a pair structure their dream property

When partner-and-spouse structure duo Alexander Kozlov and Anastasia Blagodarnaya acquired a plot of land bordering a pine forest to the south of Moscow, she initially instructed they construct a wood residence on it. “I claimed, ‘Never, hardly ever,’” recalls Kozlov. “When I’m in a common dacha, I do not sense snug. I have the perception I’m likely to be attacked by mosquitoes or anything!”

He’s not substantially of a supporter of mother nature either, in sharp contrast to Blagodarnaya, who cultivates a vegetable garden. “In the evenings, I go there to get herbs for the salad,” she suggests. She also enjoys wandering in the forest and searching for mushrooms. “The surroundings are even now extremely unspoilt, which is starting to be additional and additional exceptional all-around Moscow. We really don’t even have any paths in the forest.”

The pair achieved in the mid-2000s at a design and style firm referred to as Vozrozhdenie, which indicates “renaissance” in Russian. Its signature style was incredibly classical and Kozlov (acknowledged to all those shut to him as Sacha) however remembers the extremely very first project on which he labored – a 300sqm home in Moscow, replete with crimson velvet, gold and intensely decorated wallpapers. When he established up his have enterprise in 2010, he ongoing on a comparable conventional route. On the other hand, by the time he and Blagodarnaya arrived to make their very own residence on the forest house, he’d grow to be eager to work in a a lot more up to date vein.

The end result is extremely significantly a joint venture. “Sacha was the brain, I was the heart,” Blagodarnaya states. “Most of the conclusions we created together. I have confidence in him and his model 100%. If he’s certain anything will operate, I know it will.” She dreamed of a household with huge windows, flooded with pure light-weight he desired no curtains and an open up flow on the floor ground. The relaxation of the method was pretty natural and organic. “We did it move-by-move,” Kozlov states. “We did one issue, analysed it and then resolved what to do subsequent. It was rather various from doing work with consumers, where by you have to make a presentation at the commencing – then, if matters alter, people are not happy.”

Kozlov initially thought of installing wood panelling, and attractive wallpapers in the bedrooms. “That was my classical qualifications coming back again to haunt me,” he laughs. “Each time, Nastia explained no.” As an alternative, they agreed on all-white walls, concrete flooring and sleek walnut millwork. Blagodarnaya compares the snaking bookshelves on possibly facet of the fireplace in the residing area to caterpillars.

Gallery: Craigslist fixer-upper: from grain silo to magnificent very first residence (Lovemoney)

a tree in front of a house: When Christoph Kaiser spotted a flat-pack grain silo from the 1950s for sale on Craigslist, he thought his storage problems were over. But a quick Google search for similar projects led him down a different path, and a genius tiny home was conceived instead. Here, we take a peek inside and find out how he did it.

All over, the appear is refreshing, graphic and extraordinary. The entry corridor is dominated by a striking zigzag-shaped staircase. “I did not want a banister I needed it to float,” suggests Blagodarnaya. It prospects up to a landing, in which Kozlov has mounted his business. Existing assignments on his drawing board include things like a 600sqm multi-brand keep in central Moscow, a minimalist lake dwelling about 90 minutes away, and the renovation of a home in Dundee that dates back again to 1831.

“During the new lockdown, I invested most of my time at my desk,” he says. “People could think there’s not much privacy as they picture it is like staying in a hallway. But truly, our two younger sons are in the playroom on the ground flooring the full time and there’s no person up there.” The business office also has a specific that means for Blagodarnaya. Some of the textbooks on its shelves made use of to belong to her great-grandparents.

A hid doorway in the center leads to a visitor bedroom, though a spiral staircase serves a house in the attic, which is applied to property the boys’ coach established and also for family members Lego classes (in the earlier, they have manufactured a mini edition of the Taj Mahal). To one aspect of the landing, the learn bed room is accessed by way of a tremendous-stylish wander-as a result of dressing area with a pair of burnt-orange modernist slipper chairs to the other is the boys’ place, dominated by a couple of neon signals over each individual mattress. A single lights up in purple to go through “Always Follow Your Dreams” the other declares in blue that “The Foreseeable future Is Now.”

A person room that was of specific importance was the grasp rest room. “We preferred it not only to be useful, but also pleasing,” Blagodarnaya states. Some components of its decoration would not look out of position in a sitting room. To either facet of the freestanding bathtub are two walnut niches, equipped with a pair of almost similar monotypes by Russian artist Tatiana Laponkina, and the place is also house to an armchair. The shower, meanwhile, is equipped with both equally sauna and hammam functions. “When I suggested owning them, Sacha stated he’d by no means use them, but he does,” Blagodarnaya laughs. “And just before we moved to the home, he did not just take baths. But now, he’s in there every single weekend.”

The palette in the rest room is distinctly lower-crucial, but lively colors abound elsewhere in the household – the tomato-crimson amorphic chair in the business office, the bright yellow portray in the living space and the adjacent multi-hued picture of Hollywood Boulevard, taken in 2017 by the Australian-born photographer George Byrne. And the two Kozlov and Blagodarnaya’s favorite objects in the home are similarly striking in tone – the pair of emerald environmentally friendly sofas, built by Vincent Van Duysen for Molteni. “I always dreamed of obtaining environmentally friendly sofas,” she states. “It’s truly my color.” However, their appeal stretches past chromatic concerns. “They’re so deep they are virtually like beds,” she adds. “They’re perfect for taking a nap.”

Styling by Natalia Onufreichuk alexanderkozlovinteriors.com