Our today’s heroes are a family of three, taught by the experience of previous renovations. They decided to make their second home as functional and comfortable as possible for living. And indeed, everything here is thought out to the smallest detail, from well- planned electrics to the arrangement of furniture , which can be easily changed if desired. And if we talk about storage systems in this house, then this interior can be safely awarded 5 points for ingenuity!
“Since we love to travel, we tried to bring back ideas for our future apartment from every trip. With the birth of my daughter, it became clear that the living space needed to be expanded. The chosen 3-room apartment in an ordinary Khrushchev-era building was in deplorable condition and required complete reconstruction.
Before we started designing our apartment, we already had experience in renovations, so for the future project we limited ourselves to a few brainstorming sessions. Once a detailed vision was formed, we hired a freelancer who promptly prepared a book of documentation for the builders.”
“The task was quite controversial. In a small space of only 53 square meters it was necessary to fit a kitchen with a living room, a bedroom, a children’s room, a wardrobe and 2 bathrooms. In this case, the redevelopment must be agreed upon (read about how to quickly agree on redevelopment ). We had to work out every millimeter in detail.”
“The kitchen was made as open as possible, with the sink placed by the window. Everyone in our family is tall, so we decided to make the level of the kitchen countertop 7 centimeters higher. We chose a folding dining table, suggesting several scenarios for the feast: breakfast during the week, guests or New Year. In this regard, an unusual Italian Moove lamp appeared above it, the lampshade of which can move along with the table on a special bracket.”
“The main emphasis was on ergonomics and ease of use. It was necessary to calculate all storage volumes and ensure that everything was at hand in every corner of the apartment. At the same time, there was no room for error at all, so it was necessary to check and model the dimensions of future premises, finding the optimal balance. At some point during the development of the project, discussing the small size of the guest bathroom, we decided to look for a cafe in Moscow with a toilet of a similar size to make sure that everything would fit.”
“The corridor in our apartment can be called a gallery – here we not only place paintings by contemporary authors and favorite photographs, but also store useful things. A cabinet was made along the entire wall, consisting of an upper and lower part. Storage space in the hallway compensates for the lack of cabinets in the kitchen. Here we put all the necessary non-perishable products, which over time move to the kitchen as needed. By the way, for the lower part of the cabinets in the hallway we used IKEA glass doors, into which you can put any picture, wallpaper or fabric. The pictures on the doors change a couple of times a year.”
“For lighting, we like to use floor lamps and table lamps rather than overhead lights. Therefore, some of the sockets in the rooms are made specifically for these purposes – they are connected to a standard block of switches, and they can be turned on in the same way as the main light in the apartment. Another convenient and interesting feature in our apartment is the “hotel system” in the electrical system. When going outside, just press one key at the door, and the whole apartment will be plunged into darkness. Also, in the corridor there is a motion sensor that turns on a pleasant light near the floor when someone gets up at night.”
“Since the master’s bathroom is located right next to the kitchen, we made a special chameleon door, which we painted to match the color of the wall. A window was made inside the bathroom through which natural light enters. If necessary, you can lower the curtain to create a completely enclosed room.
The washing machine was raised to place communications and a laundry tank underneath. A modern dryer was installed on top, since we often have to wash children’s clothes, and we absolutely didn’t want to have clotheslines.
Understanding all the convenience of a shower stall, it was necessary to make a full-fledged bath. As a result, we installed it directly on a concrete slab, and not on a screed, thereby making its side almost 10 centimeters lower than the standard height. So we have the convenience of a low-side shower and a full bath.”
“The widened window and floor-length glazing in the door brought in a lot of light. Instead of a window sill, a wide kitchen countertop was installed to create a cozy place for reading and relaxing. The bed was found at IKEA, but they raised it to a higher level by placing 2 mattresses on top of each other. The size of the room is designed in such a way that if desired, you can easily rearrange the furniture.”
“We love music very much and always wanted the musical accompaniment to not leave us even in the bathroom. As a result, we installed a Sonos wireless music system, which allowed us to receive any musical accompaniment at every point in the apartment, from Internet radio to tracks from a home server. If necessary, music zones can be combined and volume and settings adjusted. The system can be controlled from any smartphone. »
“We drew a lot of ideas and inspiration for style and color from the boroughs of New York. There was no goal to maintain any single style, since we are not afraid to mix different elements. After all, a cozy apartment is a dynamic concept, not a frozen and museum-like one.
The living room and bedroom walls are painted in sophisticated shades of grey, and we used wallpaper in the bedroom and nursery.
The seams of the eco-friendly parquet boards on the floor were sealed with a special compound so that wet cleaning could be done safely. The high plinth is painted and is also not afraid of moisture.”
“The most difficult part of the project was combining everything planned in a small space. It was also important at the project stage to calculate down to the centimeter the dimensions of the future premises in order to determine the size of the furniture.
The design took about 1.5 months, and the renovation itself, including complete dismantling at the beginning, was completed in 4 months.”
Photo before renovation
