Cover Living room library featuring custom-designed dark shelving surrounding marble fireplace with cast iron insert, smoked mirror surround and vintage style touches
Living room library featuring custom-designed dark shelving surrounding marble fireplace with cast iron insert, smoked mirror surround and vintage style touches
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AIYA Bureau transformed a gutted early 20th-century Moscow apartment into a sophisticated family home that balances vintage style with contemporary functionality, complete with a custom tiled stove and a bar inspired by Italian cafes
In an early 20th-century building in central Moscow, interior designer Aiya Lisova faced an unusual challenge: how to evoke a bygone era when none of it remained.
Renovations years earlier had gutted the 195-square-metre apartment, leaving only blank walls and modern systems. For her client, a well-known actress with exacting standards, Lisova and her colleagues at AIYA Bureau, Ekaterina Tsvetkova and Anastasia Klevakina, would need to reconstruct the past through a combination of vintage style elements and contemporary design.
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Above Hallway entrance with terrazzo Architerrazzo flooring, dark emerald panelling, a console by Glas Italia and view through to the living spaces
Above View from library through arched opening to living area with custom dark shelving, marble fireplace and herringbone parquet throughout
Hallway entrance with terrazzo Architerrazzo flooring, dark emerald panelling, a console by Glas Italia and view through to the living spaces
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“The client herself” convinced Lisova to take on the project, she explains. “Her openness to bold design solutions and her trust in our vision made the project both inspiring and exciting.”
Lisova’s solution was to layer the apartment with carefully chosen period details: ornate mouldings, herringbone parquet floors, double doors, and a custom-designed tiled stove. None of these elements was salvaged. Instead, they were built anew, architectural memory reconstructed in marble, gypsum, and wood.
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Living and dining area viewed through an arched doorway showcasing herringbone parquet, ornate mouldings and an enfilade layout to master bedroom
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Home to the actress, her husband, and their young daughter, the apartment is organised along an enfilade layout. Rooms connect in sequence from the entrance to the private quarters, typical of pre-revolutionary Russian buildings. A living room with a built-in library, a kitchen and dining area, and a bar make up the public zone. Double doors lead to the private zone, which includes a master suite with a walk-in wardrobe, a bathroom illuminated by two windows, a child’s bedroom with its own bath, a guest room, and utility spaces.
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Above Living room with Frigerio sofa, B&B Italia sofa-bench by window and floor lamp by Louis Poulsen beneath ornate ceiling mouldings
Above Abstract artwork displayed above custom TV cabinet by Punt in the living room
Living room with Frigerio sofa, B&B Italia sofa-bench by window and floor lamp by Louis Poulsen beneath ornate ceiling mouldings
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Lisova chose a neutral palette as the foundation, then introduced olive and green accents that move quietly through the hallway and master bedroom. Natural light from two windows amplifies these tones most boldly in the master bathroom.
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Dining room featuring a custom table, a mix of Very Wood and Carl Hansen chairs with ornate ceiling mouldings and herringbone parquet
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“We wanted to create a space that feels sophisticated yet welcoming,” Lisova says. Natural materials were used to achieve this: marble worktops and fireplace surrounds, terrazzo flooring in the hallway, porcelain stoneware in the bathrooms, and herringbone parquet throughout.
Custom design governed many practical choices. The dining table’s surface needed to withstand heat and wear without showing damage. Similar considerations shaped other built-in elements, from the living room library to wall panels with integrated shelving in the master bedroom.
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Above Living room with a custom pink glass partition revealing a glimpse of the bar area beyond, featuring artwork in a natural wood frame
Above Kitchen view showing enfilade layout through to master bedroom with ornate ceiling mouldings and marble backsplash by Cesar
Living room with a custom pink glass partition revealing a glimpse of the bar area beyond, featuring artwork in a natural wood frame
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Above Grey hallway with sculptural art piece on white pedestal, vintage pendant light and view through to master bedroom with Murano chandelier
Above Hallway with herringbone parquet flooring, concealed door, vintage pendant light and console displaying artworks in natural wood frames
Grey hallway with sculptural art piece on white pedestal, vintage pendant light and view through to master bedroom with Murano chandelier
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Among the more unexpected spaces is the bar. The client requested something with vintage style reminiscent of small Milanese establishments, and Lisova drew on memories of a bar in Porto. Artist Max Lomak created a wall painting for the space, paired with pink-orange glass elements. A vintage Italian lighting fixture, a 1960s-70s Gino Vistosi chandelier with cut glass, is combined with contemporary materials.
“Today it’s one of the family’s favourite spots to host friends,” Lisova notes.
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The master bedroom with symmetrical custom shelving flanking the bed
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The master bathroom has two windows that flood the olive-green space with natural light
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Lighting throughout embraces vintage style deliberately. Large Marset pendants hang over the dining table. A 1950s Stilnovo chandelier illuminates the hallway. In the master bedroom, a 1980s La Murrina chandelier from Murano provides ambient light.
Custom fabrication produced the tiled stove in the master bedroom, a detail Lisova calls “a rare and personal touch that reconnects the home with traditional craftsmanship.” Purely decorative, it establishes a visual anchor in the room.
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Above The children’s bedroom features Fresq wallpaper with delicate floral and bird motifs, with a bed by Dantone Home and a wall light by Atelier Areti
Above Custom-designed wardrobe, shelves, and work area in the children’s room with herringbone parquet flooring
The children’s bedroom features Fresq wallpaper with delicate floral and bird motifs, with a bed by Dantone Home and a wall light by Atelier Areti
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A marble fireplace with a cast-iron insert centres the living room, surrounded by smoked mirrors that reflect light and visually extend the space. The library shelves flanking it hold the client’s existing art collection, framed in minimalist, natural wood to avoid competing with the works themselves.
Completion took about a year. “The main challenge was recreating a historic ambience in the absence of original details,” Lisova explains. “We had to build that atmosphere from scratch.”
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Photography: Mikhail Loskutov
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
