Green light: 38 m2 apartment designed by Julia Schmidt and Alexandra Taranova

“The smaller the project area, the more attention and experience it requires,” architects Julia Schmidt and Alexandra Taranova believe. Let’s see how they managed to cope with a very difficult task — an apartment of 38 square meters. meters

The living room turns into a dining room and a kitchen. Above the bookshelf, designed in the form of a fireplace portal, is a photograph by Alexei Naroditsky of the Museo della Civilta Romana. Floors, Finex. Armchairs, VV Sofa. Carpet, Berber Azilal design, Kover Store. On the mantelpiece there is a miniature of an LC4 chaise longue, Vitra, and a clay Chinese soldier. On the table is a restored Philips tube radio from 1959 from the collection of Oleg Monastyrsky. Tableware, H&M Home.

Photo: mikhail loskutov

“When designing a small space, we used all the techniques previously tested on large projects,” say architects Julia Schmidt and Alexandra Taranova. — With the only difference that all the ideas had to be rechecked on the spot. A small apartment is a three—dimensional puzzle that even a person with experience needs to solve in volume and only then on paper. We were interested in every shade with which we would have to live “nose to nose” in a small area, and every useful centimeter. They moved the radiator to the wall — they freed up space for bookshelves along the windows.

“The owner of the apartment had two requests: a green color and a place to store windsurfing equipment”

The bedroom area is highlighted by a podium with a built-in bed and storage systems. Instead of a bedside table, there is a restored Braun lamp radio, a collection by Oleg Monastyrsky.

Photo: MIKHAIL LOSKUTOV

Another hour over the drawings of the kitchen — and voila! — fit a full-fledged refrigerator, dishwasher and washing machine. A special story is the hanging of mirrors. We carefully checked at what angle they are located, what exactly is reflected in them and whether they create a perspective effect.”

A fragment of the hallway. Built-in plywood furniture is made to order. On the shelf is a decorative figurine, Vitra. The framed poster was bought at a flea market in Nice.

Photo: MIKHAIL LOSKUTOV

The 38-square-meter apartment has a full-fledged entrance hall, a spacious bathroom and even a living room with a fireplace. “The main rule in working with a small space is not to be small,” the architects believe. — And if it is not possible to isolate the rooms, then it is necessary to separate them visually. Sometimes it’s enough to lower the ceiling a little and paint it in a different color. This is the technique we used in the design of the bedroom. In contrast to it, the white living room immediately began to seem larger and taller.

The kitchen is made to order according to the sketches of architects, the apron is lined with glass. Tableware, IKEA.

Photo: MIKHAIL LOSKUTOV

In order for the customer — a tall man — to feel at ease, we abandoned the standard shower cabin, making a spacious shower room with a window. Mirrors and glaring surfaces — a glass kitchen apron and a glossy map of Amsterdam hanging over the bed – helped to get rid of the feeling of a confined space.”

“The customer gave us the keys and asked us to call when everything was ready”

The shower room is tiled with Miseria e nobiltà from Ornamenta.

Photo: MIKHAIL LOSKUTOV

The customer has never been in the apartment during the renovation — he gave the architects the keys and asked them to call when everything was ready. And, yes, the main wishes are: green color, a place to store windsurfing equipment, and furniture — “IKEA, but not IKEA”.

Bathroom. The furniture is made to order. Plywood and mirrors are used in the decoration.

Photo: MIKHAIL LOSKUTOV

“Additionally, he asked us to fit the lamps and bar stools he had bought earlier into the interior,” the architects recall. “We shortened the legs of the chairs and changed the upholstery, repainted the lamps, and designed the rest of the furniture ourselves.”

A fragment of the bedroom. On the built—in chest of drawers there are furniture figures from the Andreu World collection.

Photo: MIKHAIL LOSKUTOV

The most complex design is the bedroom. Everything is at hand here, while absolutely all surfaces of the specially constructed plywood podium and side walls open, turning into a huge storage system where you can hide not only kites and surfboards.