Room of the Day: A Russian Dacha Brims With Optical Illusions
Designers make the most of an elongated room with floating furniture and a few well-placed, space-boosting tricks
The owners of this house moved to the countryside a few years ago, but they are still in the process of designing their family “nest.” Along the way, they had some trouble furnishing the living room. Tired of gathering family and guests in the kitchen, the owners tried their luck and became the subjects of a popular Russian home renovation show, Dachniy Otvet (The Dacha Solution). Part of the problem was that the two owners had different priorities: The wife preferred to keep only the minimum amount of furniture in order to maximise free space, while the husband wanted to create a compact office with a desk. Designers Victoria Korneeva and Anna Besprozvannyh managed to accommodate all of their wishes while creating a striking living room filled light and optical illusions.
Particle board with a natural-wood look covers the floor, walls and ceiling of the sitting area, creating a continuous surface. Pink textiles soften the stark geometric interior. The resin flooring in the office area has a smooth, seamless surface, and the walls are painted with matching washable paint.
The boundary between the two zones is accentuated by an LED strip that was laid sideways into the wall and covered with matte diffusers.
The boundary between the two zones is accentuated by an LED strip that was laid sideways into the wall and covered with matte diffusers.
Since the wife did not want to overload the space with furniture, the designers gave up on traditional sofas and instead created two “floating” sitting areas. The furniture stands on a hidden support, while an LED light under the couches contributes to the appearance of weightlessness.
The owners enjoy entertaining and often have friends and relatives over. These about 3-foot-wide (90 centimetre wide) sofas provide a place for guests to sleep over.
Take a look at these stunning multipurpose furniture pieces
The owners enjoy entertaining and often have friends and relatives over. These about 3-foot-wide (90 centimetre wide) sofas provide a place for guests to sleep over.
Take a look at these stunning multipurpose furniture pieces
One of the main highlights of the living room are the two windows, which face one another. They were expanded in the renovation to one-and-a-half times their original surface area.
This allows far more light to fall on the desk, which is a long, wide tabletop made of thermo-structured surface boards resting metal supports. It doubles as a buffet table when there are guests. The open shelves on both sides seem to float in the air.
Check out these tricks to make your small living room seem bigger
This allows far more light to fall on the desk, which is a long, wide tabletop made of thermo-structured surface boards resting metal supports. It doubles as a buffet table when there are guests. The open shelves on both sides seem to float in the air.
Check out these tricks to make your small living room seem bigger
The triangular TV stand also contributes to the visual game: It appears to stand on only a single point. To the right of the television area is the entrance door, which is revealed only by its handle. A panel supported by hidden hinges was installed without jambs and painted the same colour as the wall.
A variety of light sources – from the LED strip to the cylindrical ceiling fixtures and pendant lights – emphasise the geometry of the space and make it possible to tailor its ambiance suit any occasion.
Read more:
How to Live Large in a Small Apartment
Tell us:
What did you like the most about this room? Tell us in the Comments below.
A variety of light sources – from the LED strip to the cylindrical ceiling fixtures and pendant lights – emphasise the geometry of the space and make it possible to tailor its ambiance suit any occasion.
Read more:
How to Live Large in a Small Apartment
Tell us:
What did you like the most about this room? Tell us in the Comments below.
Living Room at a Glance
Who hangs out here: A couple and their daughter
Location: Near Moscow, Russia
Size: 20 square metres (about 216 square feet)
Designers: Viktoria Korneeva and Anna Besprozvannyh, SHKAF Interior Architects
The designers had quite a complicated space to work with: The ceilings were only about 2.2 metres (7 feet) high, and it was difficult to arrange furniture functionally in the elongated, wood-panelled room.
Korneeva and Besprozvannyh decided to radically transform the geometry of the room to hide its shortcomings. They visually broke the space up into two asymmetric areas. The switch in paneling and the radical geometric divide, which is emphasised with lighting, creates separate office and sitting areas in the space.