Moscow, Russia

This custom-designed apartment in Moscow by Karen Karapetian and the design team of Alexander Tischler maximizes every bit of space and integrates storage solutions for this young family to aid its daily tasks and organize its things. 

The clients are a young family and at the time of designing, a couple had one child, but they were planning a second one and asked us to design two separate bedrooms for kids. 

The clients also wanted a master bedroom and a dressing room, three bathrooms (master one, for children and for guests), a laundry room with some storage for all the household appliances and utensils and a spacious open-plan living room suitable for hosting friends. 

The design team developed this project from scratch, supervised all deliveries and finishing works, and designed and produced the cabinet furniture. 

They combined the kitchen and the living room to get a spacious multipurpose great room. 

The cooking area has been fitted with a marble island looking like a monumental monolith with a zephyrous tabletop. 

The island, the backsplash, and the kitchen worktop were made of the Rex large-format porcelain stoneware. 

The designers decided not to use the upper modules: things can be stored in the lower drawers, inside the island or in the column cupboards. 

Additional lighting was installed in a small niche above the work surface, and Foscarini solid wood lamps matching the furniture were hung above the island. 

The designers used a hob with a built-in extractor hood, so that the kitchen wall looks like a flat panel. 

The large wall of the living room was decorated with bichromatic Italon ceramic tiles composing a panel with accent lighting around the perimeter. 

The bookcase is the accent of the whole interior: its dark elements of different widths and textures are combined with a backdrop of the same porcelain stoneware as in the kitchen. 

In the bedroom, the same wall panels were used as in the open-plan living room, but a few elements of a bronze matte mirror were added. 

The bedside tables were also made with the same design. 

The designers removed the windowsill separating the bedroom and the balcony and installed there a sash window.

The master bedroom includes a bathroom and walk-in wardrobe that was transformed from a narrow corridor. 

The dressing room has an additional function: it is a buffer zone between the public area and the private one. 

The designers also designed and made several convenient items for the master bathroom: a small bench in the shower room, a mirror with built-in lighting that turns on to detect the hand movement, and a cabinet with a laundry basket hiding behind its facade. 

Once the basket is full, it is easy to bring everything up right into the laundry. 

When designing the kids’ room, the clients did not yet know what kind of furniture they wanted to put in it and how it could be placed.

Thus, the designers kept the colors neutral and added several magnetic track lights that can be easily rearranged and aimed at the necessary place. 

In the children’s bathroom, the designers made a niche for shower accessories, put a mirror (also with built-in lighting) and hid the laundry basket behind the folding facade of a cabinet as well. 

At the request of the clients, the designers did not remake the guest bathroom into a dressing room. 

There is some place for storing on both sides of the hallway: on the left, there is a large wardrobe with access hatches to the electrical and low-voltage shields on the back wall. 

In the laundry room, the designers organized a full-fledged amenities place: there are washing and drying machines, a water heater and water filters above them. 

The clients made a list of large things that they would like to store there, so the designers custom-designed and produced appropriately sized furniture. 

There is enough space for a stroller, vacuum cleaners and suitcases, and there is also room for ironing clothes. 

Project: Three Bedroom Apartment with a Kitchen Island in Moscow
Architects: Alexander Tischler 
Chief Designer: Karen Karapetian
Engineers: Oleg Mokrushnikov and Konstantin Prokhorov
Head of Purchasing: Ekaterina Baibakova
Head of Finishing: Alexey Stepanov and Timur Chochiev
Designer: Anna Prokhorova
Installation Manager: Andrey Savelyev
Stylist: Nastasya Korbut
Client: Private
Photographer: Yaroslav Lukiyanchenko