SEMEREY apartment by Rina Lovko Design Studio

The apartment is located on the 4th floor of a residential house, which was built in 1905, in the historical area of Kyiv. Because of the state of the building, a massive renovation of the flat was required. The process of dismantling revealed the rotten slabs and large cracks in the walls, and that flooring replacement is needed. Our client is fascinated with Paris, so our target was to recreate a flair of a vintage apartment. Our solution was not to copy the “Parisian chic” tricks, avoiding the ornamental plaster and other obvious elements of direct quotation of this style. The state of the structure of the building made us renovate the apartment, and enhance the slabs and the walls. The old wooden inner walls were damaged by humidity and wood pests, so we had to remove them completely. The original parquet was also disassembled, and the floor was upgraded with a welded structure poured with concrete. Furthermore, we enhanced the balcony, and the walls were strengthened with special ties to pull together the frame. The plaster on the ceiling above the bed is one of the most romantic details, which brings the vintage interiors to mind. This is our hint on the classic plaster, reimagined in terms of modern minimalism. This element was produced by hand from gypsum, according to our 3D-model. We always take full advantage of the space in our design process. While doing so, we ended up with a wall niche with streamlined angles, inspired by the process of smoothing out a cornice and a ceiling. Such angles make the room softer, adding to its special atmosphere. Apart from being an aesthetical solution, this wall niche is useful for storing glasses or home decor, as it is based just above the kitchen sink. The Bathroom turned out to be a special place. The marble for the shower walls was picked with precision, the sink was manufactured from the same marble, and the cabinet was made to measure. The mirror above the sink was also designed and produced according to our drawings. The window in the bathroom was one of the special requests from our client. The cabinet is placed right in front of the mirror, so the client could do her morning beauty routine with a view. The bathroom is separated from the bedroom with a glass partition and a soft tulle creating a continuous space. Drawing upon the philosophy of Rina Lovko Design Studio and the belief that great design can help people feel better, our team uses several "healthy" materials as natural stone and re-use the original parquet. The elongated window in a wardrobe is one of the details which recall the historical design schemes. For this interior, we reinterpreted and simplified the traditional design of the frame. The minimalist shape is perfectly doing its thing, which is to create extra light in the hallway. We opted for the time-tested scheme of the space arrangement, which is an enfilade.