A home should reflect its inhabitants. When we hire interior designers, we don’t just want more beautiful decorations (though, of course, that’s part of it). We want a home that showcases our unique likes, interests, and taste. We want our friends to walk through our front doors and immediately say, “Wow – that’s so you!”
But what if a person has extravagant tastes? How do you design a home for someone who has spent his entire life designing big, ostentatious performances? This was the question facing Tatyana Myronova when she was approached to design the home of Giya Eradze, Director of the Royal Circus, Russia.
Giya has loved the circus his entire life and got his first job with the National Circus of Georgia at age 12. He loved the exotic animals – he trained birds, tigers, wild mammals, and more! As he moved into circus performances, he became known for his flamboyant, extravagant artistic style. His circus boasted a menagerie of exotic animals next to performances with lavish costumes on a sea of dancers and performers. Giya’s circus was meant to be a feast for the eyes, and this approach earned him international acclaim.
Tatyana’s task was to design a home that could emulate the extravagance and visual thrill that Gya brings into all of his work. How can a design capture such an iconic personality, and such a clear artistic taste as Giya’s? How can a design be a feast for the eyes, as all of Giya’s circus performances have been?
Tatyana’s result is astounding: shimmers of gold, abundant accent pieces, new colors, and textures meeting your eyes everywhere you look. The home features golden-backed armchairs, white leather sofa, and delightful dining chairs with exotic animals on their backs.
Tatyana uses bold prints, from the black and yellow design on the mattress cover to a Greek-inspired mural for the shower. She uses zebra-print chairs, turquoise cabinets with inlaid gold butterflies, tiger-striped pillows, and a golden alligator to keep the animal motif strong. Textures create visual variety as well: feathered statuettes, tall jungle-like palm fronds, and artisanal furniture.
Tatyana’s design puts pattern on almost everything, from the complex gold ornamentation on the kitchen cabinets to the fluid gold streaks in the impressive black marble floor. Only very rarely will you find a solid color not adorned with a pattern or interrupted with an accent piece, giving your eye no place to rest.
Giya’s home is a space not just for himself, but also for parties and business meetings. Space has to reflect all sides of him: the personal, professional, and social. Giya brings a sense of celebration into all areas of his life: everything revolves around his love of circus, and that is what this design reflects! Giya loves gold, Versace, and animals – three things we see in abundance in Tatyana’s design.
Tatyana works with Boca do Lobo, a design firm committed to “reinterpret ancient techniques of fine craftsmanship to create unexpected pieces of contemporary design,” according to their mission statement. Boca do Lobo draws on centuries of craft techniques to create exclusive, luxury pieces for the modern buyer. Each of their pieces is hand-crafted in Portugal, leading to unique, emotional pieces that showcase the raw materials and expert craftsmanship.
Boca do Lobo’s pieces are used to great effect throughout Giya’s home. Tatyana chooses several pieces with hammered brass, which elevate the entire design and add a delightful unpredictability. The Imperfectio Armchair features an off-white leather seat with a hammered brass structure. The design philosophy holds that the imperfections in the design create more authentic art that is more true to life. This artisanal armchair establishes a relationship with the artist, as the unique manual hammering creates unpredictable rough and smooth patches. In Giya’s home, it adds to the visual splendor and his one-of-a-kind aesthetic. Tatyana also pulls exotic furniture with passionate designs from Koket, A Modern Grand Tour, Eichholtz, and Versace.
Tatyana is known for her luxury interiors in the American Neoclassical style, a revival of Greek and Roman design concepts such as marble, columns, and the use of mythical figures in design. The boldness and epic proportions of Neoclassicism can be seen in Tatyana’s design for Giya’s home, even though the vibrant colors and carefully controlled chaos of Giya’s interiors are certainly not classical! Images abound in Giya’s house, from an armoire with a painted orchestra, to golden-framed photos from Giya’s life in the circus.
Tatyana’s design is revolutionary and unique in its bold, exciting, exotic, and delightfully busy approach. Tasked with creating a home, working space, and entertainment space for a man with larger-than-life tastes, Tatyana created a larger-than-life design. Her design is a stunning combination of extravagance and elegance, chaos and beauty, wildlife, and civilization. Tatyana has created a private circus just for Giya.
