There is such an ancient expression “dance from the stove”. It means to do something according to a knocked scheme, from the usual place. So in XIX in. Children in noble families learned to dance: they got up at the stove in the third position and if they were mistaken, they returned to the original position to the stove. In our case, it all started the same way – from the furnace, or rather, from the fireplace. The designers did not have to choose a place for him, since the smoke channel in the apartment already existed. To beat the fireplace furnace and hide the chimney, they came up with a large stepped structure. Then the idea of its design arose: against the background of dark brown wallpaper with a vertical pattern – a white box with a furnace. It turned out very like a man – strict contours, restrained gamma. This laconic design formed the basis of the entire interior, and the fireplace itself became the compositional center of the open public space. However, about everything in order.
The owner of the apartment is a young man, he lives alone, loves to travel, listen to music, plays the guitar himself. I got housing in the new residential quarter of Vilnius, on the ground floor of the house. A view of the lake opens from the windows (partly because of this landscape, the apartment was bought). The customer did not express any special wishes, he just wanted the interior to be modern and functional. The only thing he insisted on is not to close the windows with curtains. Therefore, on all windows from the outside, roller shutters were installed, they not only protect from light, but also protect the apartment from uninvited guests. While at home, the young man rarely lowers them, so the light penetrates the apartment freely, so that the interior looks free, light, as if filled with air.
When planning space, designers allocated two zones: public and private. The first is solved as an open space and includes a living room and kitchen, the second is divided into rooms: a bedroom and an office, plus a bathroom with a home sauna.
The design of the hearth
For the fireplace, a closed cast -iron furnace was chosen, but its depth was large enough – 50 cm, and it was also required that it did not reach the carrier wall by about 10 cm. It became clear that the whole structure would look too bulky. So that the fireplace is not given out of the wall, but, on the contrary, was deepened, from drywall it made a falsehood from floor to ceiling and a length of 3.5 m, and on it they erected another design of a complex shape, which looks like a hinged. In fact, it relies on the capsule of the furnace. (By the way, initially the firebox was on four legs, the rear ones had to be sawn off – they interfered with installation, the front were hidden in gypsum plasterboard casing.In total, the depth of the false feet and the “hinged” box is 60 cm. A fireplace furnace and a chimney leading to the smoke channel, which already existed here, was built into this stepped structure. The cast -iron capsule was lined with marble, it serves both decoration and thermal insulation.
Fireplace – starting point in creating the interior – the main character of the public part. Other characters are the Togo sofa and chair, the famous model of French designer Michel Dukaroi. Thanks to their rich red color, everything around becomes bright and dynamic. The kitchen includes only the most necessary, the composition of the corner furniture, one side is located at the window, which provides good lighting of the working surface in the daytime.
As for private premises, each of them has its own character. In the interior of the bedroom, the host’s memories of a trip to Mexico are embodied: there is a wicker furniture brought by him, and a stool covered with leather, resembling a drum. The Latin American theme is supported by furniture: facades of the wardrobe and chest of drawers are decorated with bamboo fibers. The cabinet is more likely to resemble a rest room, contrary to the decisions traditional for this room, it does not have a desk and a working chair, but there is a sofa that fully occupies one of the walls of the room, a lot of comfortable pillows, a large low puff, as well as audio equipment, because music is one of The hobby of the owner.
Everything in this interior is thought out and convenient, every detail in its place. You can call it minimalist, but not in the sense of reducing the requirements to a minimum, but rather because there are no extra objects, but there is everything necessary for a comfortable life.
The authors of the project say: architect Audron to Audbrazien, Elvira Balsene decorator
The color scheme of the interior is built on the contrast of dark brown and beige colors. But in order to avoid excessive solidity (after all, we made an apartment for a young man), we created a bright accent in each room: in the living room, for example, it is upholstered furniture of juicy red color, and in the office there are orange sofa and puff. The variety of textures of finishing materials also helps to get away from strictness. In all rooms, three walls are painted, and one is pasted with wallpaper. Due to the fact that the paint is used light, and the wallpaper is dark, a decorative effect occurs, and in addition, the space visually deepens, and the rooms look slightly larger.