8 Brilliant Design Hacks Used by Professionals in Their Projects

Designers know how to make a space both functional and beautiful. To achieve this, they use interesting tricks and ideas — several of the most impressive ones are collected in our guide.

Living Room in One Color

The living room in this studio apartment is the smallest and most vibrant space in the flat. To visually avoid breaking up the already small area, the baseboards and doors were painted in the color of the walls.

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Heating Pipes Behind the Fireplace Zone

The fireplace zone in this Stalin-era apartment appeared as part of a decorative portal that hides the load-bearing beam on the ceiling and the heating pipes on the wall. In the center of the box, designers from YOUR SPACE studio, Olga Soboleva and Nadezhda Markotenko, created a niche for books and decor, installed crystal sconces. The fireplace portal is made of marble and adorned with candles.

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Partition Made of Glass Blocks

In this Khrushchyovka bathroom is small, so they opted for a shower instead of a full bathtub. Instead of a ready-made cabin, there's an unusual shower in a construction style. A tray was made for tile cladding and a partition from glass blocks. The latter resembles an ice sculpture and makes the space design more interesting.

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Storage by the Window

The storage area in this bedroom frames the window. This solution helps avoid taking up space in the main part of the room and allows for two tall wardrobes with a banquette for rest.

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Partition Made of Wooden Slats and Lights

Designer Tatyana Vorontsova divided the living room into two main zones — a sleeping area and a small lounge. To avoid cluttering the space and not building new walls, she created a partition from wooden slats. The slats were complemented with narrow lights placed at different heights.

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Invisible Doors

Hidden installation doors help make the space feel lighter. In this project, designer Anna Chesnokova went even further: she disguised the door to the room as a panel that became part of the accent wall in the living room.

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Low 'Floating' Bathtub

It might seem that the bathtub in this two-room flat is too low, but that’s exactly the secret. Designer Anna Zhizhailkina decided to embed it into the floor slab on purpose so that it’s more comfortable to use. Plus, she created a 'floating' bathtub effect: covered with gypsum board and laid different tiles at various levels.

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Wooden Sills and Window Sills

Plastic sills look cheap, and gypsum ones quickly lose their appearance. But making them from wood is a great solution that designer Daria Tsimbrykova brought to life. The walls around the windows were leveled and custom-made wooden structures were installed.

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