Design inspirations from Poland
Wed, 12 Jan 2011We received the following email recently from Ewelina: I am a young interior designer from Poland (Europe), taking my first steps in designing. It's not easy in my country to change peoples' mind and attitude as far as interior design is concerned. Many people still don't care how they live, but hopefully it's changing, slowly but still it is. Ewelina sent along photos of 2 of her projects which I'd love to share with our readers. (Check out the second one, my favourite, after the jump).
First set of photos is my latest project of a living room combined with kitchen. It's an old apartment, so it required to be change almost entirely.The only thing that hasn't been changed so much, is the kitchen. Before the renovation the kitchen had olive-green colour, so that the room seemed to be sad and dark. Thanks to the great material that it is made of (oak) I decided to change only the colour, despite it would be much easier and cheaper to make a new kitchen. All the shelves where hand-painted!. It took a lot of work form my carpenter :) The living space has a silk curtains and cushions, and a silver and glass accessories, such as table and the bracket next to the door. One of my favourite thing in this interior is a crystal table lamp, it gives romantic, warm light.
My second project, it is the white kitchen that reminds me a bit of Provence. It was a completely new apartment, that didn't demand many changes, only a good functional project. Characteristic are the scones on the wall. They are shabby chic style and were ordered from France. The kitchen work surface is made from american walnut (so it's called in Poland :) ). **Note: I ADORE the lights over the little breakfast bar!
Reader Comments (31)
PIEKNIE!
So sophisticated and polished for a newbie designer. Must know maker of large glass globe with smaller lights inside hanging over dining table in top photos.
Please follow this designer. She is going to be a star!
So lovley to see designers work from around the globe.!
I love the purple and blues against the neutral background
Warm and lovely with a little glamour. :)
the breakfast bar is fantastic! i love the way the sconces warm up the space. what a great idea!
I love those silver lamps hanging above the counter! where are they from?!
I love those twilight hues - so dreamy! I want the light fixtures over the breakfast bar, too!
xo Isa
Well I am from Poland can say one thing - polish designers miss some fantasy and soul in their projects. I find these two interiors shown above proper, good for an ordinary wealthy family. Lamps above the breakfast bar are the only "thing" that attracks my attention. I miss something original that would give character to the apartment, show the identity of the owner. From two, kitchen is much better, the living room miss natural accents, and glass in the lamp and little table will not look shiny for too long.
Congratulations, Ewelina. You will certainly contribute to changing Polish attitudes towards design with such lovely, fresh interiors.
I know what she is talking about, I am from Czech Rep and it's the same with people over here!
Congrats!!!! Good work! Well done Ewelina!
You're going to ba a brillant STAR in DESIGN!
Generalnie splendoru polskim wnętrzarzom to nie przynosi.Świadectwo zadęcia i wszechobecnego nowobogackiego stylu "młodych, wykształconych, z dużych miast".Jednym słowem-nie ma się czym chwalić.
I love the lavender/white/silver combination - it's classic and modern at the same time.
Gratuluję i trzymam kciuki za następne.
I cieszę się, że nareszcie widzę coś swojskiego
Piękne wnętrza, niewątpliwy talent...tylko po co , droga Ewelino, ten tekst o Polakach, którym Ty , biedna, musisz zmieniać zaściankowy punkt widzenia....istny samostrzał w kolano...no szkoda....
as nice as these are, sadly, i must agree with my compatriots: these interiors look like they were taken from any old north american publication. what i miss here, is the sort of national breath of fresh air, so very much present in most scandinavian and often british interiors. these are, as iwona noted, very "proper" interiors, but sadly lacking whimsy and personality.
i can spot that the silver framed mirror is from Ikea!
Gdybyż wszyscy polscy projektanci mieli takie poczucie estetyki! Gratulacje :)
I concure - it was unneccessary to mention Polish narrow-mindness. It's totally not true, Ewelina, people here have a great taste for design. It's just proven you do not know the subject. By the way the interiors look fine for me, typical, almi-deocr-like style.
Ewelina, świetne pomysły! chciałabym się z Tobą jakoś skontaktować :)
Congrat ! Charming interior !
very proper interior and poor staging all in one
P.S.
to all posting in Polish - little courtesy toward others never hurts
I must agree very proper but rather boring interiors lacking the soul, vibe and personality of its owners. I live in Poland and I think people here care very much how they live its just that maybe their aesthetic isn't coherant with what is generally perceived as "fabulous interiors" ;-). Funny that Ewelina talks about educating people in Poland because I have to say her interiors are quite typical for polish interiors. Anyways all said, I wish Ewelina all the best in her future projects :-)
"People here have a great taste for design" jak wiadomo o kwestiach gustu sie nie dysktuje.
Prawda jest taka, ze daleko nam zarowno w edukacji deisgnu, jak i samym wykonczeniu mieszkan do takich poteg jak UK, Wlochy, czy chociazby w Holandii. To co sie musi zmienic to mentalnosc Polakow i jakies uwielbienie do prl-owskich zamilowan, ktore stykamy non stop. Aczkolwie, wiadomo, pomalu jest progress... ale musimy zrobic krok milowy....
Co do podnoszonych kwestii nowobogoactwa, czy braku duszy w mieszkaniu to powinno odniesc sie do osoby, ktora sobie zazyczyla wystroj a nie do osoby, ktora tylko wykonala projekt.Wiadomo... Polacy wiedza wszystko najlepiej.
Zdecydowanie lepiej jest wspierac mlodych, zdolnych artystow, gdyz tylko dzieki temu moga sie rozwijac i szukac natchnieniu wkolo nas. A moze kiedys bedzie tak, ze osoba bedaca wsrod nas za 2-3-5-10 lat bedzie mistrzem? Zastanowmy sie nad krytyka, ktora nie zawsze jest konstruktywna.
A sztuka, to jest sztuka...