Reader's home - a renovated apartment in Sarajevo
Tue, 7 Jun 2011Belma Mujezinovic-Pribilovic is the owner and editor-in-chief of Enterijer.ba, a popular online interior design based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The site provides free of charge expert advice on interior design with 20 architects and interior designers oin staff. Belma wanted to share her site as well as her home with us.
It was designed by the architect of Enterijer.ba magazine - Arijana Suvak, but my husband and I were involved in choosing decoration and giving it the final touch.
Completely renovated - some walls were removed to create an open space - it is a home that we have always wanted to live in. It has 80 square meters and two balconies - enough room for us and our cats Tigra and Zorro :)
We are great fans of red (as you can see in the pics) therefore each room had to have at least a splash of that color.
Living room has a lot souvenirs from our trips. There is a wall decoration made of our pictures from honeymoon and renewal of our vows in Cuba (i personally created the photo montage of those pictures). We brought the sand from Cuban beaches and placed it under the glass of commode.
All furniture was custom made.
Here is a before photo of the living room:
And after what appears to be ALOT of work, her newly renovated apartment is modern yet homey, bright with bold additions of colour and features a killer view. I think it's fabulous. (P.S. Photos of her cats will be featured in next Monday's pets on furniture post).
Reader Comments (43)
the kitchen looks very fresh!
Amazing Job!
I adore the bedroom- especially the bamboo fan. And the flower and cactus compositions in the saloon.
I had the chance to visit once, I was very impressed!
I have to say that I dislike the choice of colors, furniture and especially the lighting. I did like the before picture... I am amazed that Desire To Insipire bring us so many wonderful homes everyday and even though I was not very fond of this one I want to say that you guys are the best! Thanks.
I think this apartment really looked better before. I don't like anything here! The owner is an architect?!
Please, remove these pictures, you disappointed me.
This apartment is beautiful. It is great to see something from our region.
I'm sorry but this is so tacky. Why wouldn't you put the wallpaper behind the bed? Seems like a no brainer. It's like the whole place was put together with the aid of a colour wheel and a correspondance course in interior decorating 101, not natural instinct.
Some of these comments are so very harsh, with no sense of tact. There's candid comment, but good communication skills seriously lacking. Thanks for bringing us the renovation!
Randi
I agree with Randi. You don't have to like what I post but show some respect and decency people or I will remove your comments. (And one was already deleted). And NO I am not going to remove these photos Chloé as I really like Belma's apartment and was excited to share it with my readers. I enjoy sharing interiors from other parts of the world, particularly reader's homes.
Good for you, Kim! Message to the readers, don't be offended, but improve! Some of the comments are very disappointing, apparently best to just categorize as level of maturity.
Randi
Having grown up in Easter Europe I can spot this type of decorating a mile away. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way looking to add to the negative comments here and think that some readers should have kept their opinions to themselves. All I'm trying to say is that this "type" of design is VERY characteristic of Easter Europe. It is a different culture and aesthetic, and we should be respectful of diversity in tastes.
I absolutely LOVE the bed sheets that shade of orange is delicious.
The wonderful thing about 'desire to inspire' is that it unites us in the world - a sort of counter to the world news that the big media players bring us. We may have different tastes and styles, but we seem to have similar aspirations.
Maggie XXXX
This is horrible!!!! I love desire to inspire but this renovation is completely all over the place, there is no "feel" to the interior.
Amateur work of very bad level. I didn't expect to see such in your blog.
Maggie
This quote from Kim of desire to inspire below sounds like something from the "big media" to me.
"post but show some respect and decency people or I will remove your comments"
How can you talk design when you are not allowed to say what you're thinking?
Tom, give me a f*cking break already. I've heard the same thing from you on 5 different posts and it's getting OLD.
"Designer", how about including a link to your designs so we can tell you what we think. :-)
Kim, take a deep breathe, it's all good...
Guys, I think the point here was to share opinions and the best way to do it is in an intelligent manner which can be understood and respected by all readers, regardless of the actual opinion. Can't we say we don't like something without being pretentious and disdainful? I am sure this is doable.
Now, back to this apartment... I am not a big fan of the overall design and the kitchen really doesn't work for me. The shelving in the dining could definitely do with more decorative features. Saying this, I think the living area is, in my opinion, quite a success. And I really like the lighting above the bed - cute!
Thanks, Kim, for showing us real homes from around the world! Different cultures, different tastes, and different products available on the market!
Nelly, I am not the one who needs to take a deep breath, as YOU are the one on the chopping block tomorrow. LOL (I'm hopeful it will go over very well).
Keep it classy Kim.
I will send you a link soon.
Tom
* don't vent on me because this post has so many negative comments, none of which are mine.
Everyone has very different ideas about what is good taste and what works well together and that is most evident by this post.
Most of the spaces are not to my taste but I like the fact that it is furnished with Belma's personal items and not just things an interior designer picked up at expensive stores.
Before I even finished reading the post, I knew the two wood figures were from Cuba... I have a collection of them. My mom has brought me some lovely ones in all different sizes when she's visited.. I have wonderful Cuban pieces throughout my home from my own to visits to my home nation. Lovely space. I love what you and hubby did to it!
Bren-
The living room has this kind of edge you find in most contemporary and Asian-inspired living rooms. But it lacks some "ommmpppphhhh" - you know - the total package for it to be called a stunning living room. It lacks something. But I like it. It just need some minor tweaking. If it were for me, I would change the position of the furniture sets and change one color. Brown and red do not go that well. Just my two cents.
Love this post. While the reno is not my particular style, it takes me back to when I visited a friend in Slovakia whose apartment was similarly styled. Nostalgia! Also love the view from the balcony.