Where imagination
becomes space

Designing a children’s room calls for a particularly delicate sensibility — one that balances clarity with softness, structure with imagination. For Alexandra, it is essential that such a space does not become overly literal or overtly decorative, but instead remains composed, layered, and capable of evolving over time. A child’s interior, in her approach, is not simplified — it is refined. It holds room for play and fantasy, yet is anchored in a broader aesthetic language that allows it to grow alongside its inhabitant.

The story of this room began well before its physical creation, rooted in a deeply personal moment. For her daughter Aliya’s fifth birthday — which falls just before the New Year — Alexandra chose to step away from the expected rhythm of celebrations and gifts, instead creating an атмосферic, almost theatrical experience. The celebration took place in the Muravyov-Apostol Estate and was inspired by the world of The Nutcracker. Together, Alexandra and her daughter developed a puppet theatre, drawing large-scale cardboard figures of an orchestra, stage sets, and characters, bringing to life the story of Clara through music, movement, and visual narrative. What emerged was not simply decoration, but a shared act of creation — immersive, tactile, and deeply personal.

As the project unfolded, it became clear that its scale exceeded the available time. In search of someone who could help complete this intricate world, Alexandra found an artist whose involvement would extend far beyond that single occasion. Their collaboration evolved into a sustained creative partnership, later materialising in larger-scale projects, including the development of elaborate cardboard installations — carousels and circus scenes — for the windows of GUM during the opening of the 12 STOREEZ flagship store. What began as a spontaneous solution grew into a shared visual language: tactile, theatrical, and gently nostalgic, capable of translating across contexts and scales.

It was precisely this experience — the act of building a world through drawing, texture, and imagination — that informed the idea of the children’s room. Located in a historic apartment with ceilings reaching nearly four metres, the space offered an opportunity to move beyond conventional decoration and instead treat the walls as a continuous surface for narrative. Alexandra’s approach was not to impose a fixed composition, but to allow the room to unfold intuitively, guided by memory, observation, and the presence of the child herself.

The imagery emerged from Aliya’s own experiences — summers spent in the countryside with her great-grandmother, surrounded by animals, fields, and an immediate connection to nature. These impressions gradually transformed into a painted landscape that envelops the room: a forest dissolving into a pond with water lilies, ducks and ducklings, reeds, and the quiet movement of water. Fish break the surface, frogs rest on leaves, swallows cross the sky, while butterflies drift among chamomile, bellflowers, and lotus blooms. A hedgehog moves through the grass, and an oak tree appears as a subtle cultural reference — a quiet echo of familiar narratives embedded in collective memory.

Particular attention is drawn to the area surrounding the bed, where the composition takes on a more symbolic dimension. Here, clover appears as a motif associated with wishes and their quiet fulfilment, positioned close to the place of rest and dreaming. Above it, a field of grains unfolds — barley and wheat — forming an image of growth, continuity, and realisation. This transition from clover to field introduces a subtle narrative within the space: from desire to manifestation, from imagination to lived experience.

Отправной точкой для росписи стали личные воспоминания и впечатления дочери: её любовь к лету, проведённому у прабабушки в деревне, к животным, к полям, к травам, к простой и естественной близости с природой. Именно поэтому сюжет комнаты постепенно начал складываться вокруг образа сказочного сада и леса. Мы начали с эскиза, но очень быстро ушли в импровизацию, позволяя пространству и самой живописи вести нас дальше.

Так на стенах появился целый мир — мягкий, лиричный, обволакивающий. Лес переходит в пруд с кувшинками, утками и утятами, из воды выпрыгивают рыбы, на листьях замирают лягушки, в воздухе кружат бабочки и пролетают ласточки. Между травами и цветами — ромашками, колокольчиками, лотосами — идёт ёжик, появляется дуб с лёгким намёком на сказочный мир Пушкина, на жёлуди, на ту культурную память, которая узнаётся почти бессознательно. Всё это разворачивается вокруг комнаты как единая непрерывная история, создавая настроение, которое проживается ежедневно.

The mural was executed entirely by hand, directly onto the walls using acrylic paint, over the course of several weeks. Working from ladders, Alexandra and the artist gradually built the composition layer by layer, allowing the process itself to shape the final result.

This method holds particular significance within the studio’s philosophy. The presence of the human hand — its precision, its imperfection, its time — imbues the space with a quality that cannot be replicated through mechanical means. It is visible not only in the brushwork, but in the way light interacts with the surface, in the subtle irregularities that give the room depth and authenticity.

In this way, the children’s room transcends its functional role. It becomes an environment that participates in daily life, shaping perception and memory, offering a quiet framework for imagination to unfold. Rather than serving as a backdrop, it acts as a living, evolving presence — one that gently accompanies the child, absorbing and reflecting the rhythms of her world.

Behind many works of art lie personal stories — quiet, unfolding over time, shaped by memory and meaning.

Over time, Alexandra Rakhimova Interiors has developed a distinct way of engaging with its guests — through intimate, intellectually driven gatherings where spatial aesthetics are intertwined with cultural depth.