This Moscow apartment feels as warm as sunshine on a cold winter’s day and despite its modest 80sqm area, it dazzles you with personality and an energetic colour palette.

Words: Pia Sinha
Photography: Enjoy Home Studio

Smaller sized homes often make the majority of us shy from using a lot of colour. Instead, we focus on elements that visually help expand a room. Often we do this by switching to lighter hues. But, every now and then, you’ll see a home that celebrates colours like you’ve never imagined before. It’ll change your perspective a little and reinforce the universal truth that there’s no such thing as too much colour. Just like this stunning apartment, the Unique Pallet of Joy, in Moscow.

Home to free-spirited artists, this beautiful apartment is literally a continuation of its owner’s personalities. Imbued in shades of provocative yellow and deep blue, the apartment is bold, yet welcoming and oozing with comfort.   The vivacious space has been designed by Russia’s prominent interior designer Nadya Zotova of Enjoy Home Studio, whose style displays as fearless and chic.

Originally, the apartment’s architectural style resembled a “stalinka”, typical to homes in the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. Its layout was associated with the socialist realism school of art and architecture and comprised: a narrow hallway, small kitchen, with a bathroom and WC separated.

Thanks to Nadya’s design prowess, every square meter of the home has been utilised, and as a result the bedroom now includes a wardrobe. A massive win for the owners!

Similarly, the designer worked out a space in the living room to accommodate a large dining table.  The corridor ceased to remain and in its place, Nadya worked to expand the bathroom area.

With shades of deep blue dominating the décor and colour scheme of this home, we love the pops of yellow in Nadya’s choice of kitchen cabinets, the lone arm chair in the living area and a few smaller knick-knacks around the home.

The bedroom is tranquil and calm and is dotted with floral prints in its choice of upholstery. There’s a welcoming pop of yellow here thanks to a charming nightstand and a few soft furnishings.

The living room too makes quite a statement.  Here, the Suspension Lamp by Ella from DelightFULL lends oodles of elegance and sophistication. You’ll want to look twice!

In all, the Unique Pallet of Joy is an amazing lesson in decorating with colour, despite its modest area.

If you’re feeling inspired, but don’t know where to begin, here’s a tip that’ll really come in handy. The secret to decorating any room with colour, is to divide it into percentages. Always go with 60% of the dominant shade combined with 30% of the secondary colour and finally 10% of the accent colour. When you maintain this balance, decorating is simpler and your home will literally go from ‘drab’ to ‘fab’ in a jiffy.  ”

Happy Decorating!