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“Creating a beautiful dwelling for yourself is a rattling life-affirming footstep, a sort of mantra that everything will live fine. I believe it plant,” says Yana Molodykh, the interior designer and founder of Ukraine-based firm Yanamol. During 2022, equally Molodykh too everyone about her adapted to their novel reality—state of war—all of her projects earth to a stop in addition to no novel go came inwards. Now, a twelvemonth in addition to a one-half afterward the Russian invasion, she’second starting to resume projects together with even has fresh clients rolling in. “Life goes on, too no one can kill promise,” she says.


One of those clients was a retired pair in search of a home inwards Kyiv where they could pass their weekends and be closer to their children in addition to friends. The Podil neighborhood called to them: The expanse reminded them of Kherson, the seaside downward inwards the southern office of the country where they both grew upwardly. Like Kherson, Podil offers access to the H2O (specifically the Dnipro embankment) in addition to was one time the center for craftsmen—some other depict given the distich’sec boy in addition to his married woman operate a furniture company, Buro150. They constitute an apartment on the elevation floor of a new edifice about the historic movie theater as well as and so tasked Molodykh amongst renovating the 538-square-human foot space.

“Initially, it was a total mess,” recalls Molodykh. The beginning time she stepped inside, she was greeted by zinc-profiled floor in addition to, overhead, bits of mineral wool amongst dark film smooshed between the steel beams. She covered the unsightly channels with rough plaster together with partially hid or so of the metal columns too beams behind shelves made out of solid ash as well as oak veneer—a combination that “creates the illusion of scattered calorie-free inwards the room,” she explains. These additions too provided much-needed soundproofing: The building is located above a subway system tunnel that lies non that deep hugger-mugger.
As she walks us through the home, Molodykh shares what it looks similar to move frontwards and attempt joy in every corner:

My summit tip for anyone living amongst depression or quirky ceilings:
Refuse cornices. If y’all cannot imagine your room without them, choice ane that (at maximum) goes to the ceiling. Also, y’all tin purpose viii-inch molding on the walls, along the perimeter of the ceiling, in addition to pigment the office higher up the molding the same color every bit the ceiling. Or just place the forest on the ceiling, as I did inwards this projection.
The coolest piece I discovered during this projection:
The ceramic sconces past Kononenko in the bath. The clay they are made from was originally from the Sloviansk town that is straight off inward the area of hostilities, and so you cannot social club such a lite anymore.

The matter I had to sell the homeowner on:
The armchairs past Fritz Hansen—simply it wasn’t me who “sold” them; the clients’ children were my partners inward criminal offence. They talked their parents into purchasing the chairs. It was important non to burden the space with massive objects. Instead I wanted to create a low-cal, airy atmosphere under the roof.

How I chose the perfect wall paint:
The walls are painted with Argile pigment from the Earth Colors collection. As a kid, I helped my grandmother whiten the walls of her family inward Polissia alongside clay diluted with H2O. [This handling] is the same warm shade of white.

Why I gave the vestibule a hitting of colour:
I always role this solution to visually assort the entrance zone and make a buffer space betwixt the outside as well as the within. The colors of the door together with tiles are my tribute to the hues together with patterns of constructivism. Also, it is my characteristic: I really honey bluish doors, together with y’all can meet them inward many of my interiors; only the shades are dissimilar.
The item the homeowner sold me on:
They wanted me to crush a bath, a shower, a boiler, in addition to a washing car into a small-scale bathroom. And I managed to reach it.

The accent I’ll definitely function once again inward a hereafter project:
I like the woods ceiling amongst beams; it creates a unique mood of an onetime room under the roof.

The decision that felt similar the biggest chance:
Designing the smallest sleeping room [I always accept]. It’second solely 73 square feet. It has everything for a comfortable stay: a bed raised on a podium, a wardrobe behind a column inwards a niche, shelves too drawers nearly the bed. The massive beam on the ceiling was encompassed into a plasterboard box to visually lighten it too avoid the feeling of a heavy metallic structure overhead.