Mexico City interiors studio Chloé Mason Gray has renovated a house in Colonia Condesa, embracing its lack of natural light to create a space for a bachelor.

Built in the mid-20th century with a pared-back art deco style, the two-storey house is currently rented long-term by an American tech worker, who hired studio founder Gray to improve the interiors with the owners' permission.

The home's lack of natural light led to the embrace of dark colours and materials, such as brown plaster in the bedroom.Combining antique Mexican design pieces with those by contemporary Mexican artists and designers, the aim was to create a home that felt rooted in its place.

Dark green was chosen for the upper-floor library.The 154-square-metre property is shaded by large trees on the avenue outside, preventing much natural light from entering some of the rooms.Embracing the dark and moody atmosphere, the designer chose colours and textures that would make the spaces feel "masculine, rich, and interesting".Furniture made from red cedar complements the earthy palette.

Dark green walls and ceiling envelop the upper-floor library, where the fabric of a Bastiano two-seater sofa by Tobia Scarpa and plants add variations on the hue.Gray custom-built a dining table using a quartzite slab.Meanwhile, the primary bedroom was covered in brown textured plasterwork, complemented by a leather headboard, and green linen bedding and curtains.

In other spaces, a variety of off-white plaster finishes sit in contrast to dark furniture – much of which is made from warm-toned red cedar.One of the most dramatic interventions involved coating the original sculptural staircase in indigo-pigmented concrete.The original staircase was coated in an indigo-pigmented concrete.

European oak floors were laid throughout the interior, while furniture by Roberto Michelsen was placed on the roof deck.A variety of artwork and smaller accessories bring the design together, but adding these touches turned out to be the designer's biggest challenge.