Adela Petra, an architect and designer, tells us with enthusiasm: “I adore everything that belongs to the past and I believe that anything can be reused or reintegrated into modern times; that's why I chose an old apartment with high ceilings, located in a building from a historical protected area in Timisoara, built in the 1920s.”
For the two young beneficiaries, it is their first home, purchased three years ago. In addition to this joy, there are also the challenges and satisfactions of being the architect of your own home and the freedom you have in the creative process.
Uninhabited for 15 years, the apartment presented a series of problems both at the level of installations and aesthetically, the finishes being quite deteriorated. However, Adela saw the potential of this apartment, beyond the patina of time, and they decided that it was the right apartment to transform into their dream home.
With a lot of patience and work, they adapted it to modern living standards and their own needs.
One of the decisive advantages in choosing this apartment was precisely the great height of the rooms, 3.70 meters, and the generous dimensions of the windows which allow natural light to beautifully flood the rooms.
Lovers of old, restored furniture pieces, details with historical and sentimental value, the beneficiaries proposed an eclectic style for the renovation of the apartment: modernism predominates with classic influences that bring to mind the Parisian atmosphere of houses with large wooden shutters.
The furniture was custom-made to fit perfectly on the existing dimensions, and a large part of the small furniture pieces are old and reconditioned.
The cast iron bathtub found in the apartment at the time of purchase was reconditioned and transformed into a central piece of the bathroom; the console in the access hallway has legs from Vlad's grandmother's Singer sewing machine; the stove was kept only conceptually and as a position in the room, being replaced with a modern fireplace with metallic accents.
“But what I am most proud of is the living room table, which belonged to my friend Vlad's grandparents. It was a tall auxiliary table, which we decided to shorten and keep its curvature (a detail that we liked the most about it). We also sanded and varnished it with matte walnut stain, now becoming one of the central pieces of the room.”
With a budget of approximately 45,000 euros, the renovation took two years, with the help of several teams of craftsmen and the direct involvement of the designer beneficiaries.
Design by Adela Petra
