How to make repairs without the help of a designer?How to combine different styles in an interior? How to explain to the renovation team what is required of them? This article tells the real story of the first design experiment of a journalist from roomble.com. It was in this article that the editors decided not to interfere with the author's text sent to us by a girl who dared to do the renovation herself, without a designer. Because this girl is one of our most valuable employees: interior journalist Anastasia Kuzmenko. We give her the floor. — Let's get acquainted. My name is Anastasia Kuzmenko. Perhaps you read my articles on roomble.com. Today I will tell you about an experimental design project that I managed to bring to life, despite the lack of practical experience and the crisis times. Anastasia Kuzmenko, interior journalist It all started when I started writing for interior magazines. Looking through dozens of photos of fashionable interiors every day, I began to quietly hate the faceless "design" of my apartment, which I got along with the title deeds, and in which my husband and I had already lived for five years. When my dissatisfaction with the surrounding space reached its maximum, at the next family council a decision was made to renovate, however, not the entire apartment, but only its main (studio) part. The transformation of the bedrooms and bathroom was postponed for financial reasons.
Choice of style
After a little introspection, it turned out that myaesthetic preferences are quite contradictory. On the one hand, I am delighted with light and airy Scandinavian interiors, and on the other hand, I have a deep sympathy for brutal lofts. While thinking about how to combine both of these styles in one space, the idea of white brick walls was born, which became the starting point for the entire project.
Decorative tricks
It seemed to me that exposing the brickworkrisky business, considering that the builders could not vouch for the result of this undertaking. Therefore, gypsum brick tiles were chosen as the wall decoration. To my husband's surprise, when the work on laying them was finished, it turned out that the tiles looked much warmer than one could have imagined.
It’s not just the brick that’s fake in the interior.As an original accent and part-time shelf, I decided to equip a decorative fireplace portal. There were no problems with the design ideas, since I recently wrote an article on this topic, but implementing these very ideas turned out to be more difficult. In local construction stores, I was unable to find either the required plaster overlays or an aged mirror to decorate the inside of the portal. As a result, together with the guys from the repair team, we molded a fireplace from what was available. However, I did find a mirror (in another city).
A little bit of turquoise
I am of the opinion that any lightThe interior looks rather boring if it does not have bright accents. I adore turquoise shades (as you may have guessed from the color of my jacket), so I decided to cover the main wall with contrasting turquoise wallpaper. They are supported in the interior by hexagonal floor tiles, which are used to lay the floors in the hallway and kitchen.
Dreams come true
While working on the design of my studio, I decidedto fulfill the maximum number from a long list of my design desires. So on one of the walls there appeared a retro poster with a completely thematic slogan, a decorative Edison lamp in a bar lamp, a cabinet covered with metal sheets above the refrigerator, a transformable coffee table and a large, comfortable and very welcoming sofa. Perhaps someone will think that the sofa is too big for my modest studio of 27 square meters, but now I no longer need to drag chairs and ottomans from other rooms into the living room when guests arrive. And, in my opinion, it is worth it to slightly disrupt the scale.
During the renovation, some unpleasant things happenedunexpected events, such as delayed delivery or lack of ordered materials, as well as happy accidents: I accidentally saw the kitchen façade (with the effect of cracks and patina) in one of the warehouses of a construction company. The canvas was a single copy and was not even included in the catalog. It was definitely fate! As a person who has personally experienced what it means to make repairs without a 3D project and without the help of a professional designer, I can say that it is possible. My puzzle came together, and the studio looks exactly as I imagined it. I hope this example will inspire some of our readers to their own design feats. Photographer Dmitry Pratsun
