Crimean designer told how different Russian and foreign interior projects

Member of the Union of Designers of Russia Irina Ivanova-Korneeva shared her experience with customers from different countries. According to her observations, in Russia, the interior often becomes a way to emphasize the status, while foreign customers are more likely to evaluate the space as a whole and may be less demanding of certain technical details.

“In Russia, the interior is often perceived as a demonstration of status,” said the designer.

As an example, she told about the order from Morocco: the site was on a cliff, about six meters from the rough river. Ivanova-Korneeva developed the concept taking into account the local nature and architecture. In New York, she participated in the renovation of a house worth about three million dollars, located on the ocean. There was a family with three children.

According to the designer, foreign customers often pay less attention to individual details. A client from Abu Dhabi was surprised when she asked for a phased survey of the facility and technical information about the location of the gas utilities.

Ivanova-Korneeva highly appreciated Russian specialists in finishing works. She explained that the requirements for wall geometry, joints and surface preparation, familiar to Russian projects, are not always important abroad: walls can be closed with panels, and this suits the customer.

Foreign customers are more likely to judge the interior in general, and Italians, for example, often choose simpler solutions. One of the customers offered to make a hole in the floor of the bedroom through which you could dump laundry directly into the basement, to the laundry room.

Among the unusual projects of the designer is a house in Evpatoria, where the customer wanted to decorate each room in a separate style: Russian, Greek, Bavarian and others. In the Russian interior, Ivanova-Korneeva provided an imitation of a furnace, a painting in the style of Gjeli and textiles with the image of roosters.

In one large-scale project, the team built a modular hotel in about three months. She also participated in the construction of two restaurants and a children's center, the repair of 80 rooms, the creation of a water park and a swimming pool. The total investment exceeded a billion rubles, and the construction of the water park cost 150 million.

The designer said that during the work there were urgent problems: for example, in the children’s playroom had to remove the stacked tiles at night and lay a sewer pipe for washing, as the next day was waiting for guests.

Ivanova-Korneeva’s own interior is made in Scandinavian style with a combination of white, wood and dark green shades. She separated the bedroom in the living room with glass doors, provided separate bathrooms for family members, and organized the kitchen as a common space for family and guests. In addition, the house has a separate technical kitchen for blanks.

One of the common mistakes the designer called the involvement of different contractors for each type of work. In such cases, she explained, if problems arise, specialists can shift responsibility to each other.

In December 2025, interior designer and architect Kamilia Zablodskaya spoke about the main trends in decorating the house for the New 2026: a return to a warm, cozy atmosphere, vintage motifs, deep colors and natural materials.

She noted that authenticity, natural shades and handmade are becoming the main markers, and large bows or a set of icicles allow you to transform the interior without great costs.

In November 2025, construction expert Fyodor Vasiliev called the main condition for successful repairs in the apartment - the development of a design project. According to him, without a comprehensive technical and financial document, the initial estimate of the contractor turns into a rough estimate, and the risks of deception when ordering a design are quite real.