English summary

ENGLISH SUMMARY ELLE DECORATION

MAY 2020

Editor’s letter, page 12 This “blooming” photo shows the marvelous paintings of my wife, Elena Sotnikova. After thirty years of working in periodical press dealing with economy and then fashion, she made a challenging decision to launch her artistic career. She didn’t start from scratch though, she had been painting all her life, I even had her painting at home, which she gave me some 15 years ago, long before we got married. Yet, hobby is one thing, but true artist’s work is about finding the right words that their works would tell a person in their homes. I guess, it’s her skill of talking to people, mastered in hundreds of interviews and essays that helps her works make a connection with the new audience. Huge bouquets with an odor of spring and love, striking abstractions lugging you away into unexplored worlds, lost civilizations reborn in the paintings — a new story is always here for those willing to look and listen. This work is not a bed of roses (no pun intended, though it was a five-meter panel painting of red flowers that was the start of Lena’s new career), yet this answer to the life challenges is what I find most inspiring in these times of disarray. Though we came up with the idea of this “flower” issue long before the pandemics, we opted not to replace it with the threadbare #stayhome that we’ve been living with for two months now. We just hope that if this magazine encourages you in your new beginnings, this will prove to be the best medicine. All in all, if we cannot leave our homes, we still can plant our own garden on a window sill or on the wall — just like the people in our today’s stories and like my wife @elenasotnikovastyle. Alexey Dorozhkin , Editor-in-Chief

Picture of Health, page 66 Text by Karen Cotton Photography by Simon Kenny/ Content Agency/Living Inside Marcella Kaspar and her husband Mark Cooper purchased a dilapidated cottage in the beachside suburb of Coogee, Australia. Working as a collaborative team involved in all aspects of the project from design through construction and decoration, Marcella and Mark created a truly beautiful and unique home that is a pleasure to look at and inspiring. Walls and floors are treated as canvases for Marcella’s striking and dramatic artworks and the couple’s unique collection of eclectic furniture and decorative pieces. Working with colour everyday as an artist Marcella has paint colours mixed to her specifications and loves the idea that they are unique to the space. Marcella describes the project as a ”flowing moment where everything just fell into place”.

Savage Beauty, page 76 Text by Nandini D’Souza Wolfe. Photography by Pascal Chevallier Filipa de Abreau went out of her way to get this four-bedroom rental in Lisbon with an uninterrupted view on the Atlantic Ocean and moved in with her three kids, after promising the owner to cherish the space. Still, she could fill the space with the kinds of memories and décor that make the place unforgettable. The entire place is furnished with pieces that de Abreu has brought back from Jaipur or Comporta. Her home is always overflown with friends, and she can seat 24 comfortably around her dining table set with green lettuce and pieces designed by Dodie Thayer. “This house is made for entertaining,” she says. “My way of thanking friends is to show them the best possible evening.”

Summer Garden, page 84 Text by Polina Chesova . Photography by Simon Upton Decorator Kirill Istomin specializes in subtle touches to interiors to make them feel new and fresh. This time he worked with a family with two kids to turn their country house in Moscow region into a blooming garden of endless summer. The main focus was on the dining room, once a long, narrow and dark area that Kirill made much airier and lighter by installing new mirrored doors and creating a careful interplay of bright colors. This garden-like feel was also expanded to other parts of the house. “I wanted to make the place feel like a fresh dawn garden,” the decorator shares.

Secret Room, page 92 Text by Francesca Davoli Photography by Fabrizio Cicconi / Living Inside This fascinating building's original blueprint dates back to 1600, with a succession of changes that were discovered over time. Twelve years ago, Francesca Orsi visited this place for the first time while searching for a living space that would allow her to express her taste for decoration and interior design, and felt a strong bond with it. Following the death of the last owner, the palace was reduced to poor condition, it was abandoned for several years and remained unmaintained. During the restoration, the owner came to adopt a principle: preserving the blueprint as well as the original materials as much as possible. Maintaining this perspective, she recovered all the floors of the building, including those in hardwood which were removed to put together the attics and then put back. She mixed styles, so that vintage intersected with contemporary, along with “Nordic" hues, the Baroque, and the 1940’s.

Game of Thrones, page 102 Text by Tommaso Ziffer. Photography by Massimo Listri The owner of this 17th century historic building in the Trastevere area of Rome, Jacaranda Caracciolo, Princess Borghese, called interior designer and architect, Tommaso Ziffer, after she inherited the place from her father. The apartment was then the residence of a single man and of an intellectual. It had beautiful views and terraces, it was full of books, but otherwise it was masculine and made with dark colours. Ziffer started with the main stairway by deciding to paint all the existing wooden steps each in a different colour. He played with grey, purple and orange fabrics in order to create the contrasts which are very specific to his work, and to emphasize the eclectic feeling.

Many Years to Come!, page 110 Text by Polina Chesova . Photography by Richard Bloom The New Holland herbal garden in St. Petersburg was designed by Mox landscape design bureau in the popular style of New Perennials. This style is based on the mix of herbs and perennials from around the world planted in large groups based on their blooming period. The garden in St. Petersburg varies in height and herb composition, but has a recurring element — woodland sage, one of the most beautiful perennials. Smaller groups of blooming plants, subtle or colorful, are always highlighting the garden. The perennials were carefully selected to fit the St. Petersburg’s climate and match the herbs.