“My apartment is not an example of an interior designer with a single thought—out idea and style. But I wanted it to reflect the spirit of travel, to be bright and authentic. I am changing, and my apartment is changing,” says stylist Irina Ochirova

Photo

Maria Voynova

I moved into my one-room apartment in a new building of the Pavshinskaya Floodplain in 2013. Even then I understood that in the future interior I see a mixture of a Berlin apartment with elements of Soviet aesthetics. By that time, I had just returned from Germany, where I had lived for six years, was writing my dissertation and was driving to a friend’s house in Berlin for the weekend.

The apartment has the most solid and light walls, laminate flooring and Spanish worn tiles in the hallway and kitchen area. This was the basis on which I gradually “strung” the items that I brought from trips.

Photo

Maria Voynova

Photo

Maria Voynova

Photo

Maria Voynova

The interior is dominated by now rare IKEA furniture. It is diluted by a portal made by my father from balusters. At the same time, I sent the balusters home to Elista, where dad made a portal according to my sketch. The Viennese chairs in the room and in the kitchen are grandfather’s, brought from Tbilisi, where my grandparents lived then and where my mother was born. Dad was also engaged in painting chairs, so the color selection took place remotely. The shade turned out not quite the way I wanted, but over time I even began to like these cheerful turquoise “spots”.

Photo

Maria Voynova

Once I realized for myself that I would not bring souvenirs from my travels, but those items that I could integrate into my interior. For example, on the wall in the room there is a photograph of a Portuguese window, brought from Lisbon and framed. Above the chest of drawers in the room is a map of the city, also bought in Lisbon. A bright poster from the Vitra Design Museum hangs on the wall above the bed. Thanks to him, the sun always shines in my room in any weather. There are two bright rugs on the floor — from Cyprus and from Georgia.

Photo

Maria Voynova

I fell in love with mustard curtains with an ornament in the style of the 1960s in Alsace when I went to the French store Maisons du Monde. At that time I didn’t buy them, then I was very sorry and admired them for a while in the two-kilogram catalog that I took with me. At home, it turned out that the store does not deliver goods to Russia. But, fortunately, there are beloved friends in Germany for just such a case: my friend in Stuttgart ordered the curtains, and I took them away on my next visit. The same scheme was worked out when ordering a carpet for a bedroom: the German brand Vossberg, even then did not deliver to Russia. Then a turquoise carpet was ordered by my friend in Berlin, and I was taking it home in my hand luggage.

Photo

Maria Voynova

Photo

Maria Voynova

The walls throughout the apartment are decorated with various posters and paintings. In the bedroom hangs the work of a young artist Oleg Chudutov: I have loved peonies since childhood, because for me they are a symbol of my birthday. Just before H&M Home closes I bought a poster of a collaboration with Brunna Mancuso. And to this woman in striped, I picked up a man — a poster from a painting by the artist Elena Romanovskaya, whom I met at Art Russia this year. So my strange Brazilian madam got a couple from the Siberian hinterland.

In the hallway there is a painting by a Georgian street artist depicting a Tbilisi door. It reminds my mother and me of a trip to her homeland. In the kitchen there is a painting by Alibai Marlyam, an art student, as well as a wooden panel with a couple under the moon, which my young father in love gave to my mother. On the wall above the sofa there is a picture of pigeons tied by my mother.

Photo

Maria Voynova

Photo

Maria Voynova

Photo

Maria Voynova

I really like handmade things. The bed was decorated with a white bedspread, which my mother crocheted, and bright pillow cases from Tkano. Mom’s knitted curtains cover the windows in the “Ikea” wardrobe.

The light in the hallway and the room is made of crystal. Mom gave me a crystal Soviet chandelier and a sconce bought in Astrakhan during the Soviet years. And the room has an Italian chandelier. I looked at it for a very long time, and when I decided to buy it, the events of 2014 happened, the rate increased, and I bought it for almost twice as much. But it’s mine, and since then I haven’t looked at beautiful things for a long time.

The author of the project: stylist Irina Ochirova, [email protected] , otchirovai

Photo

Maria Voynova

Photo

Maria Voynova

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