10 Ideas for a Country House You Will Love

Designer Zhenya Zhudanova created a country house for her clients, not just any ordinary home, but a modern estate. The project is overflowing with beauty, comfort, and creativity. We asked what design solutions the designer is proud of and requested to recall how they were brought to life.

Zhenya Zhudanova is an expert and well-known Russian interior designer and founder of the online interior boutique DivaDecor.ru. 1. Hidden Door from Kitchen to Storage Room

Behind the high cabinets on this kitchen, there is one secret. The leftmost cabinet door is actually a hidden entrance to the storage room where the owner, a big hunter, stores his catch in the freezer. From the storage room, you can enter a real cellar where jams, compotes, pickles, and other joys of home preservation can be stored.

2. "Laundry Pipe"

In the lower part of the right cabinet, there is a pipe for the "laundry line," through which dirty laundry can be sent directly to the laundry room located under this part of the bathroom on the first floor.

3. Double-Sided Fireplace

The fireplace area was probably the most challenging part of the project to implement: here I saw two problems at once. First, according to the architectural plan, the fireplace location was chosen rather poorly, and the fireplace could not become the heart of the house in such a position. 

Secondly, the staircase had to be placed parallel to the facade facing the forest clearing, blocking the entire beauty of the view from the large window from floor to ceiling height right up to the roof ridge. Therefore, I suggested to the client to change the fireplace location and completely alter the staircase design. After weighing all pros and cons, he agreed. 

Thus, we placed the fireplace in the wall separating the staircase area from the living room, and chose a double-sided fireplace so that we had two fireplace zones: one facing the living room and another facing the staircase. The flue had to be modified, with one section installed at an angle to the main pipe. Nevertheless, together with specialists in fireplace installation, we managed to solve all engineering challenges. 

The fireplace glass facing the staircase can be raised, and logs are fed from here, so we planned the wood rack and safety platform made of metal in this area. The fireplace facing the staircase is decorated with luxurious Indian Rain Forest Gold marble. Its pattern and color palette, as if born in a forest clearing on an autumn day, perfectly match the interior concept and were approved at first sight.

The stone is bordered with metal trim, which decoratively frames it. The wood rack and safety platform on the floor are also made of artificially aged metal. I received help with implementing this idea from the Make Loft workshop.

4. Staircase-Shelf

I brought the idea of the staircase structure from Paris: I saw a solution in one of the boutiques on Place de la Madeleine. The light, weightless metal structure with wooden steps not only helped preserve volume and air in the entire room without blocking the view of the forest clearing, but also became a real art object. Its supporting metal frame also serves as a bookshelf and part of the fireplace zone composition.

5. 35 Copper Pendant Lights in the Fireplace Zone

Thirty-five copper pendant lights, arranged at different heights, illuminate each level of the staircase space. Originally, we ordered them with four different cable lengths – 1.5, 3, 5, and 7 meters – and adjusted the final height of each during installation. Installing them took two days and was the most challenging part of my previous experience.

Despite having all templates pre-made, not to mention drawings, the placement of each pendant had to be determined on-site to ensure optimal numbers at each focal height and overall harmony from every angle. The electrician worked at a height of about 8.5 meters on mobile scaffolding, which had to be constantly moved to see how the pendants were placed in space. At that time, both I and the electrician dreamed of a rotor like Carlson’s... 

6. Custom-Made Furniture

The crisis, currency fluctuations, and the ongoing import substitution campaign forced me to use domestic manufacturers to their fullest extent: more than half of the furniture items, including all bed headboards, were created in Russia based on original sketches. 

For example, the dresser in the main bedroom, which looks like a vintage Danish design piece, was actually made at the Russian furniture manufacturer Mrs Ruby. The cabinet is finished with palisander veneer, and the body is polished with lacquer, while the facades are matte.

7. Paintings by Contemporary Russian Artists as Interior Decoration

The desire to avoid imports led to a fundamental decision – to use only works by Russian artists living in Russia for decorating the house. I really wanted to assemble a real home collection of our talented contemporary artists for the client’s family. So, works by Gagik Rushanyan, Maria Suvorova, and Anna Grekova appeared here.

8. Wine Rack on Wheels

The vintage wine rack is a truly unique piece, even having its own name. It’s called Vinokentiy and was carefully restored by Vitaly Zhuykov in his workshop Made in August.

The rack’s body and facades are coated with golden wax, making the surface incredibly pleasant to touch and emitting a delightful honey aroma. The back panel is painted bright red, and the body stands on red wheels, so it can be easily moved according to the owner's wishes.

9. Unique Chandelier in the Dining Room

The pilot model of a chandelier from a young Italian brand Sideform was found at a Milan exhibition last year. The ironic design with a midcentury vibe, ceramic shades, and brass regulators for each lampshade allow you to play with forms every day.

Later, I tried to buy something else from this factory but received a letter stating that due to the crisis, they have suspended production, so I won’t be surprised if our chandelier one day becomes something like one and only. 

10. Exterior as the Main Interior Decoration in the Living Room

The large window of the living room faces the forest clearing, and this is the main decoration of this room: it seems like you have a large-format live painting in front of your eyes. To avoid drawing attention away from the landscape outside the window, I chose curtains made of luxurious deep turquoise silk – they beautifully complement the natural beauty. 

View the Entire Country House Project

Photo: Sergey Ananyev