New East Digital Archive

Follow of the week: peek inside old St Petersburg apartments

Follow of the week: peek inside old St Petersburg apartments
Image: @maax_sf/Instagram

3 May 2017

Interested to see how the old interiors are adapted for today? Follow @maax_sf to witness the intersection of history and everyday life in intricately decorated apartments in St Petersburg.

Most of the apartments pictured are situated in pre-revolutionary buildings in the city centre and used to belong to the city’s nobility or were built to be rented out. In the Soviet times many of them became communal apartments where several families would share a single flat, often occupying one room each.

A post shared by Maxim (@maax_sf) on

The Instagram account documents apartments of different fates — some of them got renovated and others are still in decay and rented out by room — but their ceiling mouldings, fireplaces and stoves covered in Dutch tiles and old wooden floors are the ultimate interior design inspiration regardless of the circumstances.