How to Do a Renovation for a Million: 7 Examples

Decorating an interior from scratch and not going broke — it's possible. Building a house and staying within a million rubles — also possible. The key is knowing how to save smartly. We adopt tips from designers.

Small Transformable Studio

Area: 22 sq. m
Location: Sochi

A studio from a developer on the Imereti resort in Sochi is comparable in size to a hotel room. It was important to create a cozy home atmosphere here while staying within the limited budget. The solution was a simple and minimalist Scandinavian style, as well as transformable furniture that changes the function of a single room.

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Design: Inessa Ternovaya

Loft for a Businessman

Area: 43 sq. m
Location: Moscow

The loft style can also be a good solution if you want to save your budget. It does not require a lot of decoration, and walls can sometimes be left completely unfinished. In this project, for example, the lack of decoration is successfully compensated by a projector for watching movies and a bio-kitchen fireplace — both are just as captivating as small decorations and trinkets.

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Design: Viktoria Smelnytskaya

One-Room Apartment with Thoughtful Zoning

Area: 43 sq. m
Location: St. Petersburg

To stay within the budget, the designer decided to do without major renovations and zone the space using color and different finishing materials. On the kitchen, the dining area is marked by a graphite board, in the room the bedroom zone is separated from the living room by a wooden partition and additionally highlighted with furniture panels and 3D panels.

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Design: Natalia Krasnoborodko

One-Room Apartment with IKEA Furniture

Area: 51 sq. m
Location: Smolensk

The layout of the brick new building was not changed — load-bearing walls do not allow for radical changes. In the single living room, a living room, bedroom, mini office, and spacious storage systems were created. The project was fully equipped with IKEA products — this also helped save money.

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Design: Anna Bagrova

Two-Room Apartment with No Superfluous Items

Area: 55 sq. m
Location: Yegoryevsk, Moscow Oblast

In this project, they also refused to do any re-planning. However, the designer did work on organizing the space: enlarged the bathrooms and widened the corridor at the entrance, and moved the door to the living room to the center, which organized the space. In the interior design, they stuck to the principles of simplicity and lightness.

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Design: Anna Morozova

Two-Room Apartment in Minimalist Style

Area: 43 sq. m
Location: Moscow

Designers managed to transform a cramped two-room apartment into a cozy and functional flat for a young couple in just 2 months and for a million rubles. To save on budget and time, they bet on 'dry construction' — used 'dry floors' and gypsum board partitions. They also gave up perfect wall leveling for painting. The principles of minimalism were used as the basis for the interior.

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Design: Evgenia Matveenko

Small Scandinavian House

Area: 67 sq. m
Location: Tatarstan

Yes, even a house can be built for a million! This project is experimental. Architect Sergey Petrov decided to build a quality house and stay within a million rubles, including interior finishing. Small dimensions, ascetic finishing, and simple furniture made it possible to bring the idea to life.

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Design: Sergey Petrov