We designed a bright and functional interior for a young, active family with a school-going son in the new contemporary residential complex called “Richard” in Moscow. The clients wanted to incorporate colors, prints, and patterns, and we made sure to fulfill their desires. Initially, we created a comfortable living space by expanding the bathroom and adding a dressing room in the master bedroom. Then, we filled the space with bright, colorful blocks.
Project Name: A COLOURFUL APARTMENT
Studio Name: Alexander Tischler
Location: Moscow, Russia
Size: 79 sq. m
Team:
Karen Karapetian | Chief Designer
Diana Besedina | Designer
Oleg Mokrushnikov | Engineer
Кonstantin Prokhorov | Engineer
Liubov Kotelnikova | Engineer
Ekaterina Baibakova | Head of Purchasing
Karen Nikoian | Head of Finishing
Evgenii Bridnya | Installation Manager
Nick Rudenko | Photographer
Olga Karapetian | Photographer
Nastasya Korbut | Stylist
Vera Minchenkova | Copywriting
We enjoyed working on an unusual task: filling the interior with color. White is the primary base for finishing, while each room, including the bathrooms, has its own unique color and texture combinations. When selecting furniture, finishes, and decor, we primarily used basic colors such as blue, red, and green, incorporating their darker shades. We aimed to make the spaces more architectural by incorporating straight lines and volumes.
The kitchen consists of three parts: dark blue lower modules creating a raised effect with a white base, upper wall cabinets divided into squares and rectangles, and monolithic column cabinets with integrated appliances.
The kitchen consists of three parts: dark blue lower modules creating a raised effect with a white base, upper wall cabinets divided into squares and rectangles, and monolithic column cabinets with integrated appliances.
The developer created a niche in the kitchen, and we utilized it to its fullest potential. We installed an air handling unit, a noise suppressor, and soundproofed all the equipment to prevent noise from traveling through the air ducts and reaching the room. Access to the air handling unit is through the hatch in the rear wall of the central cabinet. This solution enabled us to maintain the room’s layout without sacrificing any usable space.
The wall panels in this room are finished with ash veneer, creating a visual separation between the kitchen and the recreation area. The living room is furnished with simple-shaped furniture, including a sleek hanging TV cabinet and a bright red coffee table.
We chose a simple blue table with a laconic base for the dining area. The table can be easily extended to comfortably accommodate all our guests. We opted for an interesting textured solution for the wall behind the table: we used relief gypsum panels, which add a sense of lightness to the interior with their random pattern. We installed glass-shaded lamps above the table. When the lamps are turned off, they reflect the surrounding area, and when turned on, they emit a soft glow.
We encountered a challenge while working with the entrance to the open-plan room. The clients were unhappy that the opening was in a load-bearing wall, and it was not feasible to remove the upper part and extend it to the ceiling. To address this, we devised a unique solution: we installed a cornice just below the ceiling, from which we hung a vibrant blue curtain. This not only visually expands the space upward but also serves as a divider between the kitchen-living room and the rest of the apartment when necessary.
After our renovation, there is now a corridor that leads to the bedrooms and guest bathroom. To prevent the interior from being divided by a dark zone and to ensure that there is ample daylight, we installed a glass panel door in the children’s room. The corrugated glass ensures that the privacy of the clients’ son is preserved, as it makes it impossible to see what he is doing in his room.
We decorated the walls in the kids’ room using two types of wallpaper. One type has a watercolor gradient, while the other type has hand-drawn looking lines. We made sure to select large sheets of each so that we could apply them without having any visible seams. Additionally, we used quartz stone for the window sill, which contains small black inclusions.
We created and installed a tall wardrobe for the children’s clothes and toys, which seamlessly integrates into the decor with its small black handles.
We have expanded the master bedroom to include a dressing room that leads to the bathroom. The dressing room features a small rack with built-in lighting for bags, cabinets with shelves and drawers, open rails, and a ceiling-height mirror. We have designed the dressing room with a combination of beige, green, and burgundy blocks. The green block functions as a utility closet, providing storage space for items such as an ironing board, iron, and other household items. Additionally, we have added sockets inside the cabinet for added convenience.
We chose salmon-colored tiles for the master bathroom, using both smooth white and textured matte tiles.
In our bedroom, we chose to combine contrasting colors more boldly. We placed a bed with a burgundy headboard against a spruce wall. Red frosted glass lamps were hung on either side of the bed. When they are turned on, the light fills the entire lampshade with a soft gradient.
The clients preferred not to have a TV in the bedroom, so we installed a projector above the bed, which projects the image onto a flat white wall opposite.
On the bedroom side, the closet in the dressing room is fully functional. The left part of the closet is a shelving unit with lighting that can be turned on by waving a hand. To the right, there is a module for equipment that can be connected to a projector or a TV set-top box. We have also installed an air intake grille on the mezzanine part of the cabinet. Purified air is supplied through a grille located above the entrance to the bedroom.
We have chosen bold combinations for the guest bathroom. We used multi-colored handmade tiles, rich burgundy furniture, and painted the walls in the same shade. We installed a built-in sink, framed the wide mirror in a thin burgundy frame, and selected a quirky lamp that complements the pattern of the tiles.
We installed a floor-to-ceiling column cabinet to house the washing machine and dryer. The cabinet features a side grille for airflow and an exhaust ventilation diffuser at the top.
We have installed a suspended console in the hallway to match the color of the furniture in the kitchen. The relief tiles in the hallway have hooks for hanging outerwear, which were originally intended for towels in the bathroom, but they fit perfectly into the design of our hallway. On the opposite side of the front door, we placed a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Additionally, we moved the wardrobe for outerwear further down the corridor, making use of some space from the kid’s room.
