If a small attic simultaneously houses a matrimonial bedroom and a children’s playroom, you can say goodbye to a quiet life. Designer Anna Sharkunova solved the problem without resorting to redevelopment.
Due to the layout, it was impossible to organize separate entrances to the nursery and parents’ bedroom. But a wall between the two zones still appeared. The remaining walls have changed beyond recognition: thanks to these metamorphoses, the bedroom now resembles both a hut and a royal castle at once. And it gives the person entering a special atmosphere of serenity. The author of the project, Anna Sharkunova, talks about how this trick was a success.
Customer and wishes
The owners of the house are the Asimovs. They have three children, a slightly unfinished house in the Moscow region and 10 years of married life behind them. Their family inspired me – I immediately wanted to build a project based on the feeling of a fairy tale.
The main goal was to add more peace to the life of the bedroom owners. At the same time, the second floor did not provide any special opportunities for global reconstruction, and it was still important for parents to maintain access to the nursery. Therefore, it became clear that the lack of silence would have to be compensated primarily by visual comfort. Wood, brick, patterned walls – all this was included in the project and is clearly visible in 3D visualization.
Redevelopment
We broke the only partition that originally separated the bedroom and the nursery. And then only to move it to the middle of the attic. Since it is not possible to make a separate entrance to the children’s room, I decided to leave two openings to the left and right of the partition, so that I could use them later.
Finishing
After moving the partition, we covered it with the most ordinary edged board. Frames were built along the remaining walls, immediately laying the foundation for a decorative fireplace portal. Then all the frames were covered with moisture-resistant tongue-and-groove chipboards.
Some of the chipboard surfaces were primed and puttied, and the end walls were covered with concrete contact. And they laid decorative brickwork on them with the semblance of ancient vaults. The masonry was immediately painted, a little casually – so that it looked like the old wall that we had exposed.
A false dormer was placed on one of the attic slopes, and a decorative fireplace was installed under the window. Both the window and the fireplace were decorated with moldings and rosettes with imitation plaster stucco molding. All polyurethane elements are aged – covered with a dark patina by hand.
The second bevel is covered with wooden wallpaper – we painted it white. The floor has a cork flooring similar to parquet.
Storage
In this house, the bedroom is solemnly freed from the need to store a large number of things. Behind the partition in the children’s space there is a place where clothes are folded – now access for parents is simplified, although it is hidden behind a designer screen. We installed shelves along the wall with the fireplace, and under them there was a small podium where trinkets, decorative items and books were located.
Light
Usually in the bedroom they manage with dim lighting, but we have a room under a gable roof, decorated with antique motifs – so I decided to hang a ceremonial chandelier. Its openwork horns and fabric lampshades echo the moldings and rosettes and are completely different from the laconic sconces that we secured on both sides of the bed.
Near the window there is a white floor lamp with a hanging lampshade – it is beautiful in itself, and at this point it also illuminates the brickwork and the designer screen.
Color
What was most important in this room was peace, relaxation, and tranquility. Therefore, the main color background is light warm colors: ivory for a brick wall, bleached wood for the ceiling. They are contrasted with golden shades of wood in the decoration of the partition and floor.
But, of course, bright and clear accents were needed – both the characters of the customers and the situation with the playroom behind the wall required this. Therefore, we painted the shelves in the colors of mint and cinnamon, and the decorative screen added spots of turquoise and azure to the interior. And when green accessories and decor items appeared in the room, it became clear why the project was called “Cocktail with Lemon and Ginger”: the result was a bright, refreshing, but at the same time calm palette.
Decor and textiles
On the shelves and podiums next to the fireplace, on the fireplace itself and inside it, I placed vases, lanterns, and miniature home sculptures. There was also a large flower wreath and sheets of graphics.
A bedspread with a damask pattern was chosen for the bed, although this pattern is much more visible on the partition behind the headboard. We applied it to the boards using acrylic paint using a stencil. Roman blinds are made from fabric with the same pattern. In addition, it covers the space between the shelves on both sides of the fireplace.
Bright candles on the table, lemon-yellow napkins, fuchsia glasses remind us: we only play classics and country. Multicolored and slightly hooligan decor relaxes and soothes no worse than a knitted blanket on top of the bedspread and linen curtains at the entrance to the nursery.
Style
Ecological fusion or country house eclecticism – it’s difficult to come up with a suitable name right off the bat. The main thing is that the palace wall and the wall of the hut on chicken legs come together here. Together with the Hacienda workers and the film crew, we tried to present this meeting with humor and ingenuity.
