In a city that moves at the brisk pace of any growing capital, a 35-square-metre (377 sq. ft.) vegan café is making a quiet argument for slowness. Tucked into a new residential district in Minsk, Belarus, Goodies doesn't shout for attention with bold colours or dramatic gestures. Instead, it offers something rarer: a room built almost entirely around stillness.
Designed by Anna Lazar, the café was conceived as an antidote to visual noise. There are no clashing textures, no attention-grabbing statement walls, no clutter competing for the eye. What remains is light, air, and a soft ivory palette that seems to exhale rather than announce itself — a small urban retreat for coffee, conversation, or a quiet hour of work.
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
The entire interior rests on a single, disciplined idea: warm neutrality. Ivory-toned walls meet natural stone counters and matte cabinetry in tones so closely related they almost blur into one continuous surface. Nothing is polished enough to glare, and nothing is dark enough to interrupt the flow of daylight moving through the space. The effect is a room that changes gently with the hours rather than staying fixed in a single mood.
Marble plays a quiet supporting role throughout, appearing as tabletops, countertops, and backsplashes with soft grey veining that adds just enough texture to keep the palette from feeling flat. Paired with pale, ribbed cabinetry and softly upholstered seating, the materials never compete with one another. Each one does its job, letting the architecture of light take centre stage.
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Goodies occupies a small footprint, but it doesn't feel small — largely thanks to the building's generous ceiling height and tall, narrow windows that stretch upward like slivers of daylight. Rather than fighting these proportions, Lazar leaned into them, treating verticality as a design feature rather than a constraint. Slender pendant lamps drop from high above on the thinnest possible cords, drawing the eye upward without ever crowding the room below.
Furniture throughout was chosen for its lightness of form. Round marble tables balance on impossibly thin metal legs, while curved armchairs with pale, cushioned seats look almost sculptural in their simplicity. Even the barstools lining the espresso counter share this same delicate structure, their frames practically disappearing against the walls behind them. Nothing in the room feels heavy — a deliberate choice that keeps the small space breathing.
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Where the footprint runs tight, mirrors step in to do quiet work. Panels of glass wrap the corners near the seating nooks and the washroom entrance, doubling the sense of space and drawing extra daylight deeper into the room. The reflections never feel like a trick — they read instead as an extension of the same calm, letting the café's soft geometry repeat itself into the distance.
Technical necessities, from lighting fixtures to hardware, were tucked away with the same restraint applied to everything else. Even the espresso bar, with its glossy curved front and hidden machinery, reads more like sculpture than equipment. A series of muted still-life photographs — dried citrus, pressed flowers, small ceramic vessels — punctuates the walls, adding warmth without ever breaking the room's hush.
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. 3D Sketch
At just 35 square metres, Goodies proves that calm doesn't require scale — only intention. Every material, every proportion, and every reflective surface was chosen to support one feeling: a pause from the city outside its tall windows. It is less a café in the traditional sense than a small, considered room for slowing down.
"For me, this project is about simple aesthetics and comfort without unnecessary accents." - Anna Lazar.
In a landscape of interiors competing for attention, Goodies makes its case by doing the opposite — and the quiet is exactly the point.
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Minimalist Cafe Design Goodies in Minsk. Photography by Vitalina Voroshkevich
Anna Lazar runs her design studio out of Minsk, Belarus, working across private homes, public interiors, and original object and lighting design. She trained at the International School of Design, and her portfolio reflects a steady commitment to pairing aesthetic polish with everyday function. This approach has earned her recognition within the design community and features across international design media.
Her guiding philosophy is simple: interiors should do more than look good. As she puts it, the aim is always "spaces that inspire, comfort, and elevate everyday living." MARKS Coffee & Books is a clear expression of that instinct — a commercial space treated with the same warmth, restraint, and material honesty she brings to a private residence.
