Designer Alyona Matisova has entered into the interior a collection of paintings and vintage items of the Soviet period, which are so dear to the owner.

Customers and tasks 

The owner of this one-room apartment in Moscow is an art critic. In addition to art, she is passionate about vintage and interior design. “The customer wanted to get a chamber space with a European touch, but so that the Soviet era could be reflected in it. It was necessary to collect all the objects dear to the heart and fit them into the interior. The inspiration and direction for the interior concept was the Soviet vintage chandelier “Pineapple”, which the hostess got from her grandmother. All my childhood, waking up in the morning, the customer looked at this chandelier, ” says the author of the project Alyona Matisova. 

Layout

This apartment was already renovated. The hostess wanted to change the interior, but not to resort to global works like redevelopment. Especially since the kitchen has gas. And this always complicates the coordination. Thus, the layout was left unchanged. There is a fairly spacious kitchen with a balcony, a separate room, a dressing room and a bathroom. At the same time, the room has a complicated layout, with a beveled angle and elongated. 

There was another issue that had to be solved with decorative techniques. “There were as many as 5 doors in the hallway on 4.6 sq. m. It was important to visually hide this flaw. To solve the problem, we removed the door to the kitchen, and replaced the door to the dressing room with a curtain. In the bedroom we made a sliding door instead of a swing door. A smooth gray overlay was used for the entrance door in order not to attract attention to it and smoothly fit into the overall color scheme,” explains the author of the project.

Finish and color

“In support of the interior items that came from the customer’s childhood, I wanted to reflect the culture of Europe of the 60-80s, combining it with the aesthetics of the USSR,” the author of the project begins. 

So, they tried to create an appropriate atmosphere with the help of tiles with a gray terrazzo pattern, remembering that a similar finish was used in Soviet public institutions.

A rectangular tile was laid out on the kitchen apron, choosing a vertical laying. “This can be found in the decoration of the first floors of Soviet panels,” explains the designer. The parquet that was here was left in the bedroom. The bathroom was also not redone as the hostess wanted.

The walls are painted. We used the principles of the color block, which is relevant for the Memphis and mid-century modern style, they are associated with the era of the 60-80s in Europe. So, for example, the sleeping area in the bedroom is highlighted in pink, and the rest is blue, and not only the walls are painted blue, but also the ceiling. The same zoning technique was used in the kitchen. At the entrance there is a blue area, the dining room is painted in pink, a different shade, more saturated, is highlighted by a colored arch.

In the hallway, the walls are divided by horizontal painting. The upper part is in gray, the lower part is in blue. They are connected by pink edging, the ceiling is also pink. The balcony, which has become a resting place, continues the same color concept and coloring with blocks. The wall that borders the kitchen is pink, the rest are gray. The ceiling is blue. 

“A lot of corners and irregular shape of the premises were the problem of this apartment. Color has become the main and most important tool for correcting the shapes of rooms. We took the main color combination from the customer’s collection of paintings: deep blue, in order to cut off a part of the room with many corners and disguise them with color. Dusty pink as the main, enveloping and soft color. Gray for furniture and doors, which allowed us to make large volumes less noticeable. And as an accent berry-burgundy color. In the bedroom, the white ceiling descends to the wall, which visually expands the area of the room. It was necessary to make it more square. We used the same color scheme in all rooms, but in different ratios. Since the apartment is small, I didn’t want to split it into different sections. The same colors allowed us to combine the zones,” the designer comments.

Storage systems

Storage here can be divided into functional and decorative. Functional cabinets for everyday things. According to the author of the project, they tried to make them as hidden as possible. For example, the bedroom has a high wardrobe with facades in the color of blue walls. In the hallway there is a narrow closet with gray facades. In the dressing room, hidden behind a curtain, the main things of the hostess are also stored. 

Decorative storage is intended for the decor and collection of the owner of the apartment. In the recreation area in the bedroom there is a gray shelving. “It performs several important functions: hides a narrow ledge of the wall at the entrance and visually zones the room into a coffee area and a bedroom. The shelving is a “library” where books on art, architecture, design are stored, demonstrates decorative objects and accessories,” explains Alyona.

Wooden shelving is installed on both sides of the window. “Their function is to balance the space of the room and make the wall with the window more prominent in order to visually shorten the length of the room. The color of natural wood was chosen specially, different from the color of the coffee area shelving, to emphasize the different zoning and add warmth and comfort to the sleeping area,” adds the designer. 

In the kitchen, an IKEA showcase was chosen for the tableware exhibition. It is graphically black. At the same time, they initially bought a white showcase, the black one was not available. Repainted in production specifically for the project. 

A set in the kitchen is both functional and decorative storage. To facilitate visual perception, at first we wanted to abandon the upper cabinets. But in the kitchen it was necessary to hide communications, including a gas boiler. This was done in closed modules, and pipes were hidden in the upper part. A shelf was placed in the center, the wall behind it was decorated with a mirror. It became another place for the decor exhibition. 

Lighting 

“The customer wanted to get away from bright flat lighting. Therefore, the ceiling light was used minimal. We chose soft evening light to make the space cozy, intimate and enveloping. The basic principle for the selection of lighting was the concept of vintage. We tried to find even modern lamps with retro-notes,” the designer comments.

So, the same Pineapple chandelier, dear to the customer’s heart, is placed in the kitchen. The kitchen set is additionally illuminated with spotlights, and the mirror has two vintage-style sconces for evening lighting. 

Above the bed in the bedroom, a lamp with a paper canopy was placed, which is suspended from the ceiling and decorated with a molded rosette. Next to the bed is a round pendant in graphic black, and the chair has a sconce in the same shade. 

The loggia is illuminated by a large white ceiling suspension. “It looks very impressive against the background of a bright blue ceiling, it resembles the night sky with the moon,” adds the author of the project. 

In the hallway, the general lighting is decided by a chandelier, the entrance area is illuminated by a small sconce. The mirror next to the dressing room has a larger sconce, and there are spotlights in the dressing room itself. 

Designer Alyona Matisova, author of the project:

I really like the phrase from Evgeny Vodolazkin’s book “Aviator”: “Things had their own history and were inspired by the touch of the father.” I like to use heirlooms in my projects, because these items store a lot of love, warmth and memories. They instantly personalize the space and make it habitable and alive. Therefore, as a decoration, a lot of dishes and crystal were used, inherited by the customer from her grandmother. And what was not preserved, we searched at the flea market. The hostess loves a variety of vases. She has a large collection, a whole “wardrobe” of vases. We placed some of them in the bedroom. The accents in the interior were various works of art. A collection of paintings that the customer had before the renovation, graphics and vintage posters.

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Hallway

Dressing room

Dressing room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Balcony

BathroomThe 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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