The interior décor of this formal sitting-room in the apartments of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II, was designed by the architect Alexander Briullov in the Winter Palace after the fire of 1837. The ceiling is decorated with gilded mouldings. The walls were originally covered with elegant plant ornaments in white stucco highlighted with gilding. Between 1850 and 1880, the walls were entirely covered with gilded patterns according to the taste of the times. The armchairs with blue upholstery and the curtains of the same colour were chosen by the architect Andrei Stakenschneider to add some air of coziness to the interior excessively decorated with gold.