Features zoning living room and kitchen

In apartments of free planning and in country houses, the space of the kitchen and living room is increasingly combined, giving room for imagination in the interior design. But it’s not enough just to combine rooms of different functionality. You also need to perform the correct zoning of the living room and kitchen. Moreover, designers are ready to offer original solutions for the separation of rooms, which can be used in a city apartment or a country house.

If the kitchen and living room are combined - how to divide them into zones? The simplest solution seems to be creating temporary partitions. How to separate the kitchen from the living room with a curtain or a screen, do these partitions need to be made temporary? All these questions can be solved only in the context of a specific space, knowing its area and layout. But ready-made interior design options here can be no less useful as examples or sources of inspiration.

Living room and kitchen are two rooms in the house in which people spend a significant part of their time. In the traditions of different cultures, the reception of guests and the preparation of dishes for the hospitable table calls for the unification of space for the convenience of the owners. But having made a general layout, the owners of such housing are faced with the need to visually or functionally distinguish between these premiseswhile retaining their benefits.

You can zone the territory for various reasons:

• to create an orderly interior;
• to increase the usable area ;;
• to add variety to the design;
• to enhance color contrast;
• to facilitate cleaning processes;
• in order to increase fire safety.

The area on which there is not one, but two functional areas in the house, needs to be correctly distinguished. The separation of the hall from the kitchen may be nominal, but it will provide comfort for all residents. Rest in the living room will not be accompanied by the smell of fried cutlets or the sound of spoons and forks in the sink. And if the living room is the only living room in the house, proper zoning will allow you to allocate a place for sleep and relaxation, which will not interfere with evening gatherings in the kitchen.

In the combined space of the kitchen-living room It is customary to distinguish the following functional areas.

• Working. It contains a “triangle” of a stove, sink and refrigerator - they should be located diagonally from each other, but at the closest possible distance. Between these objects should not be obstructing the passage of objects and things. In addition, a countertop is placed here, which is the working surface for cutting, cutting food and dishes, and setting dishes.

• Storage system. It includes cupboards for dishes, wall and floor cabinets, open shelves and cabinets. Depending on the chosen style and configuration features of the headset, they can be located in a straight line, U-shaped or L-shaped. If an island is used, the remaining cabinets are located along one or two walls.

• Dining or dining room. In the small space of the kitchen-living room, this role is most often played by the bar counter, where chairs are placed and you can drink coffee and eat a light breakfast. If the area of ​​the interior allows, the dining area is designed as a separation between the two parts of the interior instead of a partition or occupies the living room.

• Bar. A drink stand, a mini-fridge or an ice maker, and a pendant holder for wine glasses are definitely set up here. The tabletop coating here is usually created from natural stone, complemented by chrome and metal elements, special stools with high seating. The bar area is usually used as an element of the interior in the style of minimalism, high-tech.

• Space to relax. The lounge area is an integral element of the comfortable arrangement of the living room. It is created separately from TV equipment and the soundbar, most often on the podium, consists of soft sofas, complemented by a low table with a glass top. In addition, in the living room there can be a main sofa or a pair of armchairs, a cabinet with a TV or home theater, a coffee table.

Designers have already come up with original solutions, with the help of which the projects of combining the kitchen and dining room can be harmoniously put into practice. It is worth considering all the options available and making your choice.

The classic separation of the functional areas of the living room and kitchen begins with the floor. The easiest solution is to install a coating of a different type and texture. In the area near the headset, tiles are laid - a moisture-proof and durable material that provides sufficient fire safety. The dining room with a bar counter can be separated from it by a laminate or floor with solid wood flooring. The texture and type of material in the living room should be different from those used in the kitchen.

One more a simple way of zoning is the use of podiums that allow you to achieve interesting visual effects due to the elevation. If you place a kitchen on a raised platform, you can place all communication lines below, making its layout as open as possible. In the living room area, the podium plays the role of a relaxation area, inside it you can equip a storage system, and place a spare berth on top if such a need arises.

The easiest way to separate the kitchen from the living room involves the proper arrangement of furniture. You can use for zoning the sofa, set back to the catering unit, “island” or bar counter. Besides, You can choose an open rack of the desired height, in which it is convenient to store small items. Convenient for zoning and soft poufs, located on the border of two zones.

If occasionally you need to increase the level of privacy, mobile and stationary partitions are used in the kitchen-living room. The easiest option - dense fabric curtains in the opening, which can be used to darken the room. If a radical separation is needed, it will be necessary to erect a massive gypsum plasterboard box with a sliding side door flap.

Using the bar allows you to separate the living room and kitchen, while solving the problem of arranging the dining area. A single-level design solution allows you to leave more space and freedom, as it is mounted on special consoles. The multi-level bar counter is completely closed on one side, has a built-in refrigerator or storage system, and a minibar.

This design can be part of the kitchen set or attached to the wall, in some cases it is even foldable. Lightweight bar counter with free space inside allows you to conveniently place stools or high chairs. Such a zoning element looks especially impressive in a modern interior.

Zoning the interior with color can be in various combinations. But sharp contrasts should be avoided and harmony should be remembered. A good solution is to create a room design using several shades of the same color. For example, the living room may be pale blue, and the kitchen - saturated ultramarine. In addition, the delimitation of space using warm and cold colors is popular.

One of the most popular methods of zoning space is to use the right lighting. By changing the intensity or direction of the light flux, you can create a working area or space for a comfortable stay. It is easy to mount modern lighting systems in the frame of the tabletop or in the living room podium, put it around the perimeter of the room or make the color spectrum change. In any case, do not ignore this method of zoning.

In the working area, the optimal illumination is an LED strip, which can be placed on the edges of the cabinets, above the apron. If there are wall cabinets with glass doors, you can use the built-in light. For a high-tech kitchen, built-in appliances with touch-sensitive panels are well suited. Lamps with lampshades are traditionally located in the dining area - their number depends on the length of the countertop. In the living room, you can use the lights around the perimeter of the stretch ceiling, floor lamps on a high leg and wall lamps on the walls.

Dividing the space using the original design of the ceiling is also not uncommon. Stretched and suspended structures of complex shape can be made with different colors, complex bends and lines. Especially spectacular is the combination of a curved ceiling and a podium repeating each other's shape.

Finishing materials can also serve as elements that separate functional areas in the interior. Among the simplest solutions, the following can be suggested here.

1. Wallpaper with a single texture, color, but with a different pattern. Due to the same shade of the walls, the feeling of integrity of the space will remain. Prints can be thematic or neutral.
2. A combination of painted walls in the kitchen and wallpaper in the living room. The repetition of the primary color of one room in prints or ornaments used in the decoration of another part of the common space looks good.
3. The combination of radically different materials - tiles in the kitchen and wallpaper in the living room, wall panels and decorative plaster.

Stylistic harmony is also very important. The design of the combined interior in the apartment must fully comply with the general concept of space design. In order to correctly combine decorative elements with each other, you need to follow some important recommendations.

1. Do not use different styles of solutions. The chosen concept should be preserved in the interior of the kitchen and living room, despite the difference in colors and textures.
2. In the choice of design areas, you need to give preference to options in the spirit of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, hi-tech and classics. It is they that make it possible to form a harmonious space that combines two functional zones at once.
3. In a small room with low ceilings, it is better not to use stylistics, suggesting massiveness in the decoration.
4. When choosing a style, you need to rely on the architectural features of the apartment or house. In this case, any interior will look harmonious.
5. The combined kitchen-living room needs unifying elements. It can be works of art, lamps, carpets or fresh flowers in the same pots. In any case, the impression should not be created that the rooms are separated from each other.

Choosing a contrasting wall color as an idea for zoning looks beautiful and modern. Minimalism in the decor of the kitchen is diluted with an original ornament, repeating in the upholstery of chairs and sofa pillows.

Bright kitchen-living room in muted cream colors. Zoning was done using a bar with one blank wall, along which there is a sofa with soft upholstery. The background tones are represented by beige and milk colors, the division of the interior into separate areas is supported by the original lighting.

Fashionable kitchen-living room with a podium. The framing of the pedestal with backlight and a multi-level ceiling also acts as an element of zoning. Laconic color scheme emphasizes the elegance of the design solution.

How to combine the kitchen and living room in one room, see the video below.