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From Amazing To Downright Scary, These 30 Design Decisions In Soviet Apartment Buildings In Lithuania Are Far From Boring
Anyone who's ever visited a post-soviet country would've probably noticed some dull and depressing Eastern Bloc apartment buildings. Designed solely for one purpose—to put a roof over the heads of as many residents as possible, as quickly as possible—these buildings are definitely not the greatest example of charming architecture. However, the people who lived behind the iron curtain learned to make the most of what they had, and that included decorating the yards and hallways of these hideous apartment blocks. However, creativity and taste don't always go hand in hand. While we would like to say take a look at these amazing, mesmerizing, wonderful gardens and hallways, all we can actually say is look at these... quirky gardens and hallways. Of course, this doesn't apply to all of them because there's some amazing ideas in this list as well. But mostly... well, we really don't want to get your hopes up. Scroll down below. Upvote. Comment. Roast us. You know, the usual.
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#1
64-year-old Kristina Šeniauskienė has gone viral for her impressive garden in front of the apartment building where she lives. "I work for the compliments," the crafty woman told the local TV station. "Throughout my life, I have never received as many compliments as I do now," she added. Every day, she spends somewhere from 5 to 6 hours working on 60 different plants in the garden.
She started taking care of the garden 11 years ago. "When I'm working outside with the flowers, I don't feel any pain," she said. "But when I come back, lay down in my bed, my body starts to get sore. So I feel better here [outside]. Just like in childhood—I don't want to come back home in the evenings," she added, smiling. "Every year, she comes up with some new compositions," one neighbor told the TV news station. "We come here like it's some kind of museum."
averageperson 5 years ago
Incredible. Somebody spent a LOT of time on this, and it really shows.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 5 years ago
What a lovely and well-manicured garden. A little place of solace and greenery after a hard day.
Katinka Min 5 years ago
I thoguht gardens like this only exist in games like Gardenscape etc :-)
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#2
nanashi 5 years ago
I'm amazed the potted plants survived despite having a cat around. my cats would just destroy them upon sight.
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Yvonne Blau 5 years ago
I like the colour. Almost everything looks better than brownish-greyish. And the plants along with the decorative cat make a lot of a difference.
Miriam Hirsch 5 years ago
A toddler or kitty could take a terrible fall on this horrid design.
Barb Braun 5 years ago
I love this! While the rust colour is not one I would ever choose, I find it strangely calming here.
Elaine Mattingly 5 years ago
Can you imagine after a hard day sittiing here in the sunlight with a cup of coffee?
#3
Jeannette Treusch 5 years ago
That's something we often have here in Germany, in many sizes. Mostly found at kindergartens or schools.
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katboxjanitor 5 years ago
Inquiring minds want to know, is this two buildings met in an unplanned manner? I wonder if more windows have been cemented closed like the one above the cat alcove?
Created on Christmas Eve back in 2018, the Facebook group Laiptinių puošimo grupė has over 3.5k members now. The group description says that it welcomes everyone who takes care of the decor of hallways and gardens in apartment buildings.
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Stannous Flouride 5 years ago
It looks like much of the Soviet avant garde art of the 1920s, like something you'd see in an aviation museum.
Podunkus 5 years ago
Given the representational subject matter, perhaps Russian Cubo-Futurist school?
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Ren Karlej 5 years ago
You went to a much better decorated school it would seem!
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Michael Dworkin-Robertson 5 years ago
what are YOU thinking...it is showing rise of the industrial age...
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Jane Dorothy Warner 5 years ago
My old mum tried to make the gardens of the retirement flats pretty, just as she had kept a lovely garden all her life, but some b**** kept ripping up the plants!
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Aria Whitaker 5 years ago
So are we ignoring the duck neck and head, minus the body, hanging out in the middle of the garden? lol
Cherubi Batzel 5 years ago
tacky if a stuffed bear which would get tattered and soggy looking very fast
#9
Yvonne Blau 5 years ago
The cat IS the decor, now that it killed the plant.
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Just another bot 5 years ago
Mamma must feel sad for those poor plants. But at least the kitty is comfy and pleased
#10
Nicole Tomme 5 years ago
It is not a single flower. It is THE SINGULAR SUNFLOWER (cue dramatic music)
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The group Laiptinių puošimo grupė was founded by Giedre Viliulyte, who is still an admin, and her dad, Giedrius Viliulis (yes, they both have the same name and it's adorable!). When it was created, Giedre and her dad shared photos of beautifully decorated hallways among their neighbors. However, after Giedrius deleted his Facebook account, his daughter decided to attract more members to the group—and succeeded!
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Isabel Care 5 years ago
We aren't allowed to do this in the common areas of our flats due to "fire risk". No decorations or plants at all
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Just another bot 5 years ago
I like all the plants, this one is not bad actually, except for the mop bucket :) good spot for hand sanitiser
Michael Dworkin-Robertson 5 years ago
don't you get it? She's a maid...the mop bucket is hers...
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Billie Templeton 5 years ago
Very clever way to disguise all those maintenance panels! They are no longer an eye sore
Terri Botts 5 years ago
Let's not get carried away. At least they're not the main focus is more like it
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#14
Hilary Mol 5 years ago
I can't tell where this door could possibly lead. There's leftover bathroom floor tile used on the main wall, an outside brick wall facade left over from The Last Great Soviet Apartment Building, an above-door light that's a ripped-off top part of a carousel, and a door that appears to have been what was left when they finally struck the set of Alice in Wonderland.
Dorothy Cloud 5 years ago
Good grief, I hope they finish it and enjoy it. Because it's very unattractive.
Just another bot 5 years ago
Oh this hurts my eyes. Thankfully it's white at least...and why that wall tile? It looks like a bathroom
#15
Fran Stateler 5 years ago
This is so clever. Usually you see a tire with some plants plunked in the center.
Livvy-Rose Richards 5 years ago
In you he-ad, zom-bay, zom-bay, zom-ba-a-ay!
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Elaine Mattingly 5 years ago (edited)
Finally, someone found a way to make a tire pretty! Swan Lake.
"I founded the group along with my dad, Giedrius, back in 2018 right before Christmas. We were inspired by the Christmas decorations in our 12-story apartment building," the group administrator, Giedre, told Bored Panda.
#16
Hilary Mol 5 years ago
I wonder if tire swans are their version of the plywood "old lady in bloomers bending over in the garden" yard decorations (or plywood animals, or plywood cowboys...).
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Potato fries 5 years ago
This is very unexpected even for me.... And I'm Russian...
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#18
"Please look after my flower until February 7"
Amy Grant 5 years ago
this one is sad :((( It says "Please look after my flower till Feb 7". Neighbours clearly failed :(
Up All Night 5 years ago
I heard poinsettias are infamously hard to keep alive.
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Jessica 5 years ago
My poinsettia died and came back and it was not red or yellow like I bought it at Walmart. It came back green like a normal plant
Big Blue Cat 5 years ago
That's because top part of the plant is kept in darkness to turn it red (or yellow etc.). Red parts are leaves, not petals. If you keep it on a windowsill, it'll eventually turn green.
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Jennifer De Casterle 5 years ago
The trick is to only water poinsettias when the soil is really dry.
Nicole Tomme 5 years ago
I would buy a similar one and repot it. Not to be deceptive but so at least they have a plant to come back to.
#19
Raine Soo 5 years ago
Do you suppose all these tire swans are an homage to Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake'?
sabocat 5 years ago
Yes, because the only way ex-soviet people know about swans in because of Tchaikovsky...
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#20
Barb Braun 5 years ago
The dog leaning up against the past at the back looks as if he's given up.
Hilary Mol 5 years ago
This unexpectedly jogged a happy memory for me: this reminded me of how those cheap local carnivals would come into town and set up the 'easy' games for the little kids - the ones they couldn't lose. Catching a magnet-duck and so on... this photo may seem a bit dark and cluttered with kids' bric-a-brac, but I think it's sweet.
Just another bot 5 years ago
Oh no, that's a bit too much to look at isn't it? The water is a funny colour too, perhaps they can't afford a pump or have the time for pond maintenance...Someone put some effort in it though
"While riding the elevator, it was fun to see all the different decorations on each floor. At first, we invited only close friends and neighbors to the group with whom we shared photos of the decor on our floor," Giedre explained.
#21
Beth Arriaga 5 years ago
You must've been raised by a Southern mama: 'bless their hearts' is the nicest insult ever. Lol.
Load More Replies... Just another bot 5 years ago
I don't mind pictures, they add a pop of colour to these dull spaces even if they are not good, more paintings I say.
Rachel Arteiro 5 years ago
It was a misunderstanding. Somebody said: "It would look better if you put some paint on the wall"... and they did.
Kathy Greear 5 years ago
maybe the same artist is painting each of them and still has room for more...
Elaine Mattingly 5 years ago
Looks so much better than litter and destructive deeds. This shows an attitude of hope, a promise that things will be better in time.
#22
suzanne werbiski 5 years ago
Actually I really like this eclectic style! it all somehow works together and love the curtains
Hilary Mol 5 years ago
I had no idea shower curtains came in the lacy-sheer-doily variety, but I like their use of a curtain rod so the curtain can cover the whole wall.
Just another bot 5 years ago
Looks like someone decided to add an extension to their apartment
#23
Aria Whitaker 5 years ago
I can not imagine walking up my darkened stairwell at night and bumping into this guy!
Jane Dorothy Warner 5 years ago
A forest guardian, driven insane by all the concrete around it :(
#24
Chewie Baron 5 years ago
One way of getting rid of Carl singers, Mormons and trick and treaters!
Load More Replies... Just another bot 5 years ago
I don't really understand what this is, but I like the cannon and windmill
#25
Just another bot 5 years ago
Let's have a cuppa and keep an eye on the neighbours, shall we? LOL
Kendra Miller 5 years ago
It looks like the right height to sit at the table, so no I would say that is a comfortable single seater
Load More Replies..."This group would always lift my mood and I wanted to see more posts, especially since the trend of decorating hallways and gardens in front of apartment buildings is big everywhere in Lithuania," the group administrator told Bored Panda. "So, I started brainstorming ideas on how I could attract more Lithuanians to the group."
#26
Just another bot 5 years ago
Lol, this one is pretty cool with the cactuses and the ape is unexpected
Dorothy Cloud 5 years ago
I couldn't figure out what it was until I finally saw a face...........
#27
Andrew Gibb 5 years ago
just like the Louvre, but in the hallway of a block of Soviet era flats
Rachel Arteiro 5 years ago
From the "You should put some paint on those walls" series. And they failed, again.
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K. Kerry Kozak 5 years ago
Perfect - the person who separated church and government wears a cross earring!!!
#30
Ruby 5 years ago (edited)
Molly, what appears as junk to you may be precious pieces salvaged over the years and lovingly arranged in a garden corner with pink flowers and a smiling, friendly gnome who proudly welcomes visitors. Tolerance, compassion, and empathy are always welcome qualities when visiting the charming gardens around the world. Many people with limited resources work very hard to make beautiful places where there was an empty corner for others to enjoy.
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Dianna Siever 5 years ago
One person collects the junk; the other tries to cover it up or make it look pretty.
"I had been following a Lithuanian blogger named Mahila for a long time, and her sense of humor seemed similar to mine so I messaged her about my group and she shared the link to it on her page," Giedre said. "That's when the group really started to bloom! Members started flooding it with photos of their own hallways, little gardens, and squares from all around the country," she added.
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"I have not resided in Lithuania for quite a while now and when I try to tell my friends in the UK about this group and the tradition of decorating, embellishing, and sometimes grotesquely uglifying our hallways, they don't seem to get it," Giedre explained to Bored Panda. "It's nice that Lithuanians are able to laugh at their own bizarre tradition. While the group was intended for "lovers of aesthetics," everyone understands pretty well that the group was created in order to offer a unique glimpse at this cultural heritage."
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Nicole Tomme 5 years ago
Hey at least it isn't the other end. Then you'd have the c**p scared ON you.
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J-Yogi-Temp-Mom 5 years ago
i love how they felt the need to chain it down so it doesn't up and walk away.
#41
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
There is a garden in my block that have totems with dolls parts, and a shop mannequin in underwear and stockings with a darth vader head. It is creepy as hell but i actually like it^^
#42
#43
Fran Stateler 5 years ago
An old toilet is one of the hardest things to get rid of so repurpose it.
#44
#46
Hanni 5 years ago
Garbage chute. This room opens from the hallways of tall buildings so that the residents don't have to haul their garbage down with the elevator. Smells horrible, always full of cockroaches. Chute is never sanitized. You are lucky if you never see a rat.
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#51
"Stupid house"
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#55
F. H. 5 years ago
It's a boar hide. I wouldn't want it inside either, they lose all their bristles.
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Elisabeth Moriarty 5 years ago
This is just waiting to be included in the next Stephen King novel
#57
#58
Anne 5 years ago
Rumor has it.. there are an extreme amount of beautiful people there.. must be something in the water!
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#60
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
This shar pei is human shaped, it is the best part of the picture.
Nicole Tomme 5 years ago
They could use the cracks on the walls to make a cool design or block out color.
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What do you think ?
Sue Grigg 5 years ago
With the exception of a few, these are just people trying to humanize bland living conditions and good for them.
Dorothy Cloud 5 years ago
It is sad. Looks like most of the people were poor and tried very hard to improve what little they had. Bless their hearts.
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Don't think these people are particularly poor. But those apartment buildings haven't been renovated in forever. A bit of new paint and new doors and windows do wonders to those buildings.
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Befitting Soup 5 years ago
So nostalgic. Although I never lived in a block, they were all around and we were always off vising an aunt or older relative living in a block of flats. The staircase has a particular smell (not bad) I still remember it fondly.
Stannous Flouride 5 years ago
Given that the industrious staff of Bored Panda are all Letts (Lithuanians) it's surprising that so few of the posts here are from that lovely country. Nice to see.
Kae Matsuda 5 years ago
I loved Vilnius but I resolved that if I ever come into money I will fill in some of its skyline with beautiful, modern, plant-friendly, affordable housing just to offset the Soviet apartments. They are so unbelievably ugly! This post was sweet because it showed people making the space their own on very little to work with. It's my dream to give them more!
Sue Grigg 5 years ago
With the exception of a few, these are just people trying to humanize bland living conditions and good for them.
Dorothy Cloud 5 years ago
It is sad. Looks like most of the people were poor and tried very hard to improve what little they had. Bless their hearts.
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Don't think these people are particularly poor. But those apartment buildings haven't been renovated in forever. A bit of new paint and new doors and windows do wonders to those buildings.
Load More Replies... Befitting Soup 5 years ago
So nostalgic. Although I never lived in a block, they were all around and we were always off vising an aunt or older relative living in a block of flats. The staircase has a particular smell (not bad) I still remember it fondly.
Stannous Flouride 5 years ago
Given that the industrious staff of Bored Panda are all Letts (Lithuanians) it's surprising that so few of the posts here are from that lovely country. Nice to see.
Kae Matsuda 5 years ago
I loved Vilnius but I resolved that if I ever come into money I will fill in some of its skyline with beautiful, modern, plant-friendly, affordable housing just to offset the Soviet apartments. They are so unbelievably ugly! This post was sweet because it showed people making the space their own on very little to work with. It's my dream to give them more!
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