The apartment is located in a new modern residential complex called Fayna Town, in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Fayna Town is like a 'city within a city' and used to be home to the Kyiv vegetable factory and greenhouses before being transformed into a modern and functional vibrant community of young professional Ukrainians.
Fayna Town's famous communal areas house cafes, shops, schools, bike paths, and parks to meet friends for play or study. The 'open quarter', is a specially designed environment planned by the district to be free from cars and filled with sunlight and open meeting places. Like the town, it resides in, this home is filled with color, light, and warmth. The owner selected the pallet of pink, blue and yellow, it was Bondar's job to bring them to life, she states;
"We shouldn't be afraid of dark or light colors in small interiors. It's not about colors but about harmony. In this project, the use of yellow, pink, blue, and white was chosen by the client. As a designer, it is my job to find the right shade that will suit the space. So we have the freedom to experiment with colors."
Olga Bondar
The entranceway leads from a short hallway to the combined kitchen and living areas. To the left of the entrance is a wardrobe for outerwear and shoes, a pouffe, and hooks. To the right, there is a floor-to-ceiling mirror built into the wall. The frameless mirrors that are fixed on the walls help to amplify the space.
The living room is located opposite the entrance to the apartment. In the living room, there is a sofa, a coffee table, a floor lamp, and a small floating TV unit. A sofa with a lower-height back was chosen as it allowed the resident to have a full-size comfortable seating area without creating a visual block.
The kitchen is compact but has everything a tiny home needs. with a sink, a hidden dishwasher, an induction hob, and a white oven selected to match the cabinets.
The lower and upper cabinets house plenty of storage except for the place above the sink. There, the precious space has been allocated for the display of a vase or for the client to personalise with her belongings. A circular lamp creates ambient lighting at night.
The kitchen counter is made of MDF, the splashback is an artificial stone, and the cabinet doors, chipboard.
There is a small dining area that separates the kitchen and living room. A small bar counter and bar stools with cushions the same pink colour as the wall was chosen to allow two people to comfortably eat while looking out towards the living room and can also be used as a work area.
The bedroom is located through a door by the living room. A floating dressing table with a large floor-to-ceiling mirror and a floating bedside table next to it sits beside the entrance to the bedroom.
The gypsum panels surrounding the mirror have been painted yellow to add warmth to the space. To the right of the dressing table, there is a custom bed on a podium with storage space underneath for bed linen and blankets.
The yellow in the bedroom echoes the yellow window in the kitchen; the continuous design language within small spaces helps create harmony and flow through the space.
The narrow mirror by the dressing table extends to the ceiling to extend the visual height of the room. The dressing room is behind a curtain on the opposite side of the room. The curtain allows the client to open up the space to let light in and to close it up to hide away clutter.
The built-in closet at the back is finished in a smooth white finish and blends in with the walls. It has lots of storage for clothes and personal belongings.
A floating shelving system was built on both sides of the dressing room for extra storage and to display the client’s handbags and belongings. It was finished in the same pink as the other areas of the apartment.
The entrance to the bathroom is located by the hallway. As you enter, there is a washbasin and a vanity on the right. The tapware is built into the wall to allow more space for the washbasin. There is a large wall-to-wall mirror that visually expands the space and a couple of built-in lamps. The vanity and the toilet float above the floor to visually give the room extra space.
The NTS team will be making a donation to the Red Cross. You can also help make a difference for people in Ukraine here - www.redcross.org.au/ukraine
Images by Alexander Kondriyanenko
