Before and After: How Kitchens in Stalin-era Apartments Changed After Renovation

Designers aren't afraid to work with 'killed' apartments in old buildings. A thoughtful approach to layout and decoration can make them comfortable, ergonomic, and very beautiful. We've collected a selection of kitchens that 'reanimated' Russian designers.

Kitchen with Sink by the Window

Before renovation, the isolated kitchen in a Stalin-era apartment was very small and didn't allow space for even a dining table or enough storage. Natalia Solo suggested combining it with the living room, replacing the linear cabinet with a U-shaped one with a sink by the window and tall column cabinets.

"The gas stove made some adjustments, and we opted for glass partitions that functionally provided the required kitchen isolation but visually kept the space unified," explains the designer.

Due to the presence of a gas stove in a Stalin-era apartment on Malaya Bronnaya, this kitchen couldn't be joined to the common living room space. Designer Mikhail Novinsky proposed sliding doors that open into the wall.

In the color scheme, they followed the client's wishes: he wanted to see more red tones in the interior. As a result, the walls and kitchen backsplash were white, while all the furniture was colorful.

Before renovation, this Stalin-era kitchen wasn't anything special. "The client asked us to pay special attention to the layout and equipment of the kitchen," explains designer Elena Zufarova. "He loves cooking and completed several courses at a well-known international gastronomy school.

We arranged the cabinet along two walls, raised and relocated the gas pipe. We also installed a sliding door with glass in the kitchen and provided for two hoods."

This apartment had a 'grandmother's' renovation and was in a rather poor condition. Designer Marina Merenkova didn't radically change the kitchen layout and didn't combine it with the room. Nevertheless, everything necessary fit in: an angular cabinet, household appliances, a display cabinet, and a dining table for several people.
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Kitchen with Angular Cabinet and Dining Area

The layout in the two-room apartment was left unchanged: an isolated kitchen, two rooms, and a separate bathroom. In the finishing, designers from Instatus Studio preferred paint. The backsplash along the entire work surface was tiled with cabanne tiles. The gas pipe running down the wall to the stove was hidden in a removable box, which was clad with tiles of the same shade but smaller size.

The kitchen cabinet was installed angular, with traditional upper and lower cabinets. The niche under the window, left over from the previous renovation, was closed with doors made of MDF: a cool cabinet with a ventilation valve was created.