Meet Oskars, Ilva and young Kārlis – a small family ready for a big change. The room they have chosen for the makeover is mainly Oskar's turf: it is here he pursues his hobbies and spends much of his leisure time. If anything, Oskars is a most versatile personality: a microbiology graduate, IT specialist and aspiring drummer and opera-singer, he does not shy away from any challenges. Yet, the challenge of organising the former garage/library into a full-fledged hobby room has been just too time-consuming until now.
A place for everything is place for nothing
Even though a whole room dedicated to hobby would be a dream for many, need for more space is still an everyday plight for Oskars. The available shelves barely contain the multitude of books and other things that have to find place in this room. A sore point is lack of free room to ensure easy access to musical instruments as Oskars uses them often.
When music is life
Even though Oskar's professional path is seemingly light years away from any artistic expression, music has always been an integral part of his life. A skilled drummer, he dreams to sing on the opera stage one day. Music is something Oskars would like to feel also in the new interior. He values functionality and would like to see some good storage solutions, but the dominant note should be one of a music studio. As to colour palette, Oskars says he would like warm colours and bold combinations. For Interior Designer Ieva it is just what the doctor ordered: a music enthusiast herself, she is prepared to go all out to make interior design magic happen.
Finding space: how to
With thorough planning, Ieva has managed to find more space in this room than it would seem possible. She has managed to use the full potential of walls by choosing tall bookcases that reach almost to the ceiling. An ergonomic and adjustable desk forms the basis of a workspace solution and is placed in a way that the most of daylight hours can be made. The musical feel of the room is enhanced by wall decorations: big posters that inevitably attract the eye.
Think storage. Think variety
As in most rooms, the biggest challenge here is to find the right place for everything. There are two basic approaches to storage. One is the minimal style storage where most things are stored behind closed doors for a sleek and united look. The other way is to showcase everything. Interior Designer Ieva has chosen to go somewhere in between. Dark shelves create a harmonising background and smaller things can be hidden in boxes so to not to add to clutter. However, there is still place for showing all the things that are loved and cherished.
No hard work without resting
After hard work, there should always be moments of rest. To make them even more relaxing, the space dedicated to resting can be the place where you forget about all the functionality requirements that have to be observed in working space and just follow your heart. Dare to be bold, choose bright colours and daring solutions. Here, similar style armchair in a happy canary yellow and a sofa in warm grey complement each other and stand in great contrast to other interior elements, inviting to lounge and relax.
"Even if few people admit wishing for dark colours in their interior, it is a way harmonising a whole lot of small things as the dark colours act as a background. Bold, dark colours are often associated with manly atmosphere, and this fits this room very well."