Pandemic and Jazz

Concept

The interior design of this house in Żoliborz was developed during the lockdown. My service included the design of the ground floor, a bedroom with an office, as well as the arrangement of the bathroom and the teenager’s room.

This was one of those projects where it was necessary to take into account existing elements such as flooring, doors, and electrical installations while incorporating some already purchased furniture (in this case, a table, rug, coffee table, bed, and desk with a chair).

The strongest accents in the interior, which were meant to remain, were the posters. They determined the color choices for the walls, carpentry, and furniture.

Another important element was the piano and the homeowner’s and his son’s love for jazz music.

Cost Estimate

If a project includes a cost estimate, I often prepare it in two or even three versions. Each version corresponds to different budget levels, but the first version always fully aligns with the approved concept. The third version is intended to show possibilities for cost reduction while maintaining the main design elements presented in the Concept phase.

Cost Estimate

This was also the case for this project. In the end, the investors themselves decided which elements would be implemented according to the first version of the cost estimate and which would be replaced with more economical solutions from the second and third versions.

Materials

The house was fully furnished when I entered with my project, so the selection of materials focused on elements such as:

the flooring finish after sanding,
the material for the kitchen backsplash,
wallpapers and wall colors throughout the house,
the color scheme for all newly ordered carpentry.

Execution Guidelines

Since we did not modify installations, plumbing, electrical wiring, or flooring, my guidelines for contractors mainly concerned built-in furniture, color schemes, wallpapers, and the kitchen layout.

A key element of the interior design was the openwork partition made of steel and wood, separating the previously open dining and living areas.

I used a solution with thin, lightweight steel rods, onto which wooden shelves were mounted.

It was not an easy element to execute. We spent a long time looking for a company that could build such a structure at a reasonable price.

A similar steel-and-wood structure was also planned for the kitchen. A metal bar counter was placed against a wall finished with raw brick, and above it, we hung wooden shelves with LED lighting supported by a metal frame.

In the office, I designed a green library, which was complemented by bedside cabinets in the adjacent bedroom.

The green color was also used in the wallpaper chosen for the wall behind the bed. Initially, a different wallpaper was planned (visible in the drawings and visualizations below), but we ultimately opted for a Moooi pattern featuring fairy-tale animals and plants.