Designing your dream home after years of creating for others is a mixture of excitement, joy, fulfillment, but also tremendous pressure. How did Katarzyna Burak of FUGA Architektura Wnętrz cope with this task?
Katarzyna Burak's apartment is located in the attic of an apartment building
© FUGA Architektura Wnętrz
Big changes
The apartment is located in Warsaw's Stary Mokotów district. The attic of the tenement needed a general renovation. Wainscoting covered every wall and ceiling, the windows had bars, and the bathroom was dominated by bottle green and an elevated toilet seat.
- I knew I wanted an interior that was colorful, cheerful, filled with vintage items that had sentimental value to us and design classics that would age beautifully. Although the townhouse dates back to the post-war period, the attic itself was only adapted for use in the early 1990s, which is also the time of my childhood. I decided to combine these facts, using the style of those years as inspiration for the design. For example, the tile pattern in the bathroom is deceptively reminiscent of terrazzo, which was used for window sills in my family home 30 years ago - the architect describes.
The bookcase is a more than 70-year-old piece of furniture from Kasia's grandparents' house
© FUGA Architektura Wnętrz
Preserve the gems
The approximately 115-square-meter apartment features a spacious living area with an open kitchen and dining area. The bedroom has been decorated in a zen-like atmosphere. Kasia's partner 's study is also called a greenhouse by the household members, due to the plants set by the skylights, which create a unique atmosphere. Thanks to the use of large skylights, plenty of sunlight comes into the dining room. In addition, the apartment has a workspace for the designer, which also serves as a guest room, as well as a large dressing room and a bathroom.
- The only element we have kept in this apartment is the solid wood parquet flooring from the Hajnów plant famous for its long tradition of producing wood floors. We highly value natural materials and are very respectful of ecology, so it was clear that the parquet floor would stay. In addition to it and the wooden structural pillars, the apartment was literally razed to the ground. At the climax of the demolition work, there was not a single partition wall in the apartment - the designer recalls.
The bedroom was decorated in a zen-like atmosphere
© FUGA Architektura Wnętrz
Details matter
Every piece of furniture here has a story. The blue chairs at the table come from Kasia's grandmother's family home. They are the famous Skoczki - an icon of Polish design in the 1960s, designed by Juliusz Kędziorek. The dark green Zetki are iconic armchairs bought at auction, which were later given a second life by a friendly car painter. The chiffonier in the bedroom, brought from Denmark, remembers the times when elegant women used linen closets with 7 drawers, for each day of the week - hence the name. Meanwhile, the glass book display case in the study is a more than 70-year-old piece of furniture from her grandparents' house, where Kasia used to display her artwork as a little girl. The architect's favorite element is the kitchen island, around which social life revolves.
- I like literally everything about it: the shape - reminiscent of a steamboat sailing into the distance, the pink unobvious color, the marble stone leg, which I fell in love with at first sight, but most of all its multifunctionality! It is ideal for work, preparing meals, but also for meetings over coffee or a glass of wine. It has very roomy cabinets - on the kitchen side, 6 drawers to hold tableware, cutlery and dry supplies, and on the living room side, a bar with a selection of liquor and glassware. This is the element of our house where a lot of people are always hanging around - Kasia describes.
The kitchen island is the architect's favorite element
© FUGA Architektura Wnętrz
A way to create a good mood
The project is characterized by great boldness in combining colors and materials. Unobvious juxtapositions can be seen, for example, in the steel fronts in the kitchen, which have been complemented with gold handles. When choosing colors, for example, an orangish refrigerator, or an original lilac for the bathroom cabinet, the architect deliberately used color therapy to improve her mood every day just by being at home.
- There is too much gray in everyday life to condemn ourselves to boring interiors - Kasia explains.
The seats got a second life thanks to a car painter
© FUGA Architektura Wnętrz
Practical solutions
The technical layer of the apartment was equally carefully crafted. The lighting allows to build an atmosphere that fits diffrent parts of the day. Unusual bevels posed quite a challenge when selecting lighting, so there are practically no ceiling lamps here. The main illumination of the living area is a huge wall lamp fondly called "donut" by the owners, which, thanks to its dimming function, is able to illuminate the living room, and in the evenings give it only a soft, romantic glow. The architect also faced challenges such as the lack of hot water in the kitchen and the need to replace the entire heating system in the apartment. However, the architect says she never for a moment regretted her choice, and the challenges she encountered along the way only taught her to be more empathetic towards her clients, with whom she solves similar problems on a daily basis.
The bathroom arrangement is more subdued
© FUGA Architektura Wnętrz
Are you decorating your apartment? We have more inspiration for you!
Compiled by:KATARZYNA SZOSTAK
