Pastel Colors and Vintage Furnishings Rule in This Polish Flat

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Project Details:

Location: Katowice, Poland

Interior Design: Mistovia

Footprint: 485 square feet

From the Designers: "This small flat is located in a recently renovated townhouse in the city center. It was created by merging together two tiny flats. The investor purchased them for herself, but over time, life altered the initial plans and the flat eventually ended up functioning as a short-term rental.

"The plan was very clear from the start—the owner loves vintage and she knew straight away that she was going to want the design to include various second-hand pieces. What’s more, she became involved in searching for them online and in shops herself. As usual when it comes to investment flats, the budget was a bit limited. The second-hand furnishings allowed us not only to save a considerable sum, but also to give the old furniture a new life. On the other hand, buying vintage objects comes with quick decision-making and requires a lot of patience.

"Before we could proceed with selecting the furniture, the interior needed to undergo a few major changes. The original design placed the bathroom in the current living room. Moving it somewhere else in order to create more living space was our first step. Ensuring enough storage space was another crucial element of the project. In short-term rental spaces, it is incredibly important to find space for a closet. In this design, it was smartly hidden behind a wall of colored mirrors, which at first sight seem to serve no functional purpose. Storage space in the bedroom was also achieved in an unusual way—through white shelves originally meant for the wardrobe, which here have been mounted on one of the walls, creating a gallery of unique objects.

"A classy, oak hardwood floor made by the investor’s father fit perfectly into the townhouse’s interior. In order to soften the relatively dark floor, we decided to go with pastel colors. Pink rules in the kitchen, on the powder-coated bathroom furniture, on the windowsills, and on the top of the old linen closet functioning as a cupboard under the bathroom sink. Only the bold, intense navy of the front door breaks out from among the pastels.

"The antique credenza constitutes the focal point of the kitchen. It is truly surprising how this vintage piece of furniture, a must-have in every traditional Silesian kitchen, "gets along" with the Italian furniture—a set of modernist chairs by the Milan-based ZEUS brand and the table made of chrome steel and black glass, which brings to mind the 70s designs of Giotta Stoppino. The lighting, also vintage, consists fully of foundlings from popular websites, and the leather couch comes from one of IKEA’s older collections.

"In this design, we had the opportunity to experiment and a lot of freedom in terms of using elements of different characters. After all, vintage isn’t one specific style, and a low budget doesn’t have to necessarily come with buying equipment of low quality."