Everyone wants to see their home stylish, fashionable, unique and at the same time homely and cozy. All of the above criteria must meet the living room, since it is one of the most important rooms in the apartment. To design and equip living rooms in new buildings, it is enough to make a little effort and design ideas, as for the apartments located in Soviet-built houses, the halls in them have an area of no more than 18 m2 and require special knowledge and experience when creating the interior.
Basic rules for registration
In the last century, most of the houses were built according to standard designs, so the rooms in their apartments cannot boast of large sizes, especially for living rooms, whose area is often 18 square meters. m. To design a chic interior in the hall, you should take into account the peculiarity of its location. So, for example, the room can be located on the western, eastern, northern or southern side, have a window or balcony. The choice of shades in decoration, textiles, as well as the creation of a lighting system will depend on this.
Most often, the design of a small hall is created using shades such as mint, blue, white, pink and light gray. This allows you to visually hide the lack of space and expand the space.
Since the hall acts as the central room in the apartment and all tenants use it, it should be designed taking into account not only personal preferences, but also the tastes of family members, family traditions.
To rationally fill square meters in the room, you need to pay special attention to the choice of furniture and give preference not to huge case designs, but to modular models. Their design can be either simple or with decorative elements.
The design of living rooms with an area of 18 m2 also depends on where the apartment is located - in a panel or brick house. In the first case, you will have to make a good repair before finishing the room, lay new electrical wiring, heat and sound insulation. In the second one, you can choose a budget repair option using inexpensive building materials and original design projects.
Layout Features
During the creation of the interior area of 18 square meters. m, one should take into account not only space limitations, but also such important indicators as the location of the room, its layout, the need for zoning and the number of residents.
The room can be square, rectangular or have a complex configuration. The easiest to decorate is a square and rectangular shape.
There are also narrow halls, having the form of the letter "G". For them, you need to prepare an individual project.
To properly equip the hall, it is important to consider the following requirements.
- The living room should always be light, the sun's rays fill the space with peace and tranquility. Therefore, it is not allowed in such rooms to decorate window and doorways with dark curtains. The glossy surface of the ceiling also helps to brighten the room.
- The room must be furnished in such a way that it is convenient to move around. It is recommended to leave a minimum space of 50 cm between pieces of furniture, and 90 cm in the aisle. The distance between the sofa and the coffee table should not exceed 40 cm. In living rooms of 18 square meters. m it is best to place not massive and tall furniture, but ergonomic.
- In the usual layout of the hall in a two-room apartment, there is free space, so the interior cannot be overloaded with unnecessary accessories. It is not allowed to use objects of complex shapes in design, they can cause a feeling of stiffness.
- In narrow and trapezoidal living rooms, furniture modules should preferably be placed along the walls. Thanks to this, the room will become more comfortable and filled with domestic warmth.
Color spectrum
An important point in creating a design project for a living room of 18 m2 is the choice of color palette. For this, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the general style of the room and try to give preference to universal tones. To visually expand the boundaries in a small room, it is recommended to choose such light colors as blue, gray, beige and white. In addition, you can achieve original accents in the interior with the help of decor items and furniture. For example, if the room is decorated in light shades, it can be revived without reducing the area with dark tones.
The tone of the finish is also selected depending on the location of the apartment. In that case, when the hall windows face the south side, the rays of the sun will penetrate the room often and it can be decorated in green, dark gray and brown. If the windows face the north side, then the lack of light compensates for the surface finish with materials of warm colors.
Style solutions
The modern design of the living rooms with an area of 18 m2 is represented by various styles, in accordance with which fabric decor and furniture are selected. As a rule, the following styles are used to design small rooms:
- Empire style with chic and luxury;
- country with a cozy atmosphere;
- provence with notes of romanticism;
- extraordinary loft;
- practical hi-tech;
- refined modernist style.
The choice of a particular style depends on several factors, so it is important to take into account the specifics of the operation of the hall and the personal tastes of family members.If the main task is to create comfort, coziness and convenience for relaxation, then it is necessary to give preference to Provence, ethnic style and country. If homeowners want to make their living room unusual and presentable, then you can choose English, classic style or modern.
Originality to the interior will give a modern style. It includes several areas, each of which is able to give the room chic, respectability and solidity. Looks good modern style, decorated in a rectangular living room. In their decoration should choose only light colors and try to avoid carpets, wallpaper with large drawings, voluminous furniture.
It is not worth installing in the hall and crystal tiered chandeliers.
The contemporary style also provides filling the room with natural wood furniture, decorated with a large number of doors and glass shelves. This will give the room more space and lightness. It is not advisable to place a large number of cabinets and pouffes in the living rooms, you need to do with a minimum number of modules.
Often there are design projects in which the room is designed in the style of minimalism. This is a fashionable area that is great for small rooms. The main feature of this style is strictness in everything. It is characterized by a laconic texture, the presence of geometric shapes and straight lines. As for the color scheme, it is allowed to use no more than 3-4 shades, which are selected from one spectrum.
Although minimalism provides for restrictions in creating the interior, it is still able to provide convenience, since it primarily values the maximum functionality of each item. Such an interior is easy to maintain order, since each thing has its own place.
High-tech living rooms also deserve special attention. This trend is characterized by a predominance of neutral shades, glossy finishes, glass and metal structures, which in one composition give the interior a sense of spaciousness, airiness and lightness. Fans of unusual interiors will like the loft style, in which there is a decoration that imitates brick or masonry.
True homeliness can also be obtained when designing country-style living rooms. The feeling of comfort in them is achieved thanks to the beautiful texture on wood, ceramic objects and decor on floral themes. Small items and decorative elements such as fringe, flounces and ruffles are not allowed in the country.
Finish
Before you make a quality repair in the hall area of 18 square meters. m, it is necessary to determine the type of finish and select a material that could visually adjust the room (increase its size). For the design of ceilings and walls, it is best to use light materials, combine contrasting colors and choose glossy surfaces.
Thanks to such simple tricks, even the smallest room can turn into a comfortable and cozy sitting area.
Walls
Wall decoration can be carried out with various materials, it all depends on the style of the room. So, for example, if the living room is planned to be decorated in the loft style, then brick or stone masonry will be appropriate. In living rooms with a low ceiling, wallpapering is a good choice, while it is advisable to choose paintings with vertical stripes. A combination of photo wallpaper with monochrome walls looks modern and bright in the hall.
Floor
When finishing floors, it is best to use linoleum or a laminate that mimics wood. In this case, you need to choose the light colors of the material and try to make the walls several tones lighter than the floor covering. When zoning the room, you can use several types of material that differ in color and texture.
Ceiling
Since a small room should be filled with light, it is recommended to make the ceiling several tones lighter than walls. Otherwise, it will “put pressure” on the tenants of the apartment and visually narrow the space. Designers in their projects for such living rooms choose a smooth and snow-white ceiling., since rack, cassette and tension structures will only attract extra attention to themselves.
Living room zoning
In order to hall 18 square meters. m. it turned out not only beautiful, but also multifunctional, many apartment owners divide it into several zones. Thanks to such techniques, it turns out in small-sized housing to arrange a separate place for the nursery, bedroom, dining room and office. To delimit the space, furniture, multi-level ceilings, various flooring finishes, partitions and mobile structures are usually used. As for the blind partitions, they are not suitable for small rooms.
An alternative in this case may be drywall constructions that occupy only part of the space. They look especially good in living rooms with high ceilings.
Lighting organization
It is possible to emphasize the beauty of the design with the help of a good lighting system, therefore, when decorating the interior of small living rooms, you can not do just installing a chandelier (in the center) and lamps (in the corner). In halls of 18 m2 with low ceilings, it is best to abandon the huge chandeliers and replace them with built-in lamps, installing them around the perimeter of the room. A combination of several types of lighting also looks unusual in the interior of the halls. For example, in a recreation area you can place wall lights and floor lamps, and install LED lighting on the ceiling. Similarly, you can apply additional lighting for shelves embedded in the wall, or paintings.
Furniture selection
The main component of the interior of all rooms is furniture, and the living room is no exception. Since the room has a small area, it should be filled with stylish, practical and compact furniture. Thanks to this, an atmosphere conducive to relaxation will be created. You cannot place modules along small walls in small rooms or put cabinets on one side and armchairs with a sofa and a TV on the other. As a result, an imbalance will be created in the room.
For living rooms with a limited area, a furniture set consisting of a corner wall, a coffee table, a soft sofa and armchairs should be purchased. A transformer wall, which includes a pull-out desk and a folding bed, is a good choice. In narrow rooms, it is advisable to avoid direct symmetry, since it only hurts, emphasizing the rectangular shape of the room. In such cases, the diagonal location of the chair or the installation of an L-shaped soft corner is the best option. It is impossible to create “corridors” in living rooms, which usually appear with a large distance between pieces of furniture.
Textiles and Decor
Today, designers use different ideas to decorate living rooms with an area of 18 m2. If the main goal of design is to maximize the expansion of space, then you need to avoid unnecessary decor. It is enough to place several bright objects in the form of sculptures, paintings or vases in the room. For halls decorated in restrained styles, it does not hurt to dilute the interior with art objects, chandeliers of unusual shapes and bright pillows with patterns.
Particular attention should be paid to the choice of curtains and curtains, because they serve not only as protection against the scorching rays of the sun, but also as an element transforming the interior. In low living rooms, it is best to install a traditional ceiling cornice and hang curtains hanging on the floor on it, this will visually stretch the walls. In rooms with high ceilings, you can use Italian and French curtains that look great in a classic interior.
In some cases, the curtains may not be used at all, they are replaced with transparent paintings without decor.
Good examples
Living rooms are 18 square meters. m, although they are not pleased with their area, in them you can still create a beautiful and unusual design. At the first stages of the development of a design project, it is necessary to carefully plan the layout, choose a finish color and furniture. This year the following living room decoration options are in fashion.
- Spacious room with notes of romanticism. To make it possible to implement design ideas, you should first open as much space as possible. To do this, before repairing, you need to get rid of excess partitions in the room, perform decorative finishing with stucco, and lay out a composition of natural stone on one of the walls. As for the ceiling, it should be snow-white. As a flooring, a laminate is suitable for laying a small rug. A glass coffee table and a large leather sofa will look good in the center of the room. Their duet will perfectly complement the plasma screen on the wall. Decorating the interior with small objects is not worth it, you can get by with one large picture, several figurines and a floor vase.
- "Sunny" living room in a two-room apartment. For those who value simplicity and luxury at the same time, the hall should be designed in such a way that it turns out to be bright and radiant. For the design of the room, you can not use dark shades. The ideal option would be white plaster on the walls, stretch ceiling, porcelain tiles on the floor, many plants and patterned textiles. Antique furniture, tablecloths with embroidery and pottery will become appropriate in such an interior. As a decor, photos in wooden frames and metal candlesticks are suitable.
Examples of interior design hall 18 square meters. m see in the next video.