I looove working on old homes and the worse the condition they’re in, the greater the sense of achievement after I finish transforming them. One day, who knows, I might just be focusing solely on this passion for myself, when I’ll be rich enough to afford buying such properties and revamping them, hehe. Haven’t even started the article and I already got sidetracked with my day dreaming. :))
Aaaaanyways, let’s get back to the point.
Present here is a how I designed (and by this I mean “completely transformed”) the interior of a small apartment in an old house in Oradea, Romania. I have inserted a couple of “before” photos to give you an idea of the state this property was in (what’s the deal with Romanians and strong, highly saturated yellow and pink walls?!). We basically stripped this place down to its main walls and started building from scratch.
The most difficult task was to fit in a small open space the kitchen, living room and a dining area big enough to fit at least 6 people occasionally. To be honest, this took me a while to get the layout just right, but in the end I believe I nailed the best solution for my client’s needs.
We had a large empty wall at the end of the room, opposite to the entrance, so I decided that the best way to take advantage of it was by placing the kitchen there. The length of the wall was perfect to fit a rather small kitchen area, but with everything the client needed. The mirror doors for the cupboards, while a tiny compromise to functionality (yes, not everyone would like to wipe fingerprints and stains all day everyday), they help enhance the light in the interior, visually enlarge the space, plus they give a bit of a fancy, polished feel to the interior. The doors are slightly lower than the cupboard’s body, therefore you can open them by pulling from behind – to minimize the unwanted fingerprints. The kitchen is the main thing you see once entering the house, so even though rather simple in design, it had to look precious and shine.
The natural granite countertop and backsplash add texture and – if you ask me – feel like a beautiful abstract painting that catches the attention. We chose a soft grey light & neutral color for the rest of the furniture to let the natural stone shine.
Right in front of the kitchen there’s an oval dining table which fits 6 people comfortably and 8 if they have no problem to touch elbows. It can also act as extra countertop space on the odd occasion when more cooking might be implied or a work-from-home space, again, occasionally. The space being small, I insisted on the oval shape of the table for more fluid movements around it.
The living room area is at the bottom of the hierarchy of the three, but that’s ok because these were the requirements. It’s more than enough for having a chat over coffee, watching TV or just chilling in winter by the fireplace.
The floors are oak, in a herringbone layout for a timeless look and used them throughout this tiny home to unify the spaces (well, except for the bathroom, obvs!).
Can you spot the before picture? 🙂
The bathroom was tiny and uber bleh, as you can spot it in the before picture. We ditched the tiny window and placed a bigger one above the WC, placed the shower in the corner and moved the sink on the other wall. We kept it simple and decided to go with black fixtures for contrast and a more modern look and feel, but still kept the gold handles for the furniture both as a connection with the rest of the interior and a touch of precious details.
Last but not least, the smallest bedroom features a large wardrobe from floor to ceiling, obviously with a large mirror, a small bookcase area and a comfy bed.
And that’s a wrap! Hope you like how this project turned out as much as I do! 🙂