripe made of bamboo fibers running down the middle. The table was designed and constructed by Cicini with the help of some of his coworkers.

On the far wall of his dining room is another of Cicini's designs, a thick silver bamboo trunk stretching from floor to ceiling at a 45-degree angle. Drilled in each side of the bamboo trunk are a series of small holes, which he uses to store wine bottles.

Though the homely residence feels like a picture perfect cut out from a home design magazine, the Italian spurns any notion that the designs are anything but his.

"I see people on the street dressed like they are straight out of a magazine, but I have never taken ideas from a magazine. To me, this is boring, it has no soul," he said, "My clothing, my cooking and my apartment, reflect who I am, they are me."

China Daily

A handmade window gives Cicini's bedroom a taste of Italy.

The linens have vibrant colors.

An antique statuette rests on the bookshelves.