Modern kitchens combined with a living room are an ideal solution not only for small apartments, but also for rather spacious private houses. We will not talk about the huge country palaces, in which there is plenty of space for all rooms.
Do not forget that today many of our middle-income compatriots prefer to live in their own homes, rather than in apartments. At the same time, their area may be small and a large family will have to fantasize a little so that there is enough space for everyone.
The living room, combined with the kitchen, in a private house, with proper planning, turns into a stylish and functional room that looks luxurious in a large house, and such a solution will visually enlarge and expand a small room. The interior of the kitchen-living room in a private house should be thought out to the smallest detail, since the entire room should be made in the same style.
When building your own home, you can carefully consider its layout, choose the style of the kitchen combined with the living room, choose the right and arrange furniture, making the room stylish and original. We will talk about the intricacies and design features of such a room in this article.
What is attractive kitchen-living room?
The main advantages of this room should include:
- increase in usable area;
- its best illumination;
- convenient layout, in accordance with the wishes of the owners;
- the opportunity not to lose sight of children while in the kitchen and chat with guests.
Among the shortcomings can be identified:
- The presence of odors from cooking. We should not forget that the design of the studio rooms came to us from the West, where they practically do not cook in the house. There, the housewives either warm up the prepared dishes, or make coffee. Even complementing the interior of the kitchen-living room with a powerful hood, you will not be able to completely get rid of smells.
- Room cleaning. As a rule, the kitchen is operated much more actively than the living room. Therefore, it is necessary to clean it more thoroughly and more often. The combined room will have to be cleaned completely.
Layout Features
If you are not afraid of the existing shortcomings of such a room, and you intend to create an elegant and functional interior of the kitchen-living room in a private house, we recommend that you take into account some nuances:
- area of the premises, the number of niches and protrusions;
- room shape;
- arrangement of windows and doors;
- number of households;
- funds allocated for redevelopment.
Zoning
This method of decorating the kitchen-living room in a private house has long been used by professional designers. An unsystematic pile of furniture will not create comfort and harmony, even if the highest quality materials and perfectly selected colors are used. Zoning of the space makes the interior more comfortable for the life of the inhabitants of the house.
As a rule, the combined room is divided into a kitchen area, a sitting corner and a dining room. Let us consider in more detail how to zonate a room.
Partitions
It can be drywall constructions, arches or columns, screens. Columns and arches bring lightness to the interior of the kitchen-living room in a private house and do not delay natural light. More complex designs will allow you to equip additional cabinets and shelves in the kitchen. A roomy cabinet or a rack can also play the role of a partition.
Bar counter
This is a very compact element that allows you to separate the work area from the living room. In addition, the bar counter is an additional work surface, which replaces the dining table, if the room is small. Today, manufacturers offer many models of racks from narrow to full-fledged restaurant: with storage systems, built-in shelves and holders for glasses.
Ceiling structures
What should be the ceiling in the living room combined with the kitchen? If the height of the room allows, designers recommend installing multi-level ceilings. Usually the level is mounted above the work surface. Spotlights are installed around the perimeter, which provide the working area with additional lighting, necessary for the hostess when cooking. The levels perform a decorative function, in addition to the functional load. Suspended structures can be of various shapes, have several levels. Inside you can arrange paintings, murals or murals.
Flooring
When zoning the space, the use of floor coverings different in texture and color is justified. In the kitchen, these are usually moisture-resistant and easy-to-clean materials - tiles, stone, linoleum. In the living room, the choice of flooring can be limited only by the financial capabilities of the owners: from carpet to wood and natural stone.
How to decorate the walls?
One of the easiest ways to divide a room’s area is to use different-colored wallpapers. But for the kitchen, ceramic tiles or washable panels are preferable for walls. The living area is usually decorated with materials of the same color, but a different texture is allowed.
Which style to choose?
So, we talked about the principles of the design of the kitchen-living room. But in order to get the desired result, it is necessary to choose an interior style and strictly follow its requirements in the future. If earlier it was customary to arrange the entire room in a single style, today designers are experimenting with a combination of different directions. We will not hide, it is more difficult to do this, since it is necessary to achieve the perfect combination of elements of various styles.
Classic is always in fashion
The kitchen-living room in the classical style is a combination of nobility and grace of forms. When decorating almost all surfaces, soft neutral colors, pastel shades, as well as various combinations of white and beige colors are used. For such a room, wallpaper with monograms, for example, in the Baroque style, is suitable. The living room area, the walls of which are decorated with fabric, will look very elegant. For this style, imitation of columns or stucco molding is appropriate, which is distributed in the center and around the perimeter of the room. For the floor it is necessary to use expensive materials or their high-quality imitation - parquet, marble, natural wood.
Of great importance for obtaining the desired result is the selection and arrangement of furniture in the kitchen-living room in a classic style. To do this, you need to pick up wooden furniture with inlaid, gilt details.
Art deco
Another exquisite style, which, however, will require significant financial investment. The living room-kitchen, made in this style, is luxurious. This trend arose at the beginning of the 20th century, when designers tried to combine the latest technical innovations with aristocracy. Surprisingly, some pretentious finishes do not in the least interfere with functionality in the kitchen area. This direction is characterized by very smooth lines, stained-glass windows, floral ornaments, inserts on cabinet doors, etc.
In art deco, contrasting combinations are welcome, for example, black and lilac, diluted with pearl gray. Furniture and decoration materials must be of the highest quality.
Modern
In Art Nouveau, unlike classical styles, preference is given to simplicity of forms. In such interiors, wooden and metal elements are often combined. Choosing the color scheme for the kitchen – living room in a private Art Nouveau house, you are not limited in your fantasies: be guided by your own taste.
Art Nouveau is characterized by a large number of unusual images on furniture facades and walls.
High tech
And this style is very fond of young homeowners. The kitchen-living room in a private hi-tech house is characterized by cool colors and minimal decoration. Heavy curtains on the windows here are replaced by compact blinds or Roman blinds. The interior combines black, white and red, a lot of glass and chromed metal parts. With furniture, everything is quite simple: these are modular designs in all manifestations. For lighting, individual luminaires are mounted for each zone and, of course, the latest technology innovations are used.
Eco style
In recent years, this style has gained popularity among citizens tired of glass and concrete. The interior in eco-style involves the use of only natural and environmentally friendly materials. Preference in colors is given to natural shades. The decoration uses stone, wood, ceramics. Wicker furniture will fit perfectly into such an interior. Of the textile elements, cotton and linen are welcome.
This room is decorated with living plants in pots on window sills and shelves and murals with compositions of dried flowers hanging on the walls.
Interior decoration depending on the area
Undoubtedly, both the area of the room and its shape affect the choice of style, furniture, the use of certain colors and decoration materials. It is no secret that the greatest imagination of the designer is given by spacious rooms, which practically do not limit the choice of techniques in decoration. In rooms of small sizes, it is necessary to consider every centimeter, very carefully choose the types of design, materials and colors.
Large kitchen-living room
These include premises with an area of more than 40 square meters. In this case, it is necessary to carefully consider the functional areas, their number and convenient location. All islands of furniture are located quite close so as not to constantly go from one end of the room to the other. In the design of such spacious rooms, the island furniture arrangement is most often used.
Standard sizes
These are rooms, the area of which does not exceed 30-40 square meters. They are quite spacious and allow you to implement any of the most daring ideas.
Such a living room-kitchen looks more comfortable than very large rooms. The organization of such a space has several features:
- From the living room to the kitchen area, it is necessary to leave free space of at least a meter so that the hostess can move freely.
- When designing a medium-sized kitchen-living room, use the rule of the working triangle: there should be a distance of no more than a meter from the refrigerator, stove, sink.
- You can use the dining set, which will be transitional from the kitchen area to the living room, and thus combine the space.
- The kitchen set will fit well into a large niche, if any.
- In the design of such a room, you can use a variety of visual techniques, playing with shades and colors. Light colors significantly expand the space, dark visually reduce it.
Design of kitchen-living room 20 sq. m
If your kitchen-living room is not too large, you will have to carefully consider not only zoning, but also the placement of furniture. Is it possible to place everything you need in the kitchen-living room of 20 square meters. m? Design in such a room is created taking into account certain rules:
- In such a small kitchen there should be no more than three floor and wall cabinets.
- If space is sorely lacking, you can equip the sink with a cutting board.
- For the living room, it is better to use corner cabinets and sofas.
- To prevent a small room from breaking up into even smaller areas, use the same materials to furnish both areas.
- Furniture in a small area is placed mainly along the walls.
- Use more glossy surfaces, mirrors.
- If there are niches in the room, then they can be decorated with darker tones. This visually expands the space.
- A small kitchen-living room needs the most functional use of free space.
- Laconic sizes and shapes of furniture, a minimum of bright colors and decor - these are the main criteria when designing a room of modest sizes.
A few words in conclusion
To create a kitchen-living room in a private house is only at first glance easier than in an apartment. The layout, the size of the rooms make their own serious adjustments to the interior design. But if you follow certain rules, listen to the opinion of professionals, you will be able to create an original and functional room in your home.