Ewa and Maciek’s house on the edge of Mława, Poland, is lively and varied, filled with family mementoes, design pieces and furniture from Poland’s communist era. Interior architect Weronika Budzichowska of To Be Design brought a sense of order to the collection. Vivid colours draw on folk traditions, an enduring part of the family’s life. The interiors were photographed by Marta Behling of Pion Poziom.
Renovating a family house beside the forest
Ewa and Maciek chose a home on the outskirts of Mława, surrounded by greenery at the edge of a forest. In Maciek’s family house, away from the bustle of the town, they have made a warm, cosy home filled with cheerful colours. Before the interiors could take shape, however, extensive modernisation was needed to make everyday life comfortable. The renovation involved breaking into walls and floors and replacing almost all the building services. Only then could the owners turn their attention to the decor. Although they had a clear vision and already owned many much-loved pieces of furniture and decoration, they asked Weronika Budzichowska to design the interiors and quickly found common ground with her.
“I like interiors to have meaning and to express the owners’ family life, interests, stories and character. That was very much the case here. From the outset, we had the family piano, a great-grandmother’s table, a grandfather’s armchair and collections of photographs and music and film posters. Music and dance are part of the owners’ everyday lives, so they had to be part of their home too,” says Budzichowska.
Vintage furniture and family history
Vintage design was a natural choice, as the owners had always been drawn to it. Over the years, they had collected furniture ranging from communist-era classics to individual design pieces. The living room’s eclectic mix of old and new includes a 70-year-old table inherited from a great-grandmother, Chierowski model 366 armchairs from the 1960s inherited from a much-loved grandfather, and a long, low 1970s sideboard of the type nicknamed “jamnik”, or “dachshund”. The owners restored many of these pieces themselves, either updating them or recovering their original appearance.
Fameg dining chairs modelled on earlier Thonet designs add to the mix, alongside music posters and a multicoloured pendant light made by Ewa herself. A honey-coloured velvet sofa introduces a contemporary element. Architectural ceiling lights and a gold wall light on a blue wall extend this contrast. Budzichowska added delicate mouldings to the coloured walls, reinforcing the eclectic character of the interior.
Folk colours throughout the house
Alongside the furniture and objects collected over many years, deep, saturated colours are central to the scheme. They draw on the folk traditions that have long been part of the owners’ lives. As Budzichowska points out, colour can emphasise the importance of particular furnishings. The living-room palette continues into the hall by the stairs, where black and orange provide a backdrop for a mirror. The piano stands against a blue wall and is used by the couple’s elder son, Janek, who is learning to play.
The kitchen units are made from pale green laminated boards, with a practical, ergonomic layout and a colour that makes everyday tasks pleasant. The WC is equally colourful. Wallpaper patterned with pink flowers covers its walls, while the ceiling and surrounding mouldings are painted a soft pink chosen to match. The bedroom is the exception to the stronger colours, having been conceived as a place to rest. It still has colour, but gentle blues and greys combined with wood establish a quieter atmosphere.
“I really like it when owners ask me to keep particular objects or include them in a scheme because they matter to them. Design is a process, and what matters most to me in that creative process is bringing the client’s needs together with solutions that look good and work well. In this case, that came together perfectly,” says Budzichowska.
Products used in the project
- Inherited armchairs: Chierowski, model 366, 1960s
- Dining chairs: Fameg, based on earlier Thonet designs
Inherited furniture can be a starting point for renovating a family home. Explore more interior photography by Marta Behling of Pion Poziom on her PLNDesign profile and get in touch by email, phone, website or social media, whichever suits you best.
See also:
- Crystal chandeliers light a terraced house in Szczecin, Poland
- Mon Interiors draws Poznań home’s palette from veined quartzite
