Interior design of student apartment in the spirit of less waste concept

A small flat in a block of large slab, built at the turn of the 60s and 70s of the last century, required a thorough renovation.

Both because of the equipment, which still remembered the greyish times of the Polish People’s Republic, as well as the functionality, it had to be adapted to the requirements of two young, studying brothers.

The main idea was to renovate the interior, reorganize the space and change the layout of the rooms to make the tenants feel comfortable, have privacy, as well as the opportunity to spend time together in the common area.

We wanted the small M2 in Warsaw’s Bielany, to be financially accessible, aesthetic, preserving the character of the 70’s, but at the same time made of durable materials and renovated respecting the existing architectural fabric.

During the project, the assumptions of “less waste” were important for us. We made sure that some of the equipment after being refreshed could be reused, and unnecessary things – sold or given away. In the rooms we have preserved, among others, the original wooden parquet arranged in the so-called Łowickie strips and several lamps. We took care to preserve the climate and highlight the unique characteristics of this type of construction, such as visible joining of concrete slabs on the ceiling. The walls were deliberately not leveled, and the electrical cables were routed on top.

The style of the arrangement refers to the years from which the building comes. Furniture and elements made of wood and plywood introduce a bit old school atmosphere. The equipment – on a reasonable budget, but of good quality, also from Polish manufacturers and designers – is simple, aesthetic and functional. There were visually light equipment here, thanks to which the space seems visually larger.

The apartment has two separate rooms and a comfortable common space.

Bedrooms have become a place to rest, work and store personal belongings.

At the expense of the area of one of the rooms, we increased the area of the kitchen, thanks to which there was room for a table. For the students, a common dining area and a place to spend time with friends were very important.

Previously, a small, blind kitchen, to which light reached through a window overlooking the room, was illuminated by a glass wall with a door to one of the rooms and a window overlooking the hallway. The glazing between the dining room and one of the bedrooms can be covered with a linen curtain if necessary.

The room that has undergone the greatest metamorphosis is the bathroom. Before the renovation, it was decorated modestly – with an old bathtub on its legs, toilet with a flush, walls finished with several rows of tiles, lampstand made of paint and terrazzo on the floor. Now there are visually light equipment with modern, simple forms – a washbasin mounted on a steel console and a suspended toilet. The toilet frame now serves as a shelf for accessories, and above it was placed a bathroom cabinet with a mirror. The crystal wall lamp in the bathroom is one of the elements of the equipment of the apartment, which was left by the previous owners. We also wanted to leave the old cast iron bathtub, but the young tenants decided to take a shower.

In the design of this interior, we took the best from the years when the building was built. We have combined the existing elements with modern, simple equipment of good quality, assuming that they will serve not only the current tenants, but also the next generations for the next decades.

The interior after a comprehensive renovation meets all expectations of investors – it is modern, aesthetic and comfortable.