apartment with a total area of ​​93 m2 in St. Petersburg Maria Vetkova

Passing the gallery

Text: Olga Gvozdeva

A photo: Peter Lebedev

Stylist: Vladimir Nikiforov

Project author: Maria Vetkova

Magazine: N5 (94) 2005

Once there was an antique dealer living in this apartment in St. Petersburg, and the interior fully corresponded to his passion: oak panels, empire chandeliers, door handles of patinated bronze with dignity bore the stamp of time on themselves. But a few years ago, new owners appeared at the apartment, and it soon became clear that the historical entourage was not at all the decoration that was suitable for their dynamic life. Realizing that change was inevitable, they turned to designer Maria Vetkova, who was to find a new solution for the old interior in a house with a two hundred year history. Frankly, customers were inclined to sell this apartment - says Maria Vetkova. “But they liked the area very much: the quiet center, a wonderful place not far from the Summer Garden ..." The location of the house once became the main reason that prompted the owners to buy an apartment with all the furniture. plasterwork requiring restoration. However, it soon became clear that a banal repair would not satisfy them. The change in style was the minimum program that was formulated with the utmost clarity. Soon she was overgrown with details: the hostess, in contrast to the existing interior la, air and light, and her husband was ready to agree to any project, provided that there is a place for empire chandeliers. "Despite the customers' desire to see glass and metal in the new interior, I was not sure that they were ready to pure hi-tech ", says the designer. The main principle of the project was to make a contrast. To achieve this soft contrast, it was important to combine a light classical basis and modern interior filling, while maintaining the feeling of a single space. For this reason, all the rooms have the same wall decoration: laconic wallpaper with a gray and creamy strip. Considering the fact that the area of ​​the apartment is very small, the space was sought to open up to the maximum. The bedroom was combined with a bathroom, for the sake of the guest bathroom they refused to create a dressing room in the hallway. Now the function of the dressing room perform wall cupboards in the kitchen. However, it would be extremely wrong to assume that this interior was created on the basis of a compromise. A more accurate word is dialogue. Dialogue of the past and the present, a unique symbol of which became spectacular interior doors of frosted glass, decorated with antique bronze handles. On the one hand, they let in sunlight in the living room area, which is located on the shady side. On the other hand, they are a kind of business card of the project, which equally belongs to both the past and the present, in the depths of which the future is already ripening ...Maria Vetkova: “My main goal was to make the interior, first of all, turn out to be comfortable and not bother the owners in a few years. Therefore, it’s probably good that we spent half a year preparing and discussing the project. There was time to think carefully about all the details.”