Location: Kiev, Ukraine

Year: 2019 

Apartment area: 41 sq.m.

FORM bureau   
Project author: Victoriia Shkliar

Photographer: Sergey Savchenko 

The apartment is located in the historical center of Kiev, in a house built in the 20th century.

The author of the interior is Victoriia Shkliar, FORM Bureau.

The owner of the apartment is a young businessman. He wanted to remake this apartment for rent and make the interior appealing both for him and the tenants.

The whole process of interior design and its implementation took four months.

The plan of the apartment was a square, divided into two parts by a supporting wall - a smaller one (hall and bathrooms), and a larger part with a kitchen and a living-bedroom. Having only 41 sq.m. area, the apartment has 4 meters high ceilings. Such a height of ceilings prompted the idea to place the bedroom on the second floor, and the kitchen under it. The living room and dining room were given much more space thereby. A large open space was created due to the combination of these zones.

The second tier and ladder design calculations have been made. The first floor was 2 meters high in the kitchen, and 1.8 meters high on the second floor in the bedroom.

An ordinary balcony was turned into a lounge space thanks to a podium raised almost to the level of the windows on the balcony. It offers soft pillows, perfect for relaxing with friends and watching from the city from the windows.

The two previously separated bathrooms were re-planned into one bathroom. There is a shower for those who prefer bathing quickly, and a bath along the shower unit, offering relaxation whenever one wants to take his time.

The “royal” brick was discovered on some walls in the process of repair, when the old plaster was removed. The house was overhauled in the 80-s. And during the reconstruction some walls were built from more modern bricks in the form of ready-made blocks. The walls of pre-war period brick were reinforced with metal plates all over the surface, since the subway line was built under the house.

It was decided to “open up” all the brick and metal stripes in the interior, de-dusting it with a matt varnish. The rest of the walls were painted white.

The floor of concrete was chosen for the apartment; the underlayment with the topping was made and covered with a matt varnish afterwards.

The plinth was drowned into the walls throughout the apartment and covered with microcement to match the color of the floor. This kind of plinth suits the concrete floor well, and protects the walls of the apartment during cleaning as well.

The furniture was made by Ukrainian furniture companies according to the drawings of the author of the project.

The kitchen turned out to be very special, having the copper facades. The two high-ceiling cabinets, now serving as the main storage spaces were placed in the hallway. The dining table with benches and the wooden steps were made by Ivan Chudov. A large corner sofa was produced by the Ukrainian company Interia.

The interior is supplemented with linen textiles in natural colors.

The lighting in the whole space is local, pendant lights were only used above the dining table.

The space turned out to be functional and spacious despite the small area of the apartment. It was possible to “reveal” all the features of the apartment, and implement the main tasks of the customer.

As a result, the interior of the apartment is suitable for both short and long term rentals.

Interior details:

Upholstered furniture - «Interia» beautiful furniture studio

Wooden dining table and benches - Ivan Chudov’s workshop

Cabinet furniture was made by a Ukrainian furniture studio

Textiles – Irina Shentsova textile design studio

Carpet in the living room -  fully wooly, 100% sheep wool

Lighting - Philips, LONG PLANK, EGLO

Sanitary ware - Kolo, Tece, Kludi, Hansgrohe, Villeroy&Boch

Tiles - Golden Tile

Concrete cache-pots – MONE studio.