I am an architect by profession. After graduating from the Moscow Architectural Institute, I lived and worked in Moscow. Following the war, I moved to Georgia with my family and am very happy to have returned to my homeland, where I now have the opportunity to work on interesting projects. Over the past two years, I implemented two projects as an interior designer. I am currently working on my third project.
Last year, I designed my first apartment in Tbilisi for a well-known Russian journalist who moved to Georgia with his wife because he was facing criminal charges in Russia.
The apartment is located on Uznadze Street, in a so-called Stalin-era building. During the project, I had complete carte blanche from the owners, who fully trusted me. When the client trusts me, the result always turns out perfect. Of course, it was challenging at first. Starting everything from scratch in a place where you know no one and nothing is difficult, but I was fortunate. My foreman from Moscow, who was also born and raised in Tbilisi, speaks Georgian and has relatives here, returned to Georgia as I did. He, along with his relatives, provided me with excellent and high-quality work.
The renovation work lasted for a year. The apartment had a good layout to begin with, so we didn’t need to touch the walls; we simply rearranged the room layouts to accommodate the owners’ love for hosting guests. The entire apartment is designed in two colors: white and oak. Wherever possible, we retained the existing oak parquet flooring, and where necessary, we restored it to match.
The clients wanted a design for the apartment that they wouldn’t grow tired of in a few years. The atmosphere of a Tbilisi apartment, partly given by the Stalin-era building type, is combined with Berlin aesthetics. The lighting fixtures were brought in from Italy. Some of the furniture was purchased in Georgia, while other pieces were custom-made by local craftsmen, including the kitchen and bathroom furniture. For example, the table made of oak from Racha was crafted by a very skilled Georgian woodworker. The wardrobe in the bedroom is my design.
Designing my first apartment in Tbilisi was undoubtedly a significant challenge for me. Aside from having to redo some details a few times, I can say that everything was done well and with quality. Of course, the timelines stretched out and there were minor difficulties, but overall, my first Georgian experience turned out to be positive. I was confident that it would turn out well, but I wanted it to be the best. I believe the result lived up to the expectations. The clients were thrilled, and everyone who visits them appreciates the “Tbilisi-Berlin chic” style.
