The apartment with an area of 38 sq. meters is located on the top floor of a historical building. The young owner bought it as an investment, intending to rent it out on a daily basis. “The customer’s wishes mainly related to timing and budget; he also asked that the object stand out from the rental market offers,” said the authors of the interior, Alexey and Polina Koptev from the Koptev Architect bureau.
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The apartment had high ceilings and arched windows, a wide balcony with a beautiful wrought iron fence, and a view of the historical buildings. However, the layout is outdated: the original was cut into narrow, one-window, isolated rooms. The designers combined the kitchen, which was only 1.5 meters wide, with the living room, creating a modern open space. Around it there is a small bedroom, a dressing room, and a bathroom.
To accommodate the functionality of a two-room apartment, to work out all the details in such a way as to avoid visual noise, to fit into a small budget, and to emphasize the original potential – air and sunny color: these were the tasks of the designers. “I really wanted the apartment to stand out from the daily rental properties with warmth and comfort, not only due to individual decorative items. We decided that yellow and terracotta tones could give the desired effect.”
Between the kitchen block and the front wall, there was a block of vertical communications, which formed a column. “We put a floor-to-ceiling mirror between this column and the wall of windows. This technique allowed us to let more light into the apartment and create an interesting illusion. The space has visually expanded; there is a feeling that in the dining area there is a passage to the next room. The window is reflected in the mirror, creating the effect of three windows in the kitchen-living room.”
The kitchen splashback continues beyond the front of the kitchen, where a TV is placed. Thus, the screen, which often looks like an alien black spot in the interior, ends up in a terracotta frame and looks harmonious, consistent with the facades of household appliances. “Due to a limited budget, we avoided complex technological solutions,” say the designers. — And yet it’s worth mentioning the balcony railings. The historic balcony fence was low and unsafe. We developed a removable upper part of the fence, allowing you to comfortably spend time on the balcony, while fully preserving the historical forging.”
The project budget was small, so the choice of furniture was based on price-quality criteria. The sofa, pouf, and bed were purchased on divan.ru, the pouf was added with a tabletop cover. The table is made on the basis of an old table that the customer had. The desktop, cabinets, shelves are made to order. The cabinets are the property of the customer. Kitchen: Leroy Merlin. Plumbing: BelBagno, Abber, AM.PM. According to the designers, the apartment’s palette evokes associations “with a summer day in the rye,” so plaster panels with ears of corn were made especially for the project.
“One of the walls in the apartment met the edge of the balcony door, creating a tangential lighting effect. Any defect on such a surface is clearly visible. To achieve the perfect result, this wall was repainted eight times – we tried different paints, rollers, and also airless painting. As a result, when the customer finally accepted the job, glass installers showed up and stained the wall with sealant. I had to repaint it again. When you have a lot of construction projects under your belt, you learn to approach such moments with humor. Fortunately, the client also laughed at what happened.”
