Parquet, a front door and white filomuro doors in a renovated house, with a glass indoor garage accessed from the lobby

When you step into Răzvan's home, you will be surprised to see, right beside the ground-floor kitchen, a glass-walled enclosure housing two "supercar" automobiles stacked on a lifting platform: a black Porsche 911 and a blood-red Ferrari California.

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This enclosure is Răzvan's garage, accessible and visible from inside the house, from the lobby, with an up-and-over door opening to the exterior. The reason he chose glass walls on the inside is so he can display and see his cars every day — a genuine source of pride for a "car freak" (as he calls himself).

After all, why hide two supercars away in a garage when you can fit glass walls and admire them daily from the comfort of your own kitchen? What is more, the idea of a transparent garage accessed from the entrance hallway is a design statement in its own right, something you do not see very often.

Răzvan is a man of entrepreneurial success as well as a man of mistakes. In the making of an entrepreneur, mistakes are gold mines from which you can extract the finest business lessons. Răzvan works in real-estate investment and is passionate about fast cars, fast boats and fast business. He likes to earn money so he can enjoy freedom of thought and of movement.

He bought the house (ground floor + 1 + attic) in December 2020, and the renovation works began in May 2022. He turned to a designer for the look and to trusted suppliers for various bespoke elements. Most of the works were supervised by him personally, because he is used to getting directly involved in order to meet his objectives.

Why did you choose to work with Kulttur?

I turned to Kulttur for the flooring, the filomuro interior doors and the entrance door (with fingerprint opening) because I respect the way they work with their clients and I have the guarantee of quality in both products and services. On top of that, we had already worked together on two other projects in the past, so I went in with confidence thanks to my positive experiences with Kulttur. Naturally, I researched the market and could not find a better combination of advantages.

I started the project early because I knew that the flooring and the doors are bespoke elements that involve lead times for delivery and installation. I have always appreciated Kulttur's approach — the honesty about their range of products and services, the transparency in their recommendations, the way they manage the budget in the client's interest, matters of entrepreneurial maturity. Kulttur did not sell me products; they helped me with solutions for exactly what I wanted.

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What did we deliver for the project?

This is our third project working with Răzvan, so we were very well in sync. From our initial conversations, we knew that Răzvan wanted wooden flooring throughout the house, including filomuro doors. From his requests, we knew he was a fan of minimalism, so we opted for a light shade for the wooden flooring (Bauwerk Cleverpark Farina).

Photo gallery: flooring + stairs

We installed almost 250 sqm of flooring throughout the house, including the staircases leading to the upper floors. The stair treads were technically prepared for dimmable LED lighting fitted across the width of each tread, both to achieve a luxury aesthetic effect and for visibility at night.

The filomuro doors with Smartlock handles were installed unfinished, to be painted white with washable lime so they blend into the white walls for a unified look.

Photo gallery: entrance door

Another central element of this project is the aluminium entrance door from Griffwerk, with two fixed side panels, fingerprint opening, a flush handle, an automatic unlocking motor, finished in RAL 7016 anthracite grey (for the exterior) and white for the interior. The door is in the Superterm category and provides insulation of 0.81 W/m²K.

We got on very well with Răzvan because he is realistic and used to renovation projects, so everything went simply and naturally — #binedelabunînceput, as we like to work.

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We visited Răzvan after he had completed a good part of the construction works, to talk about his experience with renovations and building projects.

How did the project go, Răzvan?

From my experience of renovating previous homes, once you move in after the main works are finished, it still takes at least two years before you get to feel that you are 100% home, before you settle in completely and learn how everything works.

It was 3.5 times more expensive and four times slower to work on my own house than on other houses.

It was more expensive not only because I did not estimate all the costs precisely (which is impossible anyway), but also because additional costs piled up — since it is your own house, new ideas and wishes come to you every day.

Theoretically speaking, everything you invest in your home for quality of life pays off in the long run, and in real estate those notable improvements — think of the quality of the flooring, the doors, the roof, the glass construction of the garage and the stair balustrades, think of automation for blinds, lights, electrical and plumbing installations and other small technical details — these are the elements that bring added financial value to the property. They are things that are worth every penny because they "age" well and will be used for at least 30 years.

Practically speaking, it is not all rosy — superior quality costs, there are few experts on the market, and the mediocrity of the workers on site turns everything into a nightmare. We have a real problem in Romania with the quality of small-scale construction service providers — renovations, upgrades and interior fit-outs. You come across providers who do not give you realistic timelines yet charge high prices and offer no guarantees, or who juggle three or four sites at once and make no steady progress on yours. There are a few exceptions, of course, but to find them will cost extra, because you will make mistakes with lower-quality teams along the way.

I am used to mistakes, but I feel best when I manage to learn from them. Anyone who works on a project like this and does not become a mountain of stress is a true hero.

What advice do you have for people starting their first renovation project?

When you think about your home renovation project, you probably picture an article from an interior-design magazine. You will talk about concepts and moodboards with your designer, you will see 3D renders that set your imagination in motion, you will daydream about the final result. That is how it is at the start, and this stage will be very enjoyable.

What no one tells you about the project is that it will be very hard and stressful along the way, once the works begin. It will take up a great deal of your time, it will cost (more) money (than you expected), and some things may not turn out exactly as you imagined.

Fortunately, if you know how to manage all the details in good time — the suppliers, the contractors, the materials, the deadlines — you really will enjoy the project, but it will not be as simple as you think. It is important to keep your enthusiasm, because at the end of the day it is your home and you have to enjoy working for your own comfort.