If you are looking for a temporary home that is more than just a hotel room, Visionapartments is the right place for you. It is thanks to Anja Graf that people now feel at home away from home. In this interview, the entrepreneur reveals how she manages to bring warmth and comfort into rooms.
FACES: What makes an apartment beautiful?
Anja Graf: By a beautiful apartment, I mean an apartment with charm and lots of ambience. Important building blocks are an optimal layout, a convincing lighting concept and furnishings that match the overall concept and the architectural style. Last but not least, you don’t always have to wall everything up, but can get a lot out of it with flexible elements such as sliding glass doors. My experience has shown that even the smallest units can be made to look very homely, provided you respect the proportions and don’t overcrowd small rooms with furniture that is too large.
Q: Stylish is not the same as cozy. How do you make people feel comfortable in your apartments?
AG: The overall concept must harmonize. Colors, shapes, materials, lighting, light, furniture and pictures must be coordinated to create an atmospheric ambience. In addition, a harmonious feeling of living is always created with successful proportions, sizes and the right distances. Cushions, sofas and curtains should not be neglected and play an important role in comfort.
Q: Explain the individual steps to a ready-to-occupy apartment step-by-step!
AG: I get inspired on all my travels and visit international design and furniture fairs. This allows me to gather exciting input and pass it on to my architecture team. In the first phase, we give free rein to our creativity, brainstorm, sketch and create initial mood boards. Although we start with the furniture, we plan the apartment around it and not the other way around. The accessories have also already been defined in the first phase and drawn in the plans. We then coordinate regularly in meetings, create room concepts and give the design concept a name. The final concept is only finalized after numerous clarifications regarding availability, delivery times and costs. The actual implementation then takes place in close cooperation with other departments and external partner companies. Last but not least, our Cleaning Ladies then ensure that the residential units are ready for occupancy.
Q: How do you furnish your Visionapartments apartments?
AG: Our apartments are being built in good locations in business hubs. It is important to us that our residential units become a place of retreat. Creating such residential oases is very important to us, as our guests are very busy on business – with a beautiful temporary home, international business people can also recharge their batteries and live, relax and cook undisturbed. When developing new living concepts, we do not necessarily follow the local architectural conditions, but give free rein to our imagination. To name just one example: For the recently completely renovated apartment building on Militärstrasse in Zurich, we were inspired by the Aegean and South Africa.
Q: Are there people who complain about the furnishings and style of your Visionapartments apartments?
AG: Fortunately, that happens relatively rarely. Nevertheless, this type of feedback is important to us, as it is the only way we can continuously optimize living and room concepts. As we usually offer more than just one design concept in our houses, we can always provide alternatives if required.
Eight tips from Anja Graf for small apartments
1 . avoid bulky furniture and opt for delicate and airy alternatives.
2. multifunctional furniture such as sofa beds are worth their weight in gold.
3. the materials must be coordinated and harmonize with each other.
4 Pay attention to the proportions of the furnishings.
5. glass and sliding glass door elements are ideal for separating individual living spaces while still allowing light into the room.
6. use light-colored floors, ceilings and walls to make the room appear larger.
7 The supply of light is important. Dimmable lights, for example, ensure peace and harmony.
8. the perception of the size of the apartment can be influenced by the laying of tiles, for example.
Q: In addition to design and furniture fairs, where do you find inspiration for your interiors?
AG: I always find inspiration on my travels through Africa or Asia, where opposites collide. I even collect the best ideas for materials, colors and design concepts at markets in major cities.
Q : Do you work with a special setup tool or program?
AG: Our design and architecture team relies on various programs such as CAD or BIM. Our graphic designer supports you with image editing programs and visualizations. Last but not least, a small hand drawing or sketch on a piece of paper still helps with a good idea. Sometimes I take a quick photo with my smartphone on my travels, which then serves as the basis.
Q: How do you find your own furnishing style?
AG: I don’t think it needs its own furnishing style. You shouldn’t be stuck in this area, you should always design the furnishings in a way that suits you. My expectations of my home have changed many times. Age, family, zeitgeist, new furnishing trends and much more all play a role. I think furnishing style is a very personal thing, and tastes differ. There is therefore no real patent remedy. People who don’t have the time or flair for home furnishings should call in a specialist or just drop by and see us! (laughs)
Q: What’s one mistake you shouldn’t make when furnishing an apartment?
AG: Furniture and accessories should not be bought thoughtlessly and without context. Even the most expensive designer piece won’t work in the wrong surroundings. When furnishing a new home, there is strength in calm: it is worthwhile not planning everything from A to Z and buying blindly. I consider it particularly sensible to concentrate on the essentials first, move in and only then make further decisions when it comes to private matters.
Q: Do you have any tips on how to furnish an apartment stylishly and yet inexpensively?
AG: It’s best to put together a mood board in advance and collect examples that inspire you. Once you have an idea of how you would like to live, it’s not that far to get there. Nowadays, the internet helps you to find diverse and affordable solutions without having to rely on expensive brands. Sometimes it’s enough to simply change the color of an existing piece of furniture or reupholster it – and the wow effect is already there!
Q: Do you need designer furniture?
AG: This raises the question of what exactly is meant by designer furniture? Ultimately, many objects fulfill the requirements of a designer piece without having a world-famous brand attached to them. In my opinion, the decisive factor is always the price-performance ratio. I know it’s not always easy to do without designer furnishings, but you should always be aware that a single designer piece, such as an unusual lamp, is sometimes enough.
Q: What are your three insider tips?
WG: Gather impressions and try to develop your own concept for your personal needs. Pay attention to a good floor plan when planning or selecting an apartment. Plan the new build, conversion or renovation carefully and don’t jump to conclusions when buying furniture. And: above all, take your time and calmly “sleep on” the desired concept before entering the implementation phase.
Q: What are the current living trends?
AG: The tendency to combine old elements with individual pieces of designer furniture is still popular. To this end, more and more materials are being developed that convey this “used look”. You can be inspired by trends, but I also believe that you don’t have to follow every one of them.
Q : Are there any technological innovations to look out for?
AG: New types of technology solutions are being developed and have already been partially implemented, where many things can be automated and centrally controlled, even remotely when you are not at home. This also includes intelligent kitchens that automatically spit out the shopping list or give tips on what could be cooked with the current stock. A great deal will happen in this area over the next few years. Ecology and energy efficiency are also playing an increasingly important role. On the one hand, you want to protect the environment and, on the other, your wallet. Today, for example, fireplaces have almost completely disappeared from homes.
Q: You started redesigning and renovating apartments early on. What have you learned in recent years?
AG: The recipe for success lies in simplicity. Too much high-tech and options confuse the guest more than they help. Every switch should therefore be self-explanatory.
Q: How do you feel about furniture from flea markets?
AG: I find it fundamentally exciting. I also went to Brockenhaus for my first furnished rental apartments back then. So why not, if the furniture you find fits the overall concept? Old materials or Furniture often radiates something warm. That’s why we used wooden elements from former fishing boats from Indonesia in a recently implemented Mediterranean-style living concept. This resulted in tables, chairs, sofas and much more. Looks great in the realization and gives a vacation feeling.
Q: You live in Warsaw. How does the typical Pole live compared to the typical Swiss?
AG: There are certain differences. The residential units in Poland are usually smaller and there is generally less space available for living. Traditionally, Poles place a sofa bed in the living room, which they regularly adjust for their guests. In Switzerland, guests are more likely to book a hotel than to make their living room available.
Q: How do you live today?
AG: Like our main target audience, I have become a modern residential nomad and commute during the week through the cities in which we are planning Visionapartments. I’m spending the weekend with my family in Warsaw. We live there in a modern skyscraper with a view of the Warsaw skyline.
Q: What does your dream apartment look like?
AG: There is no such thing as my dream apartment, but I can imagine many different versions. From the ultra-modern penthouse with a view of the skyline of a metropolis of millions, to the beach house in the Caribbean without electricity or running water, to a converted factory building where the original graffiti can still be seen on the walls. The only important thing is that the overall concept is right and that the individual elements harmonize with each other.