This apartment, located in Kadriorg, is Maimo and Brendan's first own home. Our newlyweds bought the apartment three years ago, but haven´t had much time to desing it – even less now when most of their attention goes to the newest addition to the family – their wonderful baby boy. But they dream about a coordinated Scandinavian style home full of light colors and lots of storage space.
Before: too little storage space and light
The living room furniture (especially the large sofa) has seen better days, the hallway is cluttered and the kitchen lacks storage space. Therefore things tend to pile up everywhere, for example on the kitchen worktop, which hinders cooking. The whole kitchen livimng room could use some more storage space. The general lighting in the kitchen, hallway and dining area is incomplete and partially outdated. And the family cat, Nugget, has no proper "home".
After: a bright and coordinated Skandinavian living room
Respecting Maimo's wish that her home should not be too colorful, our interior designer Sälli Preitof mainly used light colors here, mixing them with blue tones borrowed from Maimo's painting hung above the sofa. The centerpiece of the living room is a large gray modular sofa with recliner. For the windows, Sälli decided to use both blinds and curtains, because a layered solution looks cozier than just blinds.Living room
The star of the kitchen is the kitchen island
According to the interior designer, the kitchen island is the star of this kitchen. "It doesn't look too fancy, but it adds necessary storage space and takes advantage of the unused and empty space between the kitchen and the living room. At the same time it doesn't make the room smaller," she says. Thanks to the bar stools in front of the kitchen island, Maimo and Brendan can now comfortably enjoy their morning coffee right in the kitchen.Kitchen
Lots of storage space and light
To create more storage, Sälli added a whole row of wall cabinets above the existing base cabinets. There are also cabinets in the kitchen island by the opposite wall. "Now you don't have to store glasses in the hall anymore," she says. In addition, she updated the kitchen lighting, adding spotlights to the ceiling and separate lamps that illuminate the worktop. To increase cosiness, she placed a mood lamp on the windowsill.
A cosy dining room for three – or more
Instead of the previous large dining table, Sälli chose a smaller but extendable table that can be folded out when friends come to visit. Lamps above the table make the dining area bright and cosy. Next to the dining table, our interior designer placed a large display cabinet which allows to show off Maimo´s beautiful vases, but hide other things, such as candles, in the lower cabinets. Maimo's handicrafts also found a place here.The family cat Nugget now has its very own home in a cat house on legs.
Dining room
The feeling of home starts in the hallway
For the hallway, Sälli chose a large modular wardrobe with plenty of space for both outerwear and shoes, and even a separate shelf for accessories such as jewelry and glasses. The area is well lit by ceiling spot lights, but the cabinets are also equipped with motion sensor activated lighting, so that opening the cabinet doors, you can immediately see what´s inside.Hallway
Tips and tricks for similar homes
- In small rooms, mirrors can be used in unusual places, for example on the wall by the dining table – they make the room look more spacious.
- Smaller families could benefit from an extendable dining table. A large table takes up a lot of space, but an extendable table can be folded out only when you have guests.
- In addition to blinds, use curtains as they bring a lot of coziness to the room. In case of lower ceilings, curtains can be attached to the ceiling using a rail.
Previous makeovers