Everything is interesting in this project: starting from the arrangement of furniture and appliances in a tiny space (the designer managed to accommodate a kitchen, a work area, a bedroom and make a shower room with a toilet of 1.4 sq. m.) and ending with the location of the house where this room is located in the very center of St. Petersburg, on Fontanka, this is the House of the Directorate of Imperial theaters, built in 1835. 

Customer and tasks

The owner of this room in a communal apartment is a man who grew up here. In a small space of 10.7 sq. m he wanted to place a bedroom, a kitchen, a workplace, equip a bathroom and organize storage systems. Designer Polina Andreeva calls her project a challenge. And indeed, it would be impossible to solve this problem without masterly mastery of design techniques.

Redevelopment

The room is located in a historic house. This object is the former cook’s room. But the fact that the property is not documented as residential, allowed us to organize “wet” zones, actually turning the room into an apartment with its own amenities. 

Initially, the space was divided into two levels. High ceilings of almost 4 meters allowed it. Only the second tier blocked the only window. 

The author of the project also decided to take advantage of high ceilings, and organized the bedroom on a new mezzanine. Under it there is a bathroom and an entrance hall. The working area is organized by the window, and there is a kitchenette next to it. A small staircase leads to the mezzanine, which has built-in storage boxes. 

Finishing 

For the walls, light paint with a light cold undertone was chosen, which visually expanded the space almost twice (compare with the photo “before”, where there were dark walls). PVC tiles were laid on the floor of the first level, it is also in the bathroom. But to cover the floor of the mezzanine, a parquet board was used, a natural and tactile pleasant material.

On the walls of a small bathroom, paint and tiles were combined, the latter in the area of direct water ingress. For the kitchen apron, a glossy rectangular tile of a beautiful turquoise color was chosen, which “catches” the sun from the window and becomes a spectacular accent.

Furniture and storage systems

The furniture was made to order. The main storage system is a ladder cabinet.

The desktop was made with drawers and provided a rack with open shelves next to it. There is a mini fridge under the countertop. 

The kitchen set is compact. Storage lockers were placed here, a microwave was built into the upper cabinet, and a hob with two burners was installed on the countertop.

In the bedroom area there is a small bedside table for small things. 

In the small hallway there is a shoe rack and wall hooks for outerwear. And on the opposite wall there is a locker where the ironing board is hidden. The facade is decorated with a mirror, so that when closed, nothing indicates the economic purpose of this object. 

A separate task is the arrangement of a bathroom, which is only 1.4 square meters in area. Here we managed to fit a 70×70 cm shower, a mini-sink with a bedside table and a toilet bowl turned at an angle.

Lighting 

A massive chandelier was placed on the ceiling, which illuminates the entire small space, but, of course, additional lighting scenarios were also provided. These are wall sconces on the first and second floors, the illumination of the shelving, kitchen cabinets and the handrail of the stairs. 

Designer Polina Andreeva, author of the project:

The customer grew up in this room. Previously, part of the window was closed by the second tier, and the staircase was located at the entrance. I wanted to expand it to let natural light into the whole room, and leave the second tier only for the bed. Since a lot of storage places are needed, the ladder has fulfilled the function of a cabinet. Each facade opens, it turned out very functional. Of course, we understood that it was better to crawl up the stairs rather than climb (laughs), but we tried to make it as comfortable as possible, given the area of the room.

Top view of the lower level

Working area

Kitchen

Kitchen

A fragment of the rack

A fragment of the kitchen

Ladder-closet

View of the mezzanine

View from the stairs

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Hallway

Entrance hall, bathroom view

Bathroom

How the apartment looked before the renovation

Bonus: the front door of the house and a view of the Fontanka embankment, where the house is located

The editorial board warns that in accordance with the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, coordination of ongoing alterations and alterations is required.

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