The design brief for the apartment entitled Pastel was shaped by the clients’ lifestyle, habits, and personal interests. Although both have corporate backgrounds, they currently work as freelancers, with a large part of their professional activity taking place at home. The project therefore addresses a hybrid way of living, where structured work tasks and more informal, creative activities share the same spaces as everyday domestic life.

The apartment is located in a residential building completed in the late 1980s, in Bucharest’s Drumul Taberei neighborhood. Typical of this period, the original layout was rigid and highly compartmentalized. The design approach aimed to resolve these functional constraints through an integrated interior strategy that reflects the clients’ aesthetic preferences while moving away from conventional apartment planning.

The intervention involved a complete interior refurbishment, including the removal of existing finishes, the reconfiguration of non-structural partitions, the upgrading of sanitary and electrical systems, floor leveling, and the introduction of new surface treatments. All works were carried out without structural changes, resulting in a more flexible and cohesive living environment adapted to contemporary ways of working and living.

The living room serves a hybrid function. The home theater area (with a special projection screen, surround sound system, and spacious corner sofa) is juxtaposed with a home office area for him. A custom-cut solid oak desk, supported by wooden trestles and flanked by storage units with organic cutouts, integrates the office into the living area.

These elements also appear in the kitchen furniture fronts, the sliding double door with an arch between the corridor and the kitchen, and even in the “porthole” door dividing the balcony into two distinct areas. The other half of the balcony retains the intimacy of a “sitting area” with rattan armchairs, comfortable cushions, and herringbone oak parquet flooring.