Do-it-yourself budget repair of a one-room apartment

In detail: do-it-yourself budget repair of a one-room apartment from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Many people panic at the word repair. First of all, because this phenomenon is directly associated with high costs. Yes, after the renovation, many feel as if they had been robbed. It is impossible to exclude expenses, but it is in your power to reduce them, not to the detriment of the quality of the repair. So, how can you make your apartment stylish with a minimum of savings?

The most important thing in the repair is a high-quality base. This means that the floors must be even, the walls must be smooth and even, and the corners must be strictly 90 degrees. What is the threat of such disproportion? Everything is learned in little things. So, if you have uneven walls, this means that the baseboards will not adjoin them completely, there will be ugly gaps that will definitely spoil the appearance. Further, problems with uneven corners will appear when you install cabinet corner furniture. Well, on the crooked floor, the lockers will stand wobbly. In general, if you decide to rely on independent forces for repairs, your work should be perfect. Pouring floors, leveling and plastering walls, decorating walls, installing stretch ceilings - all this should be done by professionals. Believe me, by saving on the base, you run the risk of spending a much larger amount later on correcting errors. Do not forget that it is very important to correctly lay the wires through the apartment, pipes in the bathroom. A lot also depends on the quality of the finish, namely its practicality and appearance. Even the most expensive ceramic tiles, laid out crookedly or cut off, will spoil the entire interior of the room.

Video (click to play).

For some reason, we mistakenly believe that expensive building and finishing materials look better, and as a result, they are a 100% guarantee of successful repairs. Unfortunately, this is not so. Of course, we do not put before you a choice between the cheapest and the most expensive material. This is not entirely true, because first of all it should be about quality and reliability, be it a building mixture, finishing material or an interior item. Quality is above all, the rest is a matter of your choice. And he must fall for the most profitable options for the wallet. Renovation is a serious business, so take it seriously. Compare different options, read reviews on finishing materials on the Internet.

We will not go into details about which building material is better to choose, because as mentioned above - the main quality. Consider the interior elements that form the basis of the design.

Let's start with the design itself. It's not worth spending money, I hire a designer to tell you which corner to put the sofa in and which TV. Today, a lot of interesting options for the design of apartments of various sizes and designs can be found freely available on the Internet. It's easy to do, you just need time to choose one or another design option. It is not necessary to repeat it exactly, you can just see what color variations are combined, what is more suitable for a particular type of finish, and finally, how the upholstered furniture looks in the interior of the room.

The main components of the interior are wall decoration materials, furniture, decor items and the floor.

Let's start with the floor. Many cover it with linoleum, which is quite justified. This material is cheap, relatively practical, but if we are talking about a stylish apartment, this is definitely not linoleum that should decorate. Options: laminate, self-leveling floors.Laminate is cheaper than self-leveling floors and looks very nice. This is a versatile material that can be matched in style to any interior.

Wall decoration - there can be a lot of variations on this theme. Cheap options are wallpaper. But you have to really work hard to find cheap wallpapers of decent quality and with a pattern not like “I'm visiting my grandmother”. Did you know that many designers offer their clients not to cover the walls with anything at all, leaving the brick for everyone to see. The idea is very interesting, but requires a style specification (combine this with a fireplace - it will be perfect). Expensive decorative plaster can be replaced with a regular one applied with a relief roller, all this splendor can then be painted in any color, but just choose the paint carefully.

Interior items - it is on them that a huge part of the funds goes. Minimalism style to help you. Buying cabinet furniture is not cheap. However, as practice shows, it is much cheaper and more practical to buy interior items separately.

Pay attention to the old stuff that remains from the old furnishings. Now it is called vintage, and if you skillfully play with this style in the interior (including wallpaper, buy a couple of antiques, hang up black and white photographs), then you won't have to buy anything. A rocking chair will perfectly complement the interior; as a rule, they are cheaper than ordinary soft chairs.

When changing your life for the better, you should start with yourself, your environment, goals, ideals, but it is important to make changes in your own home. A beautiful, comfortable, cozy house is a guarantee of a good mood, positive emotions, and spiritual harmony. Therefore, you should not be afraid to start changes in the apartment, even in the absence of financial capabilities. Repair is indeed very costly, but having organized it correctly, the result is always justified. The main thing is desire and hands.

Prices on the construction market have been biting lately, but with a competent approach to business, cost planning, it is easy to avoid overpayments and purchase high-quality materials. Having planned the repair work in the apartment, you should initially carefully consider the sequence of actions. Initially, you need to decide on the following nuances.

The whole apartment will be subject to change, or maybe a separate room?
With what "scope" to re-glue boring wallpaper, change linoleum or change electrical wiring, heating, make other global changes?
How to replace old furniture, is there an opportunity to restore it on your own?
Where can I get ideas for updating the interior design, ways to bring them to life with minimal financial costs?

To repair even one room a year is already progress

Often, a budget renovation implies a gradual transformation of each individual room. For the case when apartment owners live on one salary, this is ideal. To repair even one room a year is already progress, do not despair when there is no financial ability to carry out repairs quickly.

Starting such an important matter as budget apartment renovation with your own hands, it is worth very meticulously assessing the state of electrical wiring, water supply, sewerage, heating. After making sure that everything is fine with these communications, you can proceed to assessing the premises themselves. As a rule, the following elements of the apartment are subject to alteration.

Walls - initially, they carefully study the state of the rough plaster, if it is strong, does not crumble, that is, there are two ways to renew them.
Decorating for wallpaper - when the walls have already been pasted over with wallpaper a little easier, you just need to qualitatively remove the old ones, prime the walls and glue the new ones. If the base is uneven, you will have to putty the walls or sheathe them with drywall.

Preparing the wall for wallpapering
Finishing for painting - the base should be perfectly flat, it is very difficult to hide flaws under a layer of paint, so you should pay maximum attention to preparing the base.

when the walls have already been pasted over with wallpaper a little easier, you should only remove the old ones with high quality
The floor is usually wooden. Here they proceed from his condition. If it is normal, and it is planned to lay linoleum on top of the floor, there is absolutely no need to prepare it additionally. When there are creaks, the floor is cold or squeezed, it should be leveled, and at the same time insulated with ordinary sheets of OSB-plates, plywood, fiberboard. Updating the option, when the floor is already covered with linoleum, its condition is satisfactory, you can simply paint boring linoleum in a stylish print, there is an incredible assortment of paints and varnishes.

Linoleum is usually placed on the floor. It can be painted in a different color or printed.

Ceiling - this part of the room should be even and beautiful, since the most imperceptible flaw on it will become a huge problem. After making sure that it is even, you can paint it with water-dispersion paint or paste over with wallpaper, otherwise it is cheaper to order a stretch ceiling. Today, the price of stretch ceilings is quite affordable, and the excellent appearance, the absence of unnecessary labor costs for its installation, simply do not leave it with competitors.

The best option would be to make a stretch ceiling

When starting work, be sure to take into account the following important steps that will need to be taken.

Decide on the design, materials, working hands.
Draw up a thorough, complete list of required building materials.
Examine prices, find the most inexpensive store.

You need to prepare carefully for repairs. It is worth forecasting the budget

Remove unnecessary items from the room, remove old bases from the walls, floor, ceiling.

Before painting anything, it is worth taking care of an overnight stay outside the home for a family in advance, paints and varnishes are very unsafe for people, especially children.

You can paint the walls yourself

Find a specialist who will take on those jobs that you cannot cope with on your own.

Purchase building materials and start work directly.

You can hire a master for those works that you can't handle yourself.

It is a mistake to think that the renovation of the premises begins with the ceiling, it should take its proper form last. You can start from the walls or the floor, depending on what you need to pay more attention to.

The bathroom requires a responsible approach; often, in the absence of good ventilation, it is here that such a hateful mold appears. To prevent this from happening, you should definitely check the ventilation, if it is completely absent, you need to install it. The most popular material for bathroom wall and floor cladding for many years has been ceramic tiles and their derivatives. It costs differently, it is quite possible to find a budget option, as a last resort, you can always take plastic (lining). It washes well, does not absorb moisture, is easy to install, but it “ages” a little faster. If you plan everything carefully, it is not at all difficult to carry out a budget repair of an apartment with your own hands.

Bathroom renovations should be handled responsibly

Thanks to the availability of the Internet, you can find a lot of options for ideas for the decorative transformation of your home. The main thing is not to miss something that can be given a second life. For example, decorating the doors of an old wardrobe with inexpensive full-length mirrors will definitely not be worse than modern wardrobes. Apply mosaic, decoupage to the glass doors of Soviet cabinets, sideboards, or paint them in bright, juicy colors, paste over with self-adhesive tape. All this is quite affordable.

An example of restoration of an old cabinet

When the farm has a lot of things or items that need to be kept away from prying eyes, you need to build a so-called wardrobe yourself, simply by attaching sheets of chipboard, OSB plates to special corners, and hide numerous shelves behind fabric screens of interesting colors or prints. An exquisite option is very fashionable today - to decorate a hall or bedroom with "wicker" curtains. It is easy to make them, there are many instructions on the Internet.

When transforming your own home, you should always remember, getting rid of the old, life will surely be filled with something new and wonderful, and order will reign in all its spheres!

Repairs, as statistics show, are done once every 12-13 years, in one-room apartments the interval is at least 8-9 years, so all possible repair options should be considered in advance.

Before starting all work, you need to do the following:

Choose the type of repair: budget, cosmetic, euro or major. The choice of a budget option does not mean that it will not be of high quality, such a choice shows the desire of the apartment owners to do everything necessary using not the most expensive means.
Determine the budget, beyond which the exit is not possible. You need to choose - to pay for the repair "turnkey" or "for performance" when the materials are purchased at their own expense. The second option will be much more economical.
Draw up a plan, that is, estimate in advance what and where work is needed.
Make an estimate with the workers. It is important to determine the type of work required and the required materials. You can invite several contractors to calculate the estimate, and then choose the best offer.
Decide in advance on the interior decoration and its design.
Agree on a timeline.

Living in such an apartment, and spending a lot of time in only one room, I want everything in it to be as comfortable as possible. In addition, such an apartment has the smallest square meters, and repairs will be cheaper. Nevertheless, any repair and finishing work, including in a one-room apartment, is a long process that requires a lot of time and effort.

Read also: DIY diesel injector repair

Choosing a budget repair for yourself, you need not only to understand how you can save money, but also to have an idea of the list of works for this type of repair. Aligning and painting walls, working with the ceiling and floor, connecting plumbing, checking electrical equipment, installing doors - these are just a few of the necessary works. Consider, due to what, repairs can become budgetary.

Naturally, the first is the ceiling. Stretch ceilings are very popular now, but this is an expensive pleasure. Alternatively, you can paint the ceiling with matte paint and add a skirting board to give the ceiling a beautiful appearance. As for the floors, there is also a field for choice: linoleum, you can choose laminated parquet, carpet is also possible. The choice must be made depending on the needs for a particular coverage and on the possibilities to pay for the selected type of floor. Working with an electrician is a separate topic, it can be changed, and if it worked normally, then everything should be left as it is. Regarding the installation of doors, it should be noted that now on the Internet there is a huge selection of doors of different quality and at any price, so there should be no problems with the choice of doors.

Thinking over the design of your own home is the most important part of the entire renovation. Why? The fact is that guests will pay attention to the design, and not to how the ceilings were painted or the plumbing was installed. After the completion of the renovation work, the whole life in the apartment will take place exactly in the design that the owners will choose during the renovation. People can determine the design on their own, you should not call specialized designers who work only for a lot of money.Thus, renovation in a one-room apartment is not difficult, if you think in advance not only the plan, but also the design of the apartment itself.

Of course, the most economical option for repairing odnushka is to do the work yourself.In order for the result to be of high quality and beautiful, you will have to make every effort, get the necessary knowledge, and carry out all the manipulations with an accuracy of millimeters. How to make repairs in an apartment with your own hands, and not make irreparable mistakes? Do you want to do without the help of professionals and significantly save money? In this article, we will tell you in detail about all the nuances of independent inexpensive repairs in your one-room apartment.First, it is imperative to draw up a work plan, decide on design solutions, and think about purchasing materials.The first stage will be the preparation of the premises for construction work. Oddly enough, but you need to start the whole process with the arrangement of furniture. To do this, print out several copies of the technical plan of the housing. On these sheets of paper, you can create a new look with several options for the arrangement of objects. Be sure to think over this question, since all further stages will depend on it. It is better to leave a minimum of furniture that you will really use all the time - daily and many times. The rest of the interior items - for example, various decorative elements, as well as furniture for rare use (mezzanines, and so on) should be arranged as compactly as possible.The technical plan of the apartment will help to arrange the furniture correctlyThe second stage will be the development of a comfortable and multifunctional housing design. Consideration should be given to planning and expanding the space. Of course, arranging furniture will help save space, but you can also visually expand the space. A few practical tips will help us with this.It is this factor that will greatly affect the appearance of the odnushka. Do not forget about the psychological factor - the selected shades will accompany you and all residents for many years.

The colors brown, blue and green have a relaxing effect.

Few people have the opportunity to order turnkey renovations and spend large sums on finishing the apartment. Fortunately, today there are many ways to save money on renovation repairs by doing it yourself. In this article, we have selected the best recommendations for those who want to make inexpensive but high-quality repairs at home.The budgetary renovation mainly includes finishing works, ceiling and floor renovation. If the estimate allows, windows, interior doors, and plumbing elements are also subject to replacement. It is not recommended to make major changes in the space of the apartment in the mode of saving money. Such work should be carried out by professional craftsmen with experience in repair work, otherwise there is a risk of spoiling the appearance of the room, making mistakes in calculations or running into low-quality building materials.How to make an inexpensive DIY repair? First you need to determine what work will need to be done in the process. The standard stages of a budget room decoration are as follows:

Drawing up a work plan and estimates based on your budget;

Selection of building materials;

Preparing the room for renovation work;

Rough wall decoration and floor filling (if work is being carried out in a new apartment);

Wallpaper gluing, flooring installation, ceiling decoration;

Arrangement of furniture, lamps, decor elements.

As you can see, all these works can be done independently, with a little skills in the field of construction and repair.Following the instructions above, repairs should begin with an estimate and selection of suitable building materials. An estimate should be drawn up sequentially for the decoration of each room and for a specific type of work.You should not buy materials with the hope that they will someday come in handy - you should proceed solely from the repair plan and budget.The first stage of the renovation also includes the release of the future room from furniture, decor elements and part of the decoration. Nothing should remain in the room that will interfere underfoot or deteriorate during repairs. If old wallpaper hangs in the room, it is necessary to remove them and carry out preparatory measures for finishing the walls, the same applies to the floor and ceilings.When purchasing building materials, do not limit yourself to visiting one store - you should take into account all the inexpensive centers in your city. The assortment in them can be strikingly different, as well as the prices for the same type of product. Of course, in case of budget repairs, it is better to turn to the most advantageous offers. You can greatly facilitate your task and save money by ordering building materials in online stores with delivery.

When choosing budget building materials, it is worth remembering one rule: what looks expensive is not always of high quality. You shouldn't buy cheap materials that imitate wood, stone or tiles just because of their appearance. It is imperative to pay attention to the technical and operational characteristics of the goods.The decoration in different rooms of the house has its own characteristics. Therefore, before starting the repair, you need to decide which rooms are in particular need of updating the appearance. In the living room, bedroom, nursery and hallway, inexpensive DIY repairs can include the following types of work:

Plaster and wall plaster;

Pasting new wallpapers;

Wall painting;

Assembly or installation of flooring;

Ceiling decoration.

In the kitchen and in the bathroom, finishing work also includes:

Floor and wall decoration with ceramic tiles;

Surface treatment with water-repellent compounds.

Here we have listed those types of repair activities that you can carry out on your own with some construction skills. However, it is often necessary to do such work indoors, which should be handed over to professional craftsmen:

installation of suspended ceilings;

replacement of plastic windows;

repair of electrical and plumbing.

Although the listed works cannot be classified as economical (due to the use of additional labor and building materials), if necessary, they can also be carried out as part of inexpensive repairs.In addition to giving up complex installation work and saving on building materials, there are other tricks that will help reduce the cost of repairing an apartment. At the same time, the decoration and the interior will have an excellent appearance.Still think that a budget do-it-yourself finishing option cannot look stylish and expensive? In our gallery, we have selected photos of inexpensive repairs, which convincingly prove the opposite.If you want to better understand how to make inexpensive repairs in an apartment in practice, we suggest watching a video with the process of finishing work on a real object.Making repairs on a limited budget with your own hands is quite difficult, but doable. The main thing is not to be afraid of bold decisions, to use modern and high-quality materials, to act according to the plan. And thanks to the tips listed above, you can reduce the estimate for expensive repairs.Not everyone can make everything inexpensive and beautiful. But I tried. The most typical categories of building and finishing materials are listed here. Every little detail such as skirting boards or wall borders is not included in the material. I warn you right away: it will not work at all cheap - this is repair.The most acceptable ceramic tiles in terms of price-quality ratio are in Stolichny Dvor. There is a large selection, but there is a drawback: the required tiles in the required quantity are often not available. It will take up to 45 days to wait for your order from the warehouse.If you don’t have that much time, there are inexpensive collections in “DV Keramik”, in “Red Mammoth” - but there are also absolutely exorbitant prices, at least for a student. But in these stores there is a large selection, which can not be said about "Bayard", "Stroyka", "Kovcheg" and the store "Domovoy". The Apex House is still more expensive.Outcome: tiles on the floor and walls, plus all sorts of decorative things - 14,000 rubles. Shop "Stolichny Dvor", st. Tikhookeanskaya, 204, building 3.In the building of "Stolichny Dvor" there are many pavilions of entrance and interior doors, about seven or more. There you can find options for both 7 and 15 thousand - the price includes a canvas, a casing and a box. Unless hinges and handles are included in the price. "Doors Center", "Doors 27" and "Doors Market" in other parts of the city give out about the same price tag, and sometimes even more expensive. Cheaper doors, namely 4,000, can be found in Bayard, but this is taking into account the still valid New Year's discounts. In the "Doors Service" you can find a decent version, and even with decor, for 3,500. I chose the "Door City": here I found a good option for 5,200 - this is for a canvas with a box, platband, hinges and a handle ... Full set. And pretty.There was also the cheapest option that I saw - but this door was without glass and in general with a minimum of decor.Outcome: the simplest and most inexpensive door, together with all the required ones - 3,000 rubles. Shop "DoorGorod", st. Tikhookeanskaya, 204, building 3.Based on this information, you can roughly estimate what are the prices for entrance doors in these stores. The average price for a solid steel door is 10 thousand, you can find a simpler (less durable) for 6-7.Everything is more complicated here. Linoleum is divided into several categories. There is a thin and not very beautiful household. There is a commercial one, it is denser. And there is something in between, it's called semi-commercial. So I took it. The thickness and strength of linoleum should be chosen based on what kind of floors you have in your apartment. That is, if you just have cold concrete, then take a dense coating. But you need to understand that the steeper the linoleum, the more expensive it is.Not a very large selection in "Bayard", the same amount of linoleum in "Stolichny Dvor". The prices of these stores are about the same (and for everything). Household linoleum here starts from 300 rubles per square meter, semi-commercial - from 400. But there is a semi-commercial and for 600, so be on the lookout. At the same prices, you can look at linoleum in the StroyPol online store. In "InteriorPol" there is much more choice, prices are about the same.And "Asterlin" and "Majordomo" offer linoleum more expensive, sometimes even significantly.Outcome: 48 m 2 of household linoleum - 14,400 rubles. Store "Stolichny Dvor" (address above).These are all sorts of sinks, bathtubs, toilets, mixers, taps and other things. And the prices for them in the same store can differ by 30 thousand or more. That is, if you want a fancy toilet with some kind of automatic flush and a cistern built into the wall (this is to make it less noisy), and even decorated with some stickers, then be prepared to shell out an average of 30 thousand. The same is with the baths: you can take the simplest one for 7,000 and not take a steam bath, but you can buy a shower cabin for 80,000 and then gnaw a little pot before the salary. I chose a more or less budget option, but I am sure that if you know where to look, you can buy even cheaper. I will immediately announce the list of stores where prices for plumbing are relatively high: "Red Mammoth", "Golden Sanitary Engineering", "Brownie". Of the inexpensive stores, one can single out "Leader-DV", "Stolichny Dvor" and all of the following.

The largest network of wallpaper stores in our city is Kovcheg. This is judging by the amount of advertising, of course. The choice here is really huge, the prices are very different. I walked here for a long time and I can say for sure that you can buy inexpensive wallpapers here. And also low prices for wallpaper in "Bayard" and "Red Mammoth". There, and the choice is good.Paints are available in almost any major building materials store, and prices are about the same here. You can also see the colors in DV Keramika.

non-woven wallpaper (2 rolls 1 * 25 m) - 2,200 rubles; paint and color scheme - 3,000 rubles;

vinyl wallpaper (8 rolls 0.5 * 10 m) - 2,400 rubles;

paper wallpaper (20 rolls measuring 0.5 * 10 m) - 2,200 rubles. Everything was purchased at the Kovcheg store (address above);

ceiling paint - 2,000 rubles. Shop "Bayard" (address above).

As a result, building materials for cosmetic repairs in a small one-room apartment, together with the services of a master, cost only 130 thousand rubles. Not that expensive.And now - a few important tips, without which everything written above does not make sense:1. Hire a familiar master. Do everything so that it is the services that cost you inexpensively, otherwise all the past savings on goods will not bring results. It is easier to find such a person through acquaintances. It is cheap. And he, as they say, must have golden hands - this is also important if you do not want to redo everything later.2. Watch out for discounts. It is beneficial, for example, to buy materials for the New Year. Some stores have periods when any discount is doubled. This is where all your friends and acquaintances who have discounts at hardware stores will come in handy. Not a single opportunity should be missed, because when 10 percent turns into 20, then this amount can buy something solid for an apartment.3. Buy online. This is provided that you know exactly what you want.The cheapest repair cost 100 thousand rublesDo you think that a good renovation is impossible on a tight budget? We hasten to dissuade you - just look at these projects.The architects of the studio KDVA Architects created a simple, clean, ideally functional space on the basis of an ordinary Khrushchev building in the seaside town of Nakhodka. In this case, a one-room apartment with an area of 33 square meters has been turned into a studio for one person. Or for a married couple, because the bed in the plywood cube is double.The client plans to rent the future space to a young couple without children, so the interior of this apartment should be modern, but at the same time should not hit the wallet of the property owner too much. One of the main requirements of the owner of the apartment was the division of the only living room into two zones - private and public.This project is an example of a situation where there is neither time nor money for repairs. But I want to live with comfort, at least minimal. “We got the apartment when the rough repair was already finished,” says designer Marina Nazarenko. "Therefore, there was no question of playing with the layout and making it more rational."The main task was to create an interior in one month in which everything would be ready for life, and each thing would find its place. At the same time, the budget was strictly fixed, it was not supposed to go beyond it.In the project, it was important not to allow ready-made solutions, not to create associations with European-quality renovation, an apartment in French or Brooklyn style.Young parents Kirill and Yulia managed to make the space of the one-room apartment ideal for the comfortable life of their family. Correct zoning, a little creativity and a desire to live beautifully are their formula for success. Despite the small area, the apartment turned out to be cozy and comfortable for life.On a modest footage of 28 square meters, Natalya Simonenko organized a full bedroom, an area for rest and work. I also thought about enough storage space and sports equipment.The impossibility of redevelopment for the owners of odnushki is not at all a reason to abandon the isolated sleeping and living areas. With the help of a rack from IKEA, the room was divided into two parts: in one there was a comfortable bed, in the other - a comfortable soft sofa and a spacious wardrobe.The architect immediately abandoned the idea of redevelopment in this apartment: firstly, the wall between the kitchen and the room is load-bearing, and secondly, any construction project instantly affects the budget, which was limited for the owners of the one-room apartment, a young couple with a child.Having relied on zoning and a competent choice of finishing materials and furniture, Natalya Sytenkova arranged a comfortable space for the life of three family members and provided a large number of storage spaces.All other premises and structures were lined up around the bedroom in this apartment: a small kitchen-living room behind a narrow partition with a window, a bathroom and a hallway near the entrance, a mezzanine with a staircase. The project is designed specifically for young customers who are not ready to spend a fortune on renovations.“From what we have left untouched - tiles and plumbing in the bathroom, floor coverings. The rest of the finish was updated: the walls in the living room were pasted over with inexpensive plain textured wallpaper, the surfaces in the hallway and in the kitchen were painted - a budget and practical finish, ”says the designer.

The living room already had a spacious wardrobe all over the wall - it basically performs the function of storage.A budget of 300 thousand rubles, 13 days for repairs, great enthusiasm - with such a baggage, designer Ekaterina Savkina brought to life a bold experiment. It is good that there were some supplies of equipment and furniture, but it was still necessary to figure out how to fit them into the interior.“The customer is my repeat client, I have already designed the interior for her son,” says designer Anna Kovalchenko. “The landlady wanted to renovate the furnishings and prepare the apartment for rent.” The prerequisites were the use of existing furniture and an extremely limited budget.This small one-room apartment with an area of 36 m² is a new project by designer Anna Kovalchenko, whose work we have shown more than once in Kvartblog. Anna shared with us how to make a small apartment stylish with a modest renovation budget.- Anna, please tell us a little about the apartment: what is its area, how many rooms does it have?The apartment is located in Vnukovo - just a five-minute walk from the international airport. Its area is 36 m², including one room, a small entrance hall, a separate bathroom and a kitchen.- What were the main problems of the apartment? When did you start working, where did you start the change?The main problem was the small area of the apartment, especially the size of the tiny bathroom. I wanted to combine the bathroom and toilet in order to enlarge it at least a little, but then I decided not to - at the request of the customer. The ceiling was terribly uneven and low - only 250 cm. The floor, walls, balcony were in a terrible state: it took a lot of effort to get the apartment ready for renovation.- What was the main task of this project? What is its peculiarity?- The apartment was intended to be rented out on Airbnb: it was assumed that mainly the guests would be transit passengers awaiting departure, as well as aircraft crews. Most likely, this dwelling will be rented out for a short period of time - from several hours to 1-2 days maximum, so I had to make a comfortable hotel room, at the same time cozy at home.- How did you choose the colors for this apartment? - The owner of the apartment is an ardent admirer of the Scandinavian style in the classical sense: white walls, calm restrained colors. I offered two concepts to choose from: with green as an accent or in black and white. The client chose the second option, considering it more neutral and suitable for a rented apartment. The black accent walls were decorated with Swedish Boråstapeter wallpaper, the rest of the walls were painted with Dulux white paint.For the floor, a light laminate was selected that imitates natural wood as much as possible, which visually stretched the height of the room.- The description says that you changed the arrangement of the furniture. It is interesting to know: how exactly and why? What has improved since the reshuffle?- The room had to be divided into a bedroom and a recreation area. A double bed was placed in a kind of niche, and a sofa with a coffee table near the window. They decided to abandon the cabinets so as not to clutter up the space. A small chest of drawers and a floor hanger were placed to store clothes. The furniture was chosen as compact and functional as possible; it was mainly purchased from IKEA and Hoff.In the bathroom, we made a custom wooden countertop and installed a Melana countertop washbasin. The wood has been specially treated so that it does not deteriorate from moisture and splashes. White Metro tiles on the walls visually expanded the bathroom, black and white tiles on the floor echo the wallpaper in the hallway.- What has changed in the kitchen?- The black kitchen set was purchased from IKEA, the overhead shelves instead of the upper cabinets were made from the furniture board ourselves. The black washing machine and refrigerator look stylish and fit seamlessly into the space between the cupboards.- What is the total budget for this project?- We met somewhere in the 1.3 million rubles, including furniture, appliances and decor.- Using this apartment as an example (if possible, point by point, it would be more convenient), please tell us why it began to look more stylish and interesting? I guess there are a lot of ideas that readers can pick up, they are quite feasible!1. If you choose neutral, restrained colors for decorating your apartment, use an abundance of different textures and patterns - they will not let the look get bored.2. Add coziness with textiles and light: soft blankets, decorative pillows, candles, lamps with soft lighting will create a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere.3. Divide lighting by category: for example, a bright work light for the cooking area in the kitchen and a decorative lamp with soft light above the table.4. The size of the furniture should be proportional to the size of the apartment: for small living rooms, do not choose bulky sofas and armchairs.- Your favorite solution in this project?- I really liked how the hallway turned out: the wallpaper in a cage looks very stylish and unusual.- How long ago was the project done? The apartment can already be found on the website- The project was completed in December, and now this apartment can be rented.