PHOTOS BY NATA ABASHIDZE-ROMANOVSKAYA

There are pluses and minuses to being a designer based in an unconventional city like Tbilisi, Georgia: Before you get noticed you feel invisible, but once you do, thanks in part to a thing called exoticism, the attention comes fast and furious. Another plus? You can take up residence in grand 18th- and 19th-century apartments so stunning that, when your breakout year arrives and T magazine comes calling, you’ll look like you were born ready. That was the case earlier this month when the Georgian duo behind Rooms — whose work we’ve been tracking since 2009, as we mentioned when we recently profiled their epic new collection, pictured just below — had their homes shot for T’s Greats issue, with results so lovely we immediately asked for permission to reprint all the outtakes. Check those out below, then head over to T magazine’s website to see the original images and to read the full story about how they “incorporated into their pared-down aesthetic the distinctively Soviet style they grew up with.”