With the right design, even a typical apartment can look like an expensive apartment. The appearance of the rooms depends on the choice of style and layout. To understand what is suitable for a particular apartment, it is worth considering the different types of interior.
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Disadvantages of the kitchen-living room
Kitchen-living room decorated with contrasting colors
Combining the kitchen and living room in most cases improves the look of the room. Often this is done in the case when the kitchen is small. By combining the two rooms, there is a visual increase.
Living room in warm colors
But before you combine 2 rooms, you should consider some features:
- During the operation of kitchen appliances in the living room, noise will be heard, which may interfere with relaxation. Also, the noise from the living room can interfere with the person preparing the meals.
- Spreading the smell of cooking food. A few months after the rooms are combined, you can notice that the textiles in the living room begin to be saturated with odors and greasy.
- The need for thorough cleaning of the kitchen. This is due to the fact that if there is even a little mess in the kitchen, both rooms will look untidy.
- The complexity of the process of combining the kitchen and living room. To combine rooms, it is necessary to expand the opening, and in some cases, demolish part of the wall.
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Bright spacious kitchen-living room with black walls under the hanging cabinets
The advantages of joint premises include:
- The possibility of creating a large and spacious room in which you can receive a large number of guests.
- During cooking, you can communicate with all the guests without being distracted from cooking.
- Saving on TV, because you can put one large device in the room instead of two in different rooms.
- During cooking, you can look after small children playing in the living room.
It is because of these advantages that many apartment owners combine the kitchen and living room.
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Approval of the layout change
If you need to completely or partially demolish a wall to change the kitchen and living room, you need to make sure that the wall is not load-bearing. After that, the changes made in the Housing Spectacle should be agreed upon.
Coordination of the layout of the apartment should be made for the safety of the residents of the house. If these rules are not observed, the owner of the apartment faces fines and an order to return the apartment to its original state.
If the wall is not load-bearing, changes can be made to it even before the layout is agreed upon. This is due to the fact that such actions will not affect the strength of the house in any way.
Spacious kitchen-living room with a predominance of warm colors
During redevelopment, you should remember some prohibited actions:
- It is forbidden to completely or partially demolish load-bearing walls. They can only make doorways.But at the same time, before the work is carried out, the plan must be agreed with the relevant authorities.
- It is also impossible to combine a gasified kitchen with a living room. To do this, you will have to install an electric stove and a water heater. You can also replace the swing door with a sliding door.
- In addition, it is forbidden to transfer all water communications to the living area. If they move, it should only be within the kitchen.
To agree on the combination of rooms, you must contact the housing inspectorate for advice. At this stage, the apartment owner is explained what documents need to be collected, as well as what can and cannot be changed in a particular apartment.
You should also contact the technical inventory bureau to obtain a technical passport for the apartment. Thanks to this document, you can find out if the wall between the living room and the kitchen is load-bearing.
It is also necessary to develop a project according to which the apartment will be redevelopment. To do this, you need to contact any company involved in drafting projects and having SRO approval. In the case where it is necessary to modify a non-load-bearing partition, a simple sketch is sufficient.
Bright living room with bright yellow accents
If the redevelopment project being drawn up is complex, it is necessary to contact the center of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, the fire service, and also the management company. After collecting the milestones of the necessary documents, they must be submitted to the housing inspection.
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If there is a gas stove in the kitchen, it will have to be turned off. Only in this case it will be possible to combine this room with the living room. To do this, it is enough to write an application to the gas service so that the specialists install the plug or weld the gas pipeline. After completing these steps, you will receive help.
At the next stage, the electricity tariff is changed and an electric stove is installed. But it should be borne in mind that the power supply system of many old houses is not designed to consume large amounts of electricity. Because of this, it may be necessary to upgrade the network of the whole house. In most cases, this is not possible, since such work requires a lot of money, and is not always justified.
Living room decorated with a predominance of gray shades
If the power of the house's electrical network allows the installation of the stove, it will most likely be proposed to conduct a separate wiring from the shield. Combining the kitchen with the living room, you need to take care of installing a powerful hood.
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Zoning of the premises
When changing a standard apartment, the best option is to combine rooms, in which the space is divided into 2 zones. This can be done in various ways.
The most popular technique for dividing space is to create a "kitchen island". It implies a partial overlap of the space of the room with a bar counter or a separation of colors. When choosing shades, remember that they must be combined with each other, otherwise the room will look repulsive.
Zoning space with a table, ceiling and flooring
One of the common design techniques is the use of a kitchen island as an element that connects opposite areas. An example is the design, which from the side of the kitchen will be used to store dishes, and on the back side will be used to store books or other suitable items in the living room.
You can also place a dining table with chairs between the kitchen area and the living room.This furniture will allow you to properly plan the location of the kitchen set. Most often, when choosing this option, corner structures are installed.
As a separating element, you can also use upholstered furniture installed from the side of the living room. A sofa and a couple of armchairs are often installed. Also in the recreation area you can mark the carpet.
In the case when the combined room has a large area, it can be divided into zones by raising the floor level and lowering the ceiling level. In this case, the floor in the kitchen area should rise slightly above the living room.
Zoning when using a bar counter
Another way to divide a room into several zones is to create the right lighting. It is best to use spotlights and strip lighting. Properly installed wall lights also help to divide the room. In the kitchen, you can create a backlight on the bottom of the wall cabinets.
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Combining the kitchen with the living room, it is important to determine in advance the most suitable design style. At the same time, he should be liked by all family members. To avoid mistakes, you need to understand the design features of such a room.
If the room is small, it should contain as few elements as possible that create a certain style of decoration. It is important to decide from which area of the room to start thinking through the design.
Many experts agree that it is necessary to start with the kitchen, and only after placing everything you need on it, proceed to the design of the recreation area.
When designing a small room, it is recommended to leave as much space as possible without “littering” it with unnecessary items.
To make the room not only beautiful, but also comfortable, you need to consider a few recommendations:
Bright kitchen-living room in a classic style
- When choosing an interior, you can imagine the most comfortable place. Features of the presented situation correspond to a certain style of decoration. Having considered different options, you can understand what exactly is suitable in a particular case.
- It is also worth dreaming up, not limiting yourself to a budget. This will determine the most suitable option. It is worth noting that in any case, you can replace expensive materials with cheaper ones without spoiling the appearance of the room.
It is believed that the most suitable style for decorating a living room combined with a kitchen is neoclassical. When choosing, you should focus on the interior of other rooms in the apartment.
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To leave as much free space as possible in the room, it is necessary to install only the most necessary furniture:
- Kitchen set. When choosing, one should take into account not only the design style, but also the functionality. It is best to choose built-in appliances, as this will save more space.
- Dinner table, which is selected in accordance with the design style, as well as the number of people
- Chairs
- Sofa. The choice of product type depends on the size of the recreation area and the design style. In some rooms, a straight sofa will look better, while in others it is better to install a corner sofa.
Bright room with a predominance of pastel shades
The table should be placed next to the sofa so that all the chairs are on the other side.
Scandinavian style
When designing a Scandinavian-style kitchen-living room, you must adhere to the following rules:
- the room must be made as spacious as possible;
- in the kitchen should organize a large working area;
- during planning, it is necessary to provide space for a large table;
- if a TV is located in the room, it must be installed in such a way that you can watch TV shows from the kitchen.
If possible, widen the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. It is best to make an arch that will visually divide the room into 2 parts. Often wide arches are equipped with a bar counter. A sofa should be placed immediately behind it. Thanks to the presence of a rack in the kitchen, an additional work surface appears.
Scandinavian decor
When decorating a Scandinavian-style room, remember that it is light and extremely cozy. During the decoration, light colors and bright decor are selected. Also a feature of the Scandinavian style is the use of natural materials.
For some apartment owners, the abundance of white in the kitchen may seem impractical. But light surfaces are less easily soiled than black or gray glossy finishes. Also, if desired, you can easily change the design style if the main color is white.
When decorating the floor in such a room, gray porcelain stoneware should be used. The metallic sheen of the faucet and other items in the kitchen will go well with such a finishing material. For the countertop in the living room kitchen, decorated in Scandinavian style, an oak board is chosen. In such a room, you can place open shelves, room colors, and also hang small pictures.
Design of the kitchen-living room in the loft style
This type of design is suitable for rooms with high ceilings. The loft style is characterized by a mixture of classics and modernity, as well as the practicality and restraint of the color palette.
When choosing this type of design, it is best to separate the dining area, isolating it from the kitchen. The selection of furniture for the kitchen should be made in such a way that the interior elements have a sandy tint. The fronts of the upper cabinets should be black. It is best to choose products with a glossy surface.
Also, when choosing this style, you can divide the room into zones using a two-tier plasterboard ceiling. This will allow you to install ceiling lights.
Loft style
The floor should be finished with a laminate that imitates natural wood. In the recreation area, you should place a sofa, a low table and several soft chairs. It is important to choose them in such a way that each item is combined with the rest of the furniture, as well as with the color of the kitchen set.
Curtains for such a kitchen should be long, with soft folds. Turquoise fabric is the best. Pillows placed on the sofa should have the same shade.
Warm minimalism
If you want to create a cozy room with a minimum number of interior items, you should choose this type of design. Features of this style are open space and practicality. Minimalism is appropriate only if a room with a large area is being designed.
- White
- cream
- sand
- Brown
- Violet
Minimalism
Purple must be used to paint the part of the wall near the sofa and bar. Curtains should also have this shade. Design elements with this color allow you to unite the interior and make it more harmonious.
The bar counter can be brown. But it should be remembered that when creating a minimalist style, it is important to make this design more “light”.
When choosing this option from the kitchen side, the floor can be finished with ceramic tiles, and a laminate can be laid in the recreation area. These materials should have similar shades.
Built-in lights should be placed on the ceiling, which will visually highlight the kitchen. Above the bar you can place low-hanging lamps. In the living room, in this case, a ceiling chandelier is fixed.
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A square is the most convenient form for creating a combined room. This is due to the fact that such a room can be conveniently divided into several zones. In this case, it is best to choose an island layout.
Bright kitchen-living room for a large family
Kitchen design combined with living room | TOP-100 Ideas for a private house or apartment (110+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews
I just combined the kitchen with the living room, I did the renovation a couple of years ago and from my own experience I can say that there are much more disadvantages than the advantages of such a redevelopment for me personally. Yes, there is more space, it doesn’t look standard, light and space in the kitchen have been added, as the refrigerator fits perfectly into the niche in which the door to the kitchen used to be. But, there are also disadvantages. It is true that the article notes that cleaning should be done much more carefully now, you can’t just clean the kitchen and skip the combined room, it will look ridiculous, so I always clean now complex. Be sure to install a powerful hood in the kitchen, as all the smells of food are instantly carried into the room. If the combined room is also a bedroom, which I do not recommend doing at all, especially if there are several tenants, then you also need to take into account that the blender should be turned on only when the other resident is not resting, because all sounds are instantly carried to two rooms. In general, here, as always, the taste and color, but I would not do such a redevelopment again.
My sister and her husband made such a dining room-living room. There's also a fireplace. What can I say, a lot of money was spent, the equipment is modern. Since I often visit, by the way, they send guests to spend the night in another room), I see how my sister manages a vast area of the kitchen facilities. Now another nephew has been born, have time to turn around with cleaning. And I will say this - it works! I strongly agree, MARI A, about a powerful hood - it is a must, it perfectly cleans and protects against odors. Since no one especially spends the night in the living room, except in exceptional cases when there are an abundance of guests, the hum-buzz of kitchen appliances is of no particular importance for residents. In my apartment, having thought a little, I refused the “tempting” incarnation, and I am very pleased with the prudence shown. A decent private house is one thing, in the case of a sister or girlfriend, another alignment is an ordinary apartment of not cosmic dimensions.
I am engaged in resale of apartments and their repair.I can say with confidence that a combined kitchen with a living room has a magical effect on buyers. People, when they see such beauty, as if under hypnosis are ready to part with their money. Moreover, the quality of the repair itself does not interest them at all. They just want to own the real estate and that's it. So if the apartment is not for sale or you want to “weld” well on the living space, then feel free to demolish the walls and combine the two spaces. I assure you that the apartment will sell very quickly. Despite the fact that it will take an order of magnitude less money to repair the combined space. One or two walls disappear, they do not need to be repaired. There is also no need for interior doors. Big savings in lighting and stretch ceilings. So some pluses.
I, like many others, studied the issue of interior harmony in my apartment, but, as it turned out, there was no way without professionals. Turning to a professional interior and furniture studio, they managed to create a unique comfort in our apartment. thank them for that. I recommend that you contact the professionals.