It was possible to connect classics and modernity, create an excellent layout and basis for mixing objects not only of different styles, but also of different eras.
This three-room apartment is located in a cooperative building on an individual project for the servants of the Vakhtangov Theater. The customers who turned to designer Elena Markina live in another city, but fly to Moscow for theater premieres, plus their student son is studying in the capital. In the apartment where they live permanently, there was a modern interior with panoramic windows, in this Moscow three-room apartment they didn’t want to see anything like that – the customer dreamed of a “grandmother’s” apartment with white doors.
Before the redevelopment, it was an ordinary apartment with a separate kitchen, from which there was access to a small cold storage room. The living room was separated from the corridor by double doors. The ceiling height was only 2.65 m. But there were also undoubted advantages – a bay window, good views from the windows onto a quiet side street and cozy courtyards, as well as the potential to improve the planning solution.
As a result, we got rid of the unnecessary corridor, enlarging the living room. The entrance to the kitchen was moved, thereby combining the space of the living room and kitchen-dining room. The kitchen pantry was insulated and turned into a utility room – a laundry, ironing and drying room. The bedrooms remain in place, as does the master bathroom. In addition, it was possible to increase the ceiling height to 2.79 m.
The kitchen has all the necessary equipment: built-in refrigerator, dishwasher, induction hob, extractor hood, oven and microwave. The kitchen was custom made in light grey.
“The house itself is not very old, but the location could not but influence the interior. I wanted to preserve in it the spirit of old Moscow, small alleys, where at every step you can find a building with history, shrouded in legends and secrets. There are embassies and architectural monuments everywhere. Something minimalistic and ultra-modern would be alien to the interior, but the customers didn’t want to see “terry” classics either. We wanted to capture the connection of times – to collect unique accent antique items and tie them with modern furniture,” says Elena Markina.
Engineered French herringbone planks are used almost everywhere on the floor, even in the kitchen. Tiles with a contrasting black and white pattern are only in the hallway and on the loggia, also in the bathrooms there are tiles on the floor and partially on the walls. In the hallway, living room and dining room the walls are painted with washable paint, in the bedrooms there is English wallpaper on the walls. In the master bathroom, a panel of tiles and mirrors was made above the bathtub.
“The budget was quite limited, so in this project most of the furniture was made in Russia. All joinery products are made according to individual drawings in the Moscow region. We decided not to skimp on accents. This is how an Italian armchair appeared in the living room, Viennese chairs in the kitchen, which we ordered from the Czech Republic, as well as antique objects around which we built the entire interior.
For example, the central focal piece in the living room is an antique chinoiserie cabinet that we had been searching for for a long time and that was the right size and spirit for us. It was supported by antique tables from France and England with an unusual aged mirror and bronze glass. They also work on the idea of combining new and old interior items,” says the designer.
The customers did not want anything beige and warm; they used a light gray shade in the interior on the walls and in built-in furniture, and added contrast in the form of black accents and color in the form of furniture and decor. In the living room, kitchen-dining room and son’s bedroom these are shades of blue, dusty blue, terracotta and bronze. The master bedroom and bathroom have shades of turquoise and olive. To balance the cool tones, warm shades were added in the form of a wooden floor, natural rattan on Viennese chairs and a veneered dining table top.
Photo of the apartment before renovation
