A 322-square-foot apartment near Moscow, renovated as a surprise gift

This little flat in the Vidny Gorod residential complex, about four miles from Moscow, was a present. Marta and her husband bought and renovated it for her mother, Lara, and kept the whole project secret until she first walked in. Interior designer Polina Chumakova, founder of Lagolga Buro, says that secrecy gave her more freedom: bolder ideas might not have survived a more conventional client.

Lara loves to cook and bake, so the kitchen takes up a generous share of the 322 square feet, with its worktop by a window onto the courtyard. The idea was a home where the whole family, including two grandchildren, could gather at weekends over homemade desserts. The style is contemporary with a classic streak: natural walnut, mouldings, olive-green walls, milky white elsewhere, and vintage pendants and sconces, with small flashes of orange on a pouf and a floor lamp.

The plan took some untangling. A bulky load-bearing pillar is now hidden inside a large entryway cupboard, two tiny bathrooms became one, and a sofa bed stands in for a proper bed. With little direct sun, a floor tile that looked too beige was swapped out, and around five types of lighting do the work instead.

A private home, so nothing to visit, but full of ideas for anyone making a very small space feel generous.

Our summary of a story from Architectural Digest, published 2 November 2026. Read the original

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