Small kitchen-living room: zoning options and examples of interior design

Open-plan kitchens have been in fashion for a long time: they moved from Western interiors to Slavic apartments, and people were able to appreciate the convenience of such solutions. The kitchen, combined with the living room, seems to be a spacious room, but not every layout contributes to this. But even a small kitchen-living room can become comfortable, functional and useful for the whole family room.

Before deciding on such a design, you need to weigh all its pros and cons. When a blank wall disappears between the hall and the kitchen, the concept of the home changes radically. And you need to start with the topic of psychological comfort: open planning will appeal to those who are configured for sociability, constant contact with interlocutors.

But usually people who decide on a joint project understand and accept this feature of the room in advance. Instead of two rooms, you get one studio with kitchen and living room functions.. A studio is always a lighter, visually more spacious format, where you can’t hide from the household.

Indisputable advantages of a combined room:

• the ability to communicate with family during cooking, watch TV;
• the ability to look after a small child who can sleep in a crib or play in the playpen in the hall area while mom is cooking;
• a sense of spaciousness, the interior now does not look small and closed;
• great design opportunities, because the dining table can be taken out of the kitchen into the hall, which means that you can install a larger suite in the kitchen.

The main disadvantage is that now you can’t retire in the kitchen or in the living room. Combining a kitchen with a lounge requires a single stylistic solution, in rare cases, two zones are performed in different styles.

In almost every project of combined rooms there is a separator that separates one functional area from another. It can be small and conditional, but there are zoners that are comparable to a dividing wall.

Separation options may vary.

• Fake wall made of drywall. The solution is common, but not so popular. Often in a similar partition, shelves or a niche are made in which decor items can be placed. In a small apartment, it makes no sense to make a wide wall of gypsum plaster, as this will "eat" part of the usable area. But the meter wall is a good option. Often the kitchen is blocked from the entrance side (the bathroom can be expanded for this), the entrance to the kitchen is planned through the living room. In this case, there can be two false walls 1 m wide each.

• Bar counter. Also not the most popular option, but if you abandon the idea of ​​installing the structure on a metal leg, everything will not be so old-fashioned. The bar can look like a miniature island. But in this case, you will have to put a couple of bar stools next to the structure, and this will also take part of the space.

• Rack. This option can be called successful, since the shelving is through, not as massive as the wall. On the shelves of the rack you can arrange flowers, books, souvenirs and other decorative elements.

• Glass partition. Glass does not look so dull as a false wall, because often the owners of small apartments install such a partition. The glass structure does not “eat up” the light; it can be very compact and stylistically coincide with the design concept of the room.

• Sofa. If you put it on the line of separation of zones, it will conditionally separate the kitchen from the living room. But under such conditions, the kitchen should have a powerful exhaust system, as textiles absorb odors well.

Many owners of such combined premises do without an explicit separator. Sometimes the living room begins with a dining group, which is no longer included in the original area of ​​the kitchen.

Finally, zoning the territory in the house can be finished. In the kitchen area, due to its functional features, moisture-proof and heat-resistant materials are used: these are ceramic tiles, porcelain stoneware, artificial stone, as well as tempered glass, washable wallpaper. The hall is more convincing wooden surfaces, laminate flooring, as well as carpet, decorative wallpaper. The difference in textures will serve as a visual zoning, but the coloristic and stylistic solution should be integral.

Soft light tones create the illusion of increased space in the room. And if you use dark and saturated colors, the room, on the contrary, will visually decrease. because the best solution for a modest kitchen-living room will be white, gray, pastel and beige shades.

It is worth paying attention to fashionable colors in the interior of 2019.

• Spiced honey. This is a pleasant warm caramel shade; depending on the color of the partner, as well as on the lighting, it takes an amber, sand and wood color. It is a comfortable and cozy color that makes the room warmer. For the formation of a traditional style, it is ideal.

• Bamboo color. You can call this shade of dull orange. It is well suited for finishing the accent wall of the room, for choosing upholstered furniture.

• Gray coffee. Cozy and at the same time illuminating color.It will be perfectly combined in the kitchen-living room with sky blue and pale gray-beige. For southern sunny rooms - a good option.

• Rose quartz. The color is elegant and "thoroughbred", very warm and soft. It will be a good solution for northern cuisine, which should be made a little warmer.

If the transformation takes place in a two-room apartment, try so that the arrangement of the rooms somehow resonates with each other. One color palette and one interior style are basic requirements. But if you have a bright and warm kitchen-living room, the bedroom may just be milky, restrained. Still, the rooms have different tasks, and if everyone in the extended kitchen communicates, relax together, arrange gatherings, then the bedroom should be an ideal place for privacy.

Deciding on a style right away is a difficult task. I would like to make such a repair, which for a long time will look fresh and relevant. To do this, doing it according to the standards of fashionable magazines a couple of years ago is not worth it, but taking a closer look at what's at the cutting edge of fashion will be the right decision.

Designers pay attention to important nuances.

• Interior customization. In the era of information, making a room exactly like in a photo in an interior magazine or a popular site is not difficult. Today, living space requires personification. This can be craft furniture, art objects in the interior and even a mixture of styles.

• Boho. Interiors in vibrant boho are very popular today, but for a small kitchen-living room this will be a difficult option. However, if you are inspired by stylish examples, and not go too far with details, you can get a very beautiful space.

• 70s The aesthetics of the 70s is today experiencing a new wave of popularity. Olive color, warm shades of ocher and terracotta, velvet and geometric ornaments return to the living room.

In the fashion and active ornament in the interior, which opens well against the background of flowers such as French vanilla, gray-green, mint, brown hazelnuts, warm gray.

Remain relevant nature-related elements in the urban interior - flowers and greens, first of all. Hand-made decor is popular: the good old macrame is again in demand today and adorns the walls of many kitchen-living rooms.

Those who intend to make a room in the Scandinavian style can not be upset: this decision can no longer be fashionable or not, it has become a classic.

Illustrative examples of arranging a space in which both the kitchen and the living room are located on the same territory will be more eloquent than many fashionable descriptions.

8 kitchen-living rooms with a modest area.

• Actual shades of the season - coffee gray, white and blue - connected in the kitchen of 18 squares, which the owners decided to make the room "2 in 1". A good option for a one-room apartment: the living room can fit in the large kitchen, and the former room can be turned into a bedroom.

• The umbrella in this case is the sofa. The space seems spacious, although these are typical rooms. White color serves as a "conciliator" of zones and interior elements.

• Beautiful classic, a lot of light and the relevance of each interior element. Without such a decision, the kitchen and living room would look narrow and cramped.

• Kitchen + dining room + living room. And all in warm woody shades that add warmth to the room.

• Very small space well arranged. - a small kitchen, a comfortable, albeit a small dining table, a cozy sofa. For lovers of compact sizes of furniture and kitchen, the option is very good, the feeling of space and fresh air is preserved.

• An interesting zoner in the form of filament curtains clearly separates the kitchen from the living room, but it would have looked completely different if there was a blank wall. A great example of how in a small space you can apply imagination and make a fashionable interior.

• It seems that due to the separation the living room suffers, it becomes small. But this is not so: by finding a dining group at the intersection of zones, space becomes a spacious studio where everyone can find a place.

• Everything is very compact and very harmonious.. And a table for the whole family, and a cozy sofa, and a TV, and not the smallest set - everything fit here. Another option for those who believe that the living room can be moved to the large kitchen.