Stalin's Empire in interior design

Staliens - the most popular architectural direction in the 30-60s of the twentieth century. Unlike other residential buildings of Stalin's time (barracks, twin single-storey buildings, brick houses without any amenities) there is a full-fledged water supply, sewage, heating, several separate rooms. The Stalin Empire style in the interior of modern houses and apartments is cozy, solemn, and relevant to this day.

History of style

This style originated in the USSR in the mid-30s of the 20th century. Initially, the Empire style is a pompous, majestic architectural direction that emerged in France since the time of Napoleon the First. In the 30s of the twentieth century, such magnificent, monumental buildings began to be built in the Soviet Union, when JV Stalin began to rule the country. In the 1950s, such architecture was sharply criticized, considering it unacceptable to the Soviet people as overkill, and after Stalin’s death, all projects started drastically simplified, eliminating decor to the maximum, in some places reducing the total area, height of ceilings. Large apartments for the most part were given under the "communal", in which lived at the same time several families, using a common kitchen and bathroom.

Characteristic features of the style

A standard apartment "Stalinka" consists of three to five, less often two or six to seven separate rooms, a kitchen, seven to fifteen square meters, a huge living room, and a spacious entrance hall. One-room were built extremely rarely, and in the "three" two rooms were sometimes adjacent. All rooms have ceilings more than three meters high, windows stretched vertically, facing one or two sides, in some places there are bay windows. Typically, such housing is located in the "historical" center of a large city - the view from the windows opens corresponding.

The apartment design of the time of Stalin united the individual features of the Baroque and Napoleonic Empire, neo-Gothic and art deco, classicism and modernity. The thick walls of houses of this era were made of red or white brick, other non-combustible materials, and the buildings themselves had at least two floors, an abundance of stucco, real columns. The doors here are also quite high, often double-winged, the walls are decorated with profile cornices, and the wide "grand" staircases are carpeted.

In another way, "Stalin" was called "full-length apartments" or "full-sized in houses of the 50s." Not only residential buildings, but also theaters, departmental buildings, metro stations, sports facilities, and universities were designed luxuriously and on a large scale. The buildings of the cities were grouped into whole ensembles; the then architects tried to use all the achievements of the building and visual arts. The principle “the more the better”, gigantomania and optimism acted everywhere.

Features color palette

The colors of the interiors of the first half of the 20th century are very modest, almost devoid of bright colors. The furnishings are chosen mostly dark, the walls are pastel shades, the carpets are red-brown, the doors between the rooms are white, with a multi-colored glazing.

The most suitable color combinations:

  • linen with mahogany;
  • agate gray with terracotta;
  • marsh with woody orange;
  • antique azure with beige-red;
  • lavender with dark brass;
  • pale gold with chocolate brown;
  • bluish-green with beaver;
  • protective blue with light chestnut;
  • mustard with iron gray;
  • emerald with brick;
  • brown-orange with khaki;
  • coral with cream;
  • creamy yellow with purple-black;
  • dandelion with opale green;
  • ocher with silver-pink.

Even the monochrome interior admits the presence of bright color accents - curtains, pillows, carpets, paintings on the walls.

What materials to use when finishing rooms

Finishing materials are used exclusively natural:

  • stone - mostly granite, marble;
  • wood - oak, pine, spruce, cherry, hornbeam, walnut, Karelian birch, etc .;
  • metals - bronze, brass, steel, silver, etc .;
  • crystal;
  • ceramics;
  • gypsum.

The floors are usually laid out with parquet, located "herringbone", but not common to the whole apartment, but for each room separately. The walls are decorated with stucco panels, semi-columns, gypsum brackets, caissons, corner pieces, textured niches, etc. The ceiling has a stucco robe for a chandelier, the same intricate ceiling cornices, and other similar decorations. The doors are made of wood, plywood, have panels, handles, painted with gold paint, trim with volumetric carving. In color, they coincide with the floor covering or are painted with white oil paint.

The floors in the bathroom, the kitchen are laid out with ceramic tiles, less often with natural stone, mostly red-brown colors, and the walls with light tile richly decorated with floral ornaments are allowed a narrow contrast border.

Choice of furniture

The furnishing is selected luxurious, solid, massive, mainly from natural wood (oak, walnut, rosewood) and metal. She often lacquered, decorated with volumetric carvings, mosaics. These are slides with carved "crowns", sideboards of convex shape, round or oval dining tables, leather chairs and sofas with high backs, heavy wooden chairs with turned legs, beds with balls or peaks in the corners. Wood carving is welcome here as in the form of complex plot bas-reliefs, as well as a simple "geometric". Valid slit elements made of valuable wood are acceptable. In addition to natural or artificial leather, various fabrics are used as upholstery materials - plain or with floral ornaments.

Lighting

The main lighting device of this era - a luxurious crystal chandelier, located in the middle of the ceiling. Later, such constructions were made of plastic, which significantly affected the appearance and durability of the device. Separate zones were illuminated by floor lamps, often with textile shades decorated with floral ornaments and fringe. Wall sconces, usually styled as torches, were mounted on bronze figured brackets above the kitchen table, bed. The workplace was illuminated by a desk lamp with a greenish shade, on a flexible base. In the nursery, in addition to the main light, there were small night-lights, included in the socket, decorated with stone or plastic. In modern times, the design is complemented by LED backlighting, which, with a competent approach, does not at all disrupt the basic style.

The choice of textiles for window decoration

Window draperies are chosen dense, heavy, creating a solemn atmosphere. They have several layers, a large number of folds, fringe, brushes. In the bedroom, blackout curtains are preferred to protect the sleeper from morning sunlight, in the kitchen - shorter, lighter. Doorways are decorated with the same curtains as windows, tied with golden cords-pickups. Fabrics are preferred natural, monochromatic, calm colors or sharply contrasted with the color of the walls. It is desirable that the curtains were combined in color with bedspreads, carpets, other indoor textiles.

If there are several windows on one wall, they are decorated with one common curtain, covering almost the entire wall completely.

Room Design Examples

The total area of ​​the Stalinist two-room apartment is about 30 meters, the four-room apartment is about 60 meters, and the seven-room apartment is up to 160 "squares". The more rooms there were, the more spacious each room was.

What rooms were available:

  • kitchen;
  • one or more bedrooms;
  • cabinet;
  • living room;
  • bath or shower;
  • restroom;
  • hall;
  • pantry.

There were no dressing rooms in those days - clothes were kept in built-in wardrobes, storage rooms. For children's bedrooms, special furniture, with the exception of the cradle bed, did not exist at all - for these purposes the smallest rooms were chosen, where they put a bed, a simple locker, a table with a chair, a box with toys, hung a bookshelf.

Apartments of the Stalinist era are replete with high built-in wardrobes, which house most of the things, so there is plenty of room in the rooms for books and decorative items.

Living room

The area of ​​Stalin's living room from 16 to 30 square meters. Ceilings, partly walls richly decorated with stucco, in the middle - a multi-tiered chandelier of crystal. Along one of the walls is a closet-wall, in which there are necessarily many thick books with neat "spines", and in glazed sections there are beautiful ceramic dishes, a tea set for six to twelve people, and a lot of porcelain figurines.

The main decoration of the living room is a TV, it is placed on a stand with four legs-cones or a wall console decorated with stucco. In the center of one of the walls there is a floor or pendant clock with a fight, richly decorated with carvings, on several others there are paintings in the spirit of the rough “Soviet realism”, decorated with heavy frames. Without fail, here is a sofa covered with luxurious drapery, complemented by a pair of chairs, a carved dressing table. All elements of furniture are combined patterned carpet, occupying most of the room. Photowalls depicting a cityscape of the mid-twentieth century are also allowed.

If possible, observe the principles of symmetry with respect to the compositional center of the room - a fireplace, a TV, a sofa, a painting, etc.

Kitchen

The kitchen of the time of the Stalin Empire style has an area from 7 to 15 meters. The kitchen suite as such is usually absent, there is only a not very roomy cupboard with dishes, table linens, a low round refrigerator. The worktop is made of natural stone or oak, under it are placed drawers, sections for silverware, various kitchen utensils. A few household appliances are placed on any horizontal surfaces. The dining area is decorated with a dining table, covered with a fringed tablecloth, and chairs are also draped with removable covers. Crystal vases for fruit, potted leafy plants, and heavy metal chandeliers are prominently displayed.

Bedroom

The average area of ​​any of the bedrooms is about nine meters. A single or double bed is located in the center of one of the walls, the headboard is decorated with stucco moldings, next to it is one or two bedside tables or a carved dressing table with a curtain in the color of the curtains. Shelves above the bed are decorated with black and white photographs in wooden frames, small statuettes of copper or bronze. It also houses a small glossy two-door wardrobe, while locked with a key, at least - a wrought-iron chest, for storing clothes, various "belongings". Beige and brown wallpaper with stripes or with floral ornaments will complement the chosen style. Be sure to lay a carpet on the floor, optionally complement it with a wall.

If the room seems cramped, in front of the window have a large mirror, which, reflecting the light from the window, greatly expands the space.

Cabinet Library

It was believed that everyone read in the USSR, because there were many books in each family. A study with a desk was usually combined with a library, which was a rack of solid wood up to the ceiling. Sometimes they hid the surfaces of all the walls, and to get the right book from the top shelf, you had to use a ladder or a special wooden stand with two or three steps, because the ceiling height was often about four meters.

In the modern version of the books can be a little less, and the desk is replaced by a computer. On the open shelves have plaster or bronze figurines, stylized under that era. On the wall they hang a map of the Soviet Union, a red flag or an image of the coat of arms.

Entrance hall

This room is made no less luxurious than all the others. On the floor there is a herringbone parquet or real marble, on the walls there are dark patterned wallpapers combined with wooden panels, on the ceiling there is a stucco molding and a lamp-ball. From furniture, carved trellis is appropriate here, a wooden wall or metal floor hanger, a small couch combined with a shelf for installing a home telephone. The carpet also has a "theme".

Elements of Stalin decor, accessories

The decorative elements of the Stalin Empire style are quite peculiar - five-pointed stars, a sickle and a hammer, images of wheat ears tied with a ribbon, laurel wreaths. These are three-dimensional plaster or carved panels depicting ordinary working people, with the ecstasy of working people for the benefit of a great country. On the shelves, tables, other prominent places are bronze, wooden, porcelain figurines or sculptural groups of ideological orientation. Also there are bas-reliefs with lions, as well as inlays with pictures of socially significant events.

Conclusion

The Stalinist interior style is a unique phenomenon of the Soviet era, the echoes of which look organically in modern times, although monumental ancient columns were replaced with foam imitation, black-and-white tube TVs with colored liquid crystal cabinets with mirrored wardrobes made of MDF. High-quality styling is possible in today's spacious new buildings with the help of real "historical" pieces of furniture, decor, and textiles, preserved by collectors from those times or their suitable imitation, made by designers of the late XX - early XXI century.

Leave Your Comment