Italian Paninoteca in Central Warsaw

This is a paninoteca in central Warsaw — a place where you buy a coffee and an Italian sandwich, and sometimes stay for a quarter of an hour at a table. The inspiration came from the colours and materials typical of Italian interiors: deep, saturated shades combined with the elegance and ease of a small café.

The floor area is small, so every centimetre had to be given a job. The display counter sits at the centre of the room and tells the guest straight away what they came for. An upholstered banquette runs along the wall and high stools stand at the bar, so one room holds both a quick takeaway and a calm coffee break.

The whole interior is kept in a dark, warm palette. That is a deliberate decision: a small unit in light colours usually reads like a corridor, while saturated colour makes it cosy and memorable.

The walls are the colour of mature wine, and so are the mouldings and trims. A single, uniform coating means the decorative frames read as texture rather than as ornament stuck onto a background — in a small interior that makes a real difference, because the wall stays calm.