The owners, a well-matched married couple with a student son, had a dream of owning a countryside property with a spacious and bright living room featuring a double-height space, typical of country houses. To achieve this, they purchased this apartment to enjoy the benefits of a low-rise building while having good infrastructure both inside and outside, all while being in close harmony with nature. As a result, all planning and engineering solutions were applied as for urban apartments, while the interior design reflected more of a countryside feel: lightness, natural colors, and soft color transitions of various natural moods.
For the owners, this project became a quest to find a balance between their preferences. Even when reviewing references for the project, they were drawn to both the country-style interiors of countryside houses and apartment designs in skyscrapers in modern metropolises. In my view, we managed to achieve this balance, making the project visually unique and highly interesting.
It should be mentioned that this was a one-of-a-kind experience for my clients. Previously, they preferred to buy ready-made properties and adapt them to their needs locally. This time, however, the construction work began almost from scratch, as it was planned from beginning to create a second floor, design, and install all utilities, engineering systems, and more. They trusted me throughout the entire process, followed my recommendations, and showed great confidence. The outcome is a result that leaves both them and me very satisfied. We've created not only a visually strong interior design but also a comfortable, modern living space.
The project presented an interesting architectural challenge, both in terms of the planning solution and as a test of my decorative skills. As an architect, my goal is to work with space not just in terms of decoration and function, but also in form and volume. During our first meeting, the clients showed me a reference photo of a spacious living room in a wooden house. This image was quite different from our starting point, which was a small concrete construction, but it inspired me to try and turn this dream into reality.
The apartment was originally located on the top floor of a low-rise house in the chalet style. The second level of the apartment included a small extension above the main floor, somewhat resembling a small balcony. The architect's task was to design and build a full second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom while preserving the double-height space in the living room on the ground floor and incorporating the large window that extended up to the roof into the room's overall space.
On the original limited area of 42 + 15 meters, I managed to implement all the clients wishes. By effectively using the minimal space and expanding it not horizontally, as many people imagine, but vertically, we ended up with a total of 71 meters of living space, which is quite comfortable even for permanent residence.
The entire apartment is filled with natural light and air, avoiding the feeling of oppression and smallness that often happens when the actual space doesn't feet expectations.
There are many different natural textures, including stone, wood, baked clay. The apartment's panoramic windows make nature an active element of the design. I wanted to convey this relationship the connection between the interior and the natural environment through the color palette.
The chosen solutions were based on natural wood with a visible texture, processed in the most natural way, on the floor and furniture, as well as metal in various partitions and interior items. Glass and ceramic tiles with a handmade effect were also used. The textiles feature local color inclusions, calm and enveloping shades in the most natural range, with small ethnic notes. They complicate and highlights the geometric motifs of the concept, softening the overall impression.
In the decoration, I used a lot of author's handmade ceramics. The artwork on the walls, although sold by furniture brands, is handmade. Mostly, it is modern abstraction related to spatial composition, which should reinforce the unity of the overall interior concept.
I would also like to highlight the central artwork in the living room — a painting by Pavel Efanov called "Cow Cape". It is placed on an oak portal and adds depth to the living room, expanding the space, as if you were sitting there and looking at the river outside the window.
It is the natural origin of the selected materials that helps to achieve balance and set the mood of this place.
Team:
Architects: Dasha Kossa
Photographer: Sergey Krasyuk
Materials Used:
Flooring: Main wooden floors: ”Flooring”, Floor tiles in Entrance hall, Kitchen -dining room, The bathroom on the first floor: Equipe, Floor tiles in The bathroom on the second floor: Wow
Doors: Interior doors: Provance
Windows: Product, Brand
Interior lighting: Entrance hall Light: NORDAL, Light above the dining table: dantone home, Table lamps in Living room: Dantone home, Wall lamp in Living room: LA REDOUTE INTERIORS, AM.PM., Wall lamp and Table lamp in the Master bedroom: AM.PM., Bedside lights in the Guest bedroom: Francisco Segarra, Celling Light in the Guest bedroom: Faro, Ceiling lamp in the The bathroom on the second floor: Faro
Interior furniture:
Entrance hall 2.5 m2
The mirror: AM.PM.
Pouf: dantone home
Storage system: by design of the author of the project, was made Two furni
Kitchen -dining room 13 m2
The kitchen furniture by design of the author of the project, was made Two furni
Table and chairs in the dining area: AM.PM.
Living room 19.5 m2
Sofa: SKdesign
Tables: AM.PM. and LA REDOUTE INTERIEURS
Stand behind the sofa: AM.PM.
Wooden portal: by design of the author of the project, was made Two furni
Vases: ferm living and 123ceramics atelier
Vasa on the floor: La Forma
Stand: LA REDOUTE INTERIEURS
Painting on the portal: "Cow Cape" by Pavel Efanov
Artwork above the stand: HK LIVING
The bathroom on the first floor 3.7 m2
Faucet: Bravat
Shower system: Bravat
Mirror: LA REDOUTE INTERIEURS
Shower partition: AF studio
Vases: 123ceramics atelier
Metallic shelves: AF studio
Hooks: Grohe
Master bedroom 12 m2
Storage system: by design of the author of the project, was made Two furni
Bed: SK design
Bedside table: AM.PM.
Table: AM.PM.
The armchair: AM.PM.
Vase: 123ceramics atelier
Artwork above the table: AM.PM.
Artwork above the headboard: La Forma
Guest bedroom 9 m2 + The closet 3.5 m2
Bed: UNIKA møblar
Bedside shelving tables: WOUD
Shelving table: SK design
The armchair: AM.PM.
Storage system: by design of the author of the project, was made Two furni
Artwork above the headboard: LA REDOUTE INTERIEURS
Artwork in the closet: La Forma
The bathroom on the second floor 2.3 m2
Faucet: Grohe
Mirror: Runden
Ceiling lamp: Faro
Vase: 123ceramics atelier
Partition, Interior Window and Metallic shelves: AF studio
