The young family decided to change the densely populated residential area for a new building in the suburbs. The feeling of natural freshness was also created in the interiors: cool white and blue colors, strict lines, and cozy mise-en-scenes, design in the spirit of Scandinavian aesthetics are the best fit for the rest of the temperamental apartment owners.
Life next to the nature reserve promised frequent forest walks – cycling and hiking in the summer, skiing in the winter, which pleased the energetic and easy-going spouses with a little daughter. The hostess is a translator from Swedish, both spouses travel a lot, and at home, they like to receive small groups of guests. The natural environment, coupled with the desire of the owners to design an apartment in the Scandinavian spirit, but without detailed styling, predetermined the image of the home: functionality and lightness, the absence of bulky furnishings, environmental friendliness, traditional layout, rather simple furniture and decoration built on nuances, white-blue-blue colors, cozy accents.
How to achieve integrity in the interior
One of the most important tasks of the designer is to achieve the integrity of the interior. Therefore, all the rooms were kept in the same scale, using a well-known technique: a light neutral background is enlivened by blotches of saturated colors, and a strip (the most noticeable decorative motif) is present in every living room of the apartment. To avoid monotony, it was used on different planes of the rooms, while stripes of different colors and shades were chosen for each. So, for example, wide stripes on the walls of the nursery were made up of snow-white and pale lilac flowers – the latter became a compromise between the traditional “girlish” pink and its “sugary” shades. In the sofa area of the living room, a wide striped grayish-turquoise carpet was laid on the floor – it gave structural clarity to the room.
A cover of similar colors was chosen for the chair, only the main canvas is plain, and the lower part is bordered by a light stripe.
Redevelopment
A three-room apartment with loggia and a bay window is close to the letter U in shape with a small ledge in the hallway area. All interior partitions were already provided for by the developer, minimal changes were made to the structure of the dwelling: the layout suited the owners, and besides, they tried to avoid unnecessary expenses for alterations and approvals. Having attached the corridor to the bathroom, they arranged a shower, which was located separately from the latter (such was the request of the customer); at the same time, they laid a passage to the kitchen from the hallway.
The comfort and coziness of the interior are by no means ostentatious, the discreet range, and furniture of traditional forms, as well as lovingly selected details help to enjoy peace.
Repair
For reasons of economy, customers did not change the screed, windows, and window sills. The opening to the kitchen was bricked up, and the wall in the living room was built up with drywall. The ceilings were leveled with plaster and painted, the floors were covered with laminate – as a result, the height of the walls remained practically unchanged (2.5 m). The owners decided to equip the loggia later. The walls were covered with wallpaper for painting or painted; for each room from the off-white palette, changeable shades of gray-white were chosen: depending on the lighting, the surfaces become either bluish, lilac, or greenish. For the hallway, they chose the color of unbleached linen (a light gray-brown tone). Doors and portals were made to order from solid wood, plinths 12 cm high were made from solid pine, and all wooden elements were painted. The shower compartment was placed on a 30 cm high podium. Air conditioners were not installed, and heating was installed on the floors of the kitchen and bathroom.
Design
Figuratively speaking, this apartment has a “light breath” inherent in interiors in the Scandinavian spirit. And all its derivatives: the predominantly white color creates an atmosphere of freedom, spaciousness, purity, and fullness of light and air. The accompaniment of blue and blue completes the associations with the sky and the sea coast, giving a feeling of coolness and freshness: the chest of drawers in the hallway is a rich cobalt color, in the kitchen there are facades in the color of old turquoise, in the living room there are several decorative pillows, trimmed with curtains and lambrequin, in the bedroom – stripes on the cover. Restrained design, strict lines, wooden painted details (doors, baseboards), simple furniture, and lamps also remind us of the American Cape Code. Smoothly painted walls (only in the nursery they are painted in a very wide strip, the shades of which the designer chose for a long time together with the hostess, trying to avoid sugary pink) create an unobtrusive “spacious” backdrop for simple and practical furniture. Some of the furnishings are made to order: for example, wardrobes flanking the bed in the bedroom, the side walls of which are equipped with convenient shallow shelves. The interior design is diversified by wood-like laminate, glazed brick tiles, which are used to decorate the kitchen backsplash and the lower part of the bathroom walls. Accessories (mirrors, collages, photographs), custom-made textiles made from natural materials, as well as carpets complete the picture. Many pieces of furniture and lighting fixtures were purchased from IKEA, which made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of furnishing and create a style unity. the side walls of which are equipped with convenient shallow shelves. The interior design is diversified by wood-like laminate, glazed brick tiles, which are used to decorate the kitchen backsplash and the lower part of the bathroom walls. Accessories (mirrors, collages, photographs), custom-made textiles made from natural materials, as well as carpets complete the picture. Many pieces of furniture and lighting fixtures were purchased from IKEA, which made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of furnishing and create a style unity. the side walls of which are equipped with convenient shallow shelves. The interior design is diversified by wood-like laminate, glazed brick tiles, which are used to decorate the kitchen backsplash and the lower part of the bathroom walls. Accessories (mirrors, collages, photographs), custom-made textiles made from natural materials, as well as carpets complete the picture. Many pieces of furniture and lighting fixtures were purchased from IKEA, which made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of furnishing and create a style unity.
The apartment is located on the top floor of a monolithic-concrete nine-story building-new building. From the windows of all rooms, except for the nursery, there is a view of the pine forest. The windows are facing north, however, we settled on a cool range that did not make the interior monotonous. The desire of the customers to design interiors in the Scandinavian style did not imply the use of any particular variety of it: neither Swedish Gustavian, nor Norwegian with dark wood trim, nor laconic modern interpretations. When decorating the interiors, we used not the traditional “Scandinavian” colors, but their derivatives. When the repair began, the daughters of the customers were about 2 years old, so they were guided by their mother’s wishes. It was planned to decorate the nursery in a girlish coquettish and playful way. To achieve the desired result, I wanted to use the pink color unloved by the hostess. However, it was not easy to choose the right tone, and as a result, the walls were decorated with stripes of pale lilac and pure white. The rejection of pink was defeated, and we added shades of rose and mallow in the company of delicate mint – thanks to such color combinations, the room found inner peace, but did not become boring. The sofa in the living room unfolds. The upholstery of upholstered furniture is made of textured chenille and cotton velvet.
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