French chic in Újlipótváros

An enlarged glass surface, a balcony brought to life, a French chic style: the top-floor apartment has been completely reborn under the hands of interior designer Fanni Masszi, who has dreamed up her own home, as she says, in the suburban city centre.

Copy

Ágnes Patkó

Photo styling

Ildikó Szűcs

Photographer

Gergő Gosztom

Many people don’t see the potential in an old home, they can’t detach themselves from the current conditions. Fanni Masszi’s work as an interior designer and her creative outlookf from an architect, which she absorbed from childhood, helped her to find the apartment she needed to create a home with her fiancé. – I knew I wanted to live in the Újlipótváros, and I looked at a lot of houses before I found this fifth-floor apartment. The apartment was built a couple of decades ago and there is only an attic next to it, so we don’t even have a neighbour,” says the founder of Intery Studio.

It really needed an expert eye and imagination to see the potential, as the property was in a very poor condition and the furnishings and finishes were not exactly up to modern taste. The parquet flooring was beyond saving due to leaks and the electrical system was a fire hazard, a new heating system had to be installed and the windows and doors had to be replaced. – It was actually better for me, because I could rethink everything. Fortunately, the floor plan was almost exactly as I wanted it, with only one wall being demolished to create a common living and kitchen area.

A big change was that we replaced the windows in the living room with a large sliding glass door, which brought the balcony closer to the interior,” explains the expert. The décor has a French chic and bohemian elegance. White and gold play an important role in the interior. The floors are covered with walnut, a warmer and more special colour than oak, and the walls are painted white, except in the bedroom, where a light cream colour dominates. – I made sure that each room had a visual gag, a punchline or an eye-catching detail. For example, the beam in the kitchen ceiling, which was wrapped by the carpenter to visually increase the ceiling height,” says Fanni, showing the exciting solution.

The turquoise sofa was the first piece of furniture he bought, and she chose the rest of the furniture accordingly. The cupboards are white, the handles are gold, and most of the taps and accessories are also white or gold. Fanni also used the timeless colour pair as a leitmotif in the kitchen. The old narrow and cramped kitchen was replaced by a comfortable, practical cooking area with a wooden peninsula. A striking feature is the tropical patterned wallpaper that adorns the dining room walls. Furnishing a small space is a professional challenge, but the young owner has done a professional job. Thanks to careful planning, the bathroom, which is only a few square metres, has a toilet and shower, as well as a washbasin. A large mirror and a uniform marble-patterned tile covering the walls and floor enhance the sense of space. But Fanni has also made the most of the space on the balcony. “We replaced the old yellow glass balustrade with a transparent metal balustrade with a belly and moved the paving a little further out, making the balcony look much bigger and giving a better view from the living room. It’s lovely to sit here, even on the coldest days,” says our host, who has transformed the poor, sadly atmospheric roof space into a modern, youthfully elegant home.

You can read part of the interview on the website of Lakáskultúra here.