Designer Elena Markina got an object with an amazing history. The apartment with an area of 163 sq. meters is located in Khamovniki, in a former apartment building built according to the project of D. M. Chelishchev in 1912. After the revolution, the property owner was “compacted”, leaving him with only two premises. Already today, the heirs gradually bought out room after room, until they finally became full owners of the entire apartment.
As Elena Markina recalls, it was an ordinary communal apartment with a long corridor and small sections of rooms, each with one window. The kitchen with a back door was located in the room farthest from the entrance. “Since I consider planning to be the basis of the interior, I was very puzzled by how to reshape the space, making it comfortable for life, and, moreover, to coordinate all the changes,” says Elena.
The customers are a married couple with two daughters, both of whom are seriously involved in music. The eldest is a laureate of international competitions, and she has performed more than once in the best concert halls in Moscow. There are two instruments in the house – a piano and a grand piano, the placement of which has become one of the key tasks in the project. “On the one hand, I wanted it to become a decoration of the apartment, and on the other hand, so that it could be isolated during music lessons,” explains Elena Markina.
The designer and customers took a responsible approach to the reconstruction – they understood the historical significance of the location and the original details. Three ceiling rosettes have been preserved in the apartment, one of which was found under a plasterboard false ceiling. They were carefully restored and moved to the main rooms. One rosette depicts the mythical creature Simargly – later their images were supported by bronze figurines. The historical cornices were lost, so Elena designed new ones. They have holes for supply and exhaust ventilation and air conditioning.
The piano was placed in the library, which is separated from the living room by a partition with hinged doors. “We carried out a whole range of measures: we made additional sound insulation on the walls, floor, and ceiling, instead of ordinary glass we inserted double-glazed windows into the partition, installed drop-down thresholds in the doors, and finally, we added thick double-sided velvet curtains with electric control. Now you can play music here without disturbing the rest of the inhabitants of the apartment.
The project has a lot of natural materials. Wooden double-glazed windows are tinted according to the sample proposed by Elena Markina, the shade of the engineered board with a “French Christmas tree” pattern was chosen specifically for the project. For the countertops and backsplash of the kitchen, Black River granite was laid out like a butterfly. In the hallway and in the children’s bathroom on the floor there are panels of porcelain stoneware and mosaics according to the author’s drawings. In the master bathroom, a solid American walnut archway frames a panel of hand-aged mirrors. Large-format porcelain tiles on the walls imitate the texture of onyx.
Having created a classic base, the designer complemented it with vintage lighting collected from different galleries, as well as modern furniture and decor. The sofa of the Italian brand Poliform designed by Jean-Marie Massot fascinated customers at first sight, they picked up the Poltrona Frau chair, the Cattelan Italia table, and chairs, the Baxter, Ditre Italia, Normann Copenhagen tables. Dressers, sofa, bed, and bedside tables: Rooma Design & Furniture. Plumbing and faucets: Gessi, Jorger, Victoria+Albert, Cielo, Margaroli, Graff, Duravit, Villeroy & Boch Omoikiri, Blanco. Household appliances Kuppersbusch. All joinery products are made individually according to the drawings of the author of the project.
Luxurious chandeliers and sconces by Mazzega, Carlo Nason, and Venini stop the eye. In the hallway, there is a lamp from the cinema “Art”, in the living room – the famous Taccia lamp of the Castiglioni brothers, Flos. Art de Vivre carpets, La Perla bedspread, Moon Stores decor. The designer and the hosts brought art – paintings, and sculptures by Igor Khristolubov, Evgeny Zaremba, Pavel Efanov, Oleg Martynenko, Marianna Yakovleva, Anastasia Durbazheva filled the space with emotions and added uniqueness to it. “As a result, we got an organic mix of modernity and classics – such an interior will not become outdated over the years and will easily accept new items,” Elena Markina is sure.
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