Alexandru M. talks about his new personalized kitchen and the good things in life

This is the story of Alexandru, the new owner of a Binova kitchen and Managing Partner in a real estate development company, a young man passionate about his field of activity, a few steps ahead of his age regarding his professional results.

During the first lines of the interview, Alexandru confirmed a principle that we have always known, but which must be understood in practice to be validated:

The good things in life take a long time for preparation and are often difficult and (sometimes) expensive, but well worth it.

Alexandru M.

Psychologically, it is a matter of attitude and consistency. You have to desire a quality life, you have to work to get the means to create a quality life, and when you get used to the quality of life, you have to maintain this standard that becomes second nature.

For Alexandru, the quality of life translates into comfort and familiarity.

The comfort of being at home in a personal environment, an environment created and arranged according to one’s own standards, which sometimes can go beyond the conventional. Also, the quality of life means the familiarity of living for over 10 years in the same favorite area (northern part of Bucharest – Herăstrău, Primăverii, North Road) to have the best opening to the city, just like in chess, where the opening makes the game.

Alexandru moved together with his wife in the middle of 2021 in the new apartment, in a building developed as a real estate project of the company he works for which started in 2017 and was completed in 2020. In the neighborhood we find other developments of the same company, so Alexandru feels like he’s in the middle of the action.

Interior design

The arrangement of the space was designed based on very clear specifications from Alexandru, who wanted a mature design, with masculine accents and a modern charm of the Art Deco era.

The way he illustrated this concept was by combining materials for the vertical and horizontal surfaces – glass, ceramics, brass, solid wood, to develop a very glam combination of textures with industrial and luxury influences.

Most of the furniture units in the apartment are made to order to hide household items and create visual relaxation. The washing machine and the dryer are in the closet, along with all the necessary accessories for the household, so the space remains airy, reduced to useful and decorative elements.

Majoritatea unităților de mobilier din apartament sunt realizate la comandă pentru a ascunde obiectele casnice și a crea relaxare vizuală. Mașina de spălat și uscătorul sunt în debara, alături de toate accesoriile necesare menajului, astfel spațiul rămâne aerisit, redus la elemente utile și decorative.

The social kitchen

Alexandru’s kitchen, part of an open space configuration, looks like a New York bar scene from the ’30s, with a chandelier that takes the forefront above the ceramic snack counter. It takes you instantly to a Great Gatsby party.

Our mission in designing the kitchen was to harmonize the style of the furniture with the interior design. Alexandru cooks quite rarely, but he is passionate about gastronomy, so he wanted a modern kitchen with a unitary technological line (NEFF appliances), a wine refrigerator, and an integrated coffee espresso machine.

The kitchen furniture ensemble is elegantly combined in the general decor using complementary materials:

Base unit fronts: Anthracite frosted glass on a black aluminum frame
Column fronts: 21 mm heat-treated oak (natural veneer)
Suspended body fronts: AluTech Metal Brunito

The range of materials for the kitchen works with the same conceptual premises – to develop a transition from the heat-treated oak wood essence (natural element), to the frosted glass and metal (industrial elements), mediated by stone for the countertop and wall cladding.

The island with a ceramic-clad snack table decorated with two parallel golden brass lines was ordered separately from the kitchen, along with the base top and wall cladding in the kitchen to create a stylistically coherent area.

Why heat treated wood?

The heat treatment process involves controlled pyrolysis of the wood at temperatures exceeding 180 degrees, while reducing the percentage of oxygen, so that the wood is baked, but not burned, a process that gives it a number of attributes by changing the cell structure.

The wood obtains increased durability, increased resistance to fungi, while the risk of degradation by shrinkage, cracking, bending, is very low due to the increased rigidity. In addition, the final material is environmentally friendly, non-toxic, with greater durability over time and a great artistic look.

What are your hobbies?

Even though we work in real estate, our hobbies are also real estate investments. We have a series of properties that my wife and I rent. We started from a valid premise in American society – “Real estate is the best pension plan” – we know that investing in premium real estate (in good areas and excellent conditions) can bring substantial profit on the medium-long term.

In real estate you learn to be patient – a project is developed in dozens of stages and the order of the stages is very important. The same goes for interior design, especially when working with multiple vendors and elements brought together from different directions. I waited a few weeks for the chandelier above the kitchen table, but I was always realistic about deadlines.

Each apartment we arranged together was of classic inspiration together with modern elements. We really liked the color Greige (gray + beige), very popular in America, so we used a complementary palette for some arrangements to create warm ambiances, with wood-paneled walls, cornices, baseboards. However, for our new personal apartment, we decided to turn the page, we wanted a modern design with classic elements.

Given your field of work, luxury real estate, what have you noticed about Romanian clients investing in high-end properties?

There is a big difference in vision depending on financial and social status. After successful people make smart and profitable investments their prospects become wider, they see new opportunities for growth, including new dimensions in their personal style.

People with great financial success have developed an eye for beauty, for aesthetics, they look for and start finding these elements even in Romania. This translates into several aspects – from the choice of clothes, the car, the residential area, or in terms of personalized interior design, everything is reflected in the quality of life.

What are your plans for the future?

I like practical things and have noticed my personal evolution from the need of using decorations to the need for utility, so we will focus on combining the useful with the pleasant in order to enjoy the good things in life.

Photography

Dragoș Lăpădatu