Designer shared how she managed to expand the space and save the budget.
The customers who contacted Natalya Komova were a young couple, already with a daughter at the time of completion of the renovation. Beautiful and positive, they traveled a lot, lived in different cities and chose St. Petersburg as their home. The ceiling height of 3.4 m and the very architecture of the Stalinist brick house immediately set a classic mood – high plinths and cornices. The doors became not just a technical detail, but a decoration and feature of the interior – tall, graphite-colored, with an unusual layout. And they made a high glass portal into the kitchen.
The apartment is located in an old house with wooden floors, so the interior partitions were rebuilt taking into account the load on the floors. The redevelopment itself was minimal – the bathroom was expanded at the expense of the corridor. We also moved away from the narrow long corridor, making it part of the living room. Children’s/living room/kitchen – the designer tried to create the effect of an enfilade layout, so that when the doors are open, four windows can be seen at once. This always visually makes the space larger.
The kitchen cabinets were built up to the ceiling, in two rows. “Obviously, the upper cabinets are not used every day, but they allow you to store everything you need. The lower tiers were immediately thought out for storing specific things – the guys themselves said how many drawers, shelves, sections they needed,” says Natalya Komova.
“I am always for natural materials – wood for the floor, natural stone for countertops in the kitchen and bathroom. This is exactly the case here. It’s not as expensive as it often seems – it has its own life hacks. For example, you don’t have to order a whole slab; you can always find out what pieces of stone are available and choose from them,” says the designer.
We made the most of the niches: we got a mini utility unit and a built-in column with a washing and drying machine. “Carpentry is always one of the most significant budget items. You can still save money – if you make niches using the construction method, then in essence you only have to order beautiful facades and a minimum of filling. It’s cheaper than separate cabinets,” shares the designer.
In the hallway they made a graphic floor that looked like a carpet. We first drew it in 3D, and then looked for a similar tile. As a result, they couldn’t find one and cut Archskin tiles to order according to the layout.
Photos before renovation:
