Interior of XXI century in 1957 year building. 2018, Republic of Belarus, Minsk.
Purpose:
To create a modern interior and to preserve a historical spirit of the apartment at the same time.
Project challenges:
Redesign in accordance with modern standards of living. To use the space of the corridor and unused pantry more effectively. To make a ‘home art gallery’: find a space for grandfather’s paintings.
We were approached by the clients to help them with the redesign of this amazing apartment, located in the old center of Minsk. It was in a good condition but absolutely did not match with the ideas about the life of the clients — a young and active couple with great plans for life.
The apartment was shadowy and had a lot of unused space like a huge entrance hall, or three separate rooms one of which the owners almost did not open, and a tiny kitchen.
At the same time, they did not want to make a super modern interior. They were attracted precisely by the atmosphere of a quiet city center, old intelligent flat with stucco on the ceiling, and they wanted to safe this story if possible.
As a result, we created a bright and airy interior. An eclectic modern apartment with classic furniture.
The corridor part, with its straight walls, seamless concrete tiles, is modern. The remaining rooms, on the contrast, are classic: there are cornices, stucco, parquet. We moved the working area of the kitchen to the corridor, combined it with the hall and removed part of the partitions. Frosted stained glass was installed behind the work surface. The glass lets the sun into the cabinet. The same frosted glass appeared in all interior doors.
General lighting is a track system, a modern solution which we combined with client’s old chandeliers. They are preserved from the very first owners of the times of the USSR: one in the dining room and the second in the bedroom.
A sunny corner on the site of the former kitchen has become a cozy home zone for guests.
