Houzz Tour: Vibrant Color With a Retro Touch
A designer found on Houzz fills a Moscow apartment with delicious color
Евгения Назарова
March 7, 2021
The owner of this apartment was looking for a designer on Houzz and narrowed her search to professionals with colorful projects in their portfolios. The designer she eventually selected, Ekaterina Vladimirova, brought a riot of color into this four-room apartment in Moscow.
Photos by Sergey Ananiev, styled by Julia Chebotar
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: A family with a teenage son
Location: Moscow
Size: 958 square feet (89 square meters)
Designer: Ekaterina Vladimirova
The apartment is in an early 2000s prefabricated building that was part of a test project for a design that was later discontinued. This meant there were a number of structural challenges, from a large number of load-bearing walls to low ceilings.
However, the owners didn’t mind these shortcomings, as they were happy with the layout. And they immediately fell in love with the apartment’s view of a forest, a rare perk in Russia’s most populous city.
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: A family with a teenage son
Location: Moscow
Size: 958 square feet (89 square meters)
Designer: Ekaterina Vladimirova
The apartment is in an early 2000s prefabricated building that was part of a test project for a design that was later discontinued. This meant there were a number of structural challenges, from a large number of load-bearing walls to low ceilings.
However, the owners didn’t mind these shortcomings, as they were happy with the layout. And they immediately fell in love with the apartment’s view of a forest, a rare perk in Russia’s most populous city.
The bold design starts at the entrance, with an accent wall and a large custom mirror based on Vladimirova’s sketches. The mirror was hung opposite the kitchen window to bring more natural light into the entrance. The rest of the walls and doors were painted white.
The tiles in the circle on the floor were sourced from a premium brand, while the beige field tiles are from a budget range.
The tiles in the circle on the floor were sourced from a premium brand, while the beige field tiles are from a budget range.
The elongated living area is divided into dining and TV zones, a division that’s underscored by the wall colors: light green closer to the windows and dark pine in the sofa area.
The custom round dining table, also based on the designer’s sketches, can expand to seat 10. A vintage light fixture accentuates the setup.
The custom round dining table, also based on the designer’s sketches, can expand to seat 10. A vintage light fixture accentuates the setup.
The white owl sconces were tinted a shade of flamingo and now match the sofa upholstery.
An ethanol fireplace was built into the sideboard, making it possible to enjoy a real flame without a chimney. The central area was accented with dark paint to make the flame stand out even more.
The owners were unsure whether they needed a TV in the living room, so Vladimirova had the hookups installed just in case; they’re hidden behind the painting.
The apartment has low ceilings and the owners are tall, so the only suspended light fixtures in the apartment are out of the way of high-traffic areas. Wall fixtures provide accent lighting instead.
At the owner’s request, the main work surface and sink in the kitchen were moved to the window — the brightest part of the room. The countertop is wood. A niche to the left of the window holds cookbooks. The niche was outlined in color, as was the boxing on the ceiling — they had to put in the latter when they moved the exhaust.
“The light fixtures in the kitchen came about thanks to Houzz: When she was planning the renovation, the owner saved glass workshop Delo Kontura‘s profile. We selected glass in the correct color palette and had fixtures made to order,” Vladimirova says.
“The light fixtures in the kitchen came about thanks to Houzz: When she was planning the renovation, the owner saved glass workshop Delo Kontura‘s profile. We selected glass in the correct color palette and had fixtures made to order,” Vladimirova says.
A stained-glass window from Vit-rage, the workshop of artist Svetlana Mikhailova
The breakfast area is decorated by a backlit stained-glass window. “This feature was also requested by the owners — it adds interest to an otherwise restrained kitchen,” Vladimirova says. “The subject is not accidental — animals are a family theme, they can be found throughout the flat. The wallpaper in the office, for example, has foxes on it,”
The breakfast area is decorated by a backlit stained-glass window. “This feature was also requested by the owners — it adds interest to an otherwise restrained kitchen,” Vladimirova says. “The subject is not accidental — animals are a family theme, they can be found throughout the flat. The wallpaper in the office, for example, has foxes on it,”
Previously, there was a narrow walk-in closet here. It was taken down to make room for a full office for the owner. At the top of the walls is the fox wallpaper.
The rolling wall-to-wall bookshelves are two deep to accommodate the huge number of books the owners have.
The rolling wall-to-wall bookshelves are two deep to accommodate the huge number of books the owners have.
The owner is a screenwriter, and she asked for a large magnetic board where she could rearrange story lines. “I said why a board, when we could set an entire wall aside for this?” the designer says. “We covered it in magnetic paint, then gave it a decorative finish,”
The previous owners had separated the enclosed balcony from the main space and put up beadboard paneling, which was repainted to look less like a sauna. The colors are divided in blocks, in the same shades found in the rest of the flat. A squirrel light fixture tops off the resulting reading nook.
The focal point of the master bedroom is the wall behind the bed. It features a floral wallpaper with mirrors on either side to visually expand the space. Wood window frames replaced the existing ones.
The teenage son’s room features a wallpaper mural and a more restrained color palette than the rest of the apartment.
Because the window is off-center on the wall, bookcases in different widths were made to order.
Because the window is off-center on the wall, bookcases in different widths were made to order.
The bathroom is small, so white tile was used, with the decor creating interest. As in the entrance, the decorative and background finishes are from brands at different price points — it made no sense to pay more for basic white tile. The line of decorative tiles depicts the months of the year.
Vladimirova talked the owners out of combining the bathroom and toilet room in one space. However, they played around a bit with the shape of the toilet room — it was one of the few permissible layout changes in the building. The added niche made it possible to introduce a small sink. The wallpaper at the top of the wall is covered with a protective acrylic varnish. Above the toilet and flush controls is a hatch that provides access to the plumbing. Covered in wallpaper, it’s virtually invisible.
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LOVE Russian interior design. They have never been into the boring white and gray Americans have popularized...
Life must be more beautiful in this wonderful , interesting house.
This is probably the best renovation that I’ve seen on Houzz!