The idea of a combined kitchen with living room is wonderful in that the spacious room serves both as a place for cooking and receiving guests, a dining area, a relaxation room, and sometimes also an office. But no matter how functional the room is, a bunch of household items and furniture will trumpet the lack of taste and love for the mess of the owners of the house. Therefore, in the interior of the room, zoning of the kitchen and living room is simply necessary, which will divide the space into clear mini-parts, presenting them in the form of independent compositions.
Advantages and disadvantages of the combined space
The kitchen and living room usually become one in studio apartments, Khrushchev and other buildings with a small area. Such design measures are usually decided in the name of increasing usable space and expanding the existing space. The process of organizing celebrations is greatly simplified: everything is nearby and at hand. As a result of radical measures, freedom-loving owners acquire a spacious double, and sometimes triple, premises. Zoning of the kitchen and living room (photo samples are presented below) is done using all kinds of partitions, barriers, islands and other interior tricks.
However, while some owners are in a state of euphoria from acquiring such wide free space, others are faced with a number of troubles. Kitchen smells, smoke, noise, a high degree of humidity, panic over the optimal delineation of a single area are becoming almost a global problem. Designers advise in such cases to purchase an exhaust hood and air dryer, to constantly monitor the cleanliness and order in the cooking area. The merger of the two rooms will live up to expectations only if you make a competent zoning of the kitchen-living room space.
Area Sharing Tips
When deciding on the issue of delimiting zones, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the following nuances:
- Furniture in two parts of the room should be subject to a single style, despite the fact that the zones differ in the properties of the functions performed.
- In order not to clutter up the interior, make all kitchen and household appliances built-in.
- Be sure to install an exhaust ventilation system so that the consequences of the culinary process do not affect you and your guests.
- Zoning of the kitchen and living room is a prerequisite for the combined space, but the method can be varied, ranging from light partitions and ending with the construction of walls made of drywall.
- The division of the area should be complemented by lighting.
- Try to choose kitchen appliances that do not make a lot of noise, so as not to interfere with households resting in the living room.
- The interior design in two zones should be designed in the same style and from homogeneous materials.
Zoning ideas for the kitchen and living room. Top 15
Consider the 15 most interesting ideas regarding the delineation of a single room.
Partitions
Installation of light, translucent partitions of glass, plastic or wood will divide the space without cluttering it. In this case, it is better to use folding screens and movable partitions. You can also use functional false walls or racks: with climbing plants, an aquarium and the ability to use them as cabinets and serving tables. There are more pragmatic partitions on which you can install a plasma TV. Interesting are the high false walls with openings: wide in the form of a door and small in the form of a window. They recreate the illusion of an isolated kitchen and allow you to hide from prying eyes everything that is done in the kitchen.
Stationary barriers
This method resembles the above-described zoning of the kitchen and living room with a partition, but differs in that the mobile screens are replaced by walls made of drywall and other light materials. Another option is also possible, when a fragment of the wall is left on the side, which once separated the living room from the kitchen, and which now serves as the formal border of different zones. By connecting ingenuity, it can be shaped into an arch and other intricate objects.
Podiums and tiered flooring
In the concept of a multi-level floor, a low podium is installed on the kitchen side, characterized by a coating from the main floor. This design trick serves as a visual separation of zones without the use of partitions, barriers and walls. Under the raised floor you can mask pipes, wiring and other communication cables. However, podium zoning of the kitchen and living room is not recommended if small children and elderly people live among households.
Columns and arches
Artificial architectural objects: columns, half-columns, pilasters and arches will perfectly fit into the room, stylized as classic, modern and hi-tech. Elements made of polyurethane foam or chrome steel are easy to use and not capricious in operation.
Bar counter
A high bar can act as part of the wall or as a false object. This simple design solution is used in the interiors of many apartments and is especially suitable for newlyweds gravitating to parties and receiving guests on Fridays. This functional thing will become not only the border, but also the dining table of the kitchen-living room space. Zoning will acquire universal features: a bar counter will divide the room into two parts and will serve as a place for tasting cocktails, morning coffee, a light dinner, as well as a work desk.
Sofa
A great way to share a room is to put a sofa on the border of the kitchen and living room. It is usually placed in the middle of the room, perpendicular to the wall. Sitting on the couch, you will find yourself in the walls of the living room, and bypassing it you will find yourself in the kitchen. Such an arrangement is beautiful in that, sitting on the sofa with your back to the kitchen, you do not see everything that is happening on it, and taking food in the dining room, you get the opportunity to watch TV, standing in front of the delimiting piece of furniture.
Lighting
No less impressive is the light zoning of the kitchen and living room with one window. The lack of natural light can be compensated for by the original lighting system, in which the central chandelier interacts with local sources: built-in lamps, spotlights in the floor and walls, a group of miniature lamps with lampshades, sconces located at the border of the zones, and table lamps.
Doorway Design
The easiest and most aesthetic way of combining and zoning two rooms is to remove the door and widen the doorway. And with the help of drywall or tempered glass with a pattern, you can give the latter a beautiful shape: arched, round, oval.
Ceiling design
Another clever interior trick that recreates the visual effect of demarcation is zoning the ceiling of the kitchen-living room. The photo clearly illustrates how the kitchen half acquires clear lines of separation in the upper part of the interior. Moreover, it is possible to use not only multi-level ceilings, but also stretch fabric options and suspended modular structures. Designers install them both individually and create an unusual mix of three types of ceiling compositions.
Diverse decoration materials
The simplest method of distinguishing between two zones is the use of heterogeneous floor coverings. For example, in the kitchen you can lay durable porcelain tiles, and in the living room - less resistant materials - boards, parquet, laminate. The boundaries can be denoted by straight or curved lines.
Wall decoration
The zoning options for the kitchen-living room are widespread, in which color solutions and wallpaper are connected to the case. You can divide the territory by using contrasting shades, diverse wallpapers and diverse wall painting. The concept of distinguishing a single area is based in these cases on a clear and clear vision of the dividing lines of the two zones.
Islands
The natural border between the zones will be the kitchen islands or peninsulas, which can also serve as a bar counter. Today, the most popular direction is the installation of a two-level countertop, the high part of which is facing the living room. It allows you to mask the kitchen mess and perfectly divides the space.
Dinner table
Having put a large dining table on the border of the kitchen-living room space, the zoning of which will bring order to the interior, you will send two birds with one stone to the other world: visually separate the two parts and prioritize each room.
Curtains
Curtains, curtains, heavy curtains will cope with the desired mission no worse than the above options, creating two separate compositions in a single area. This method is good because it does not require large financial investments, it is beautiful, aesthetic and gives the owners the opportunity to periodically update the interior. It is recommended to choose curtains to match the rest of the textiles present in the design of the room, without focusing on bright colors or flashy design.
Spacious wardrobe
If you are one of those owners who hardly cook at home, zoning the kitchen and living room is ideal (confirmation of this photo), in which the culinary part is placed in a spacious styled cabinet without doors. Moreover, this may not necessarily be a closet, but its semblance. Another original designer fiction is a niche for the kitchen. However, this option is applicable in the case of a special layout of the apartment. A niche can also be performed by a glazed balcony or loggia.
It is completely pointless to convince the owners to abandon the concept of combined space: this design trick will dominate the sphere of interior craftsmanship for a long time. Of course, there are pros and cons here, but with a competent approach and a detailed study of all the nuances, the room will become a work of art: beautiful, convenient, functional. You can endlessly list the ideas of zoning the kitchen and living room: the final choice will be based on personal preferences and your own vision of the interior picture.
Color solutions combined area
When choosing a palette that will reign in your favorite walls, you must consider:
- the intended use of individual corners of the room;
- the nature of the lighting (the prevalence of natural or artificial light);
- objects and stylization of furniture;
- style direction of the interior;
- individual attraction of households to one or another shade.
In rooms of the combined type, designers recommend avoiding contrasting combinations and sharp color transitions - the interior will not look quite aesthetically pleasing, and the feeling of a single space will be lost. And as you know, the goal of merging the kitchen and the living room is to create a common room, softly and imperceptibly divided into specific zones.
Colors and shades are selected in order to visually increase the boundaries of the area and emphasize the zoning of the kitchen-living room. The photo below shows the recommended color schemes. Ceiling, walls, massive objects and wide surfaces are best given to the power of the pastel palette, and decor elements to make bright and catchy. Do not forget that:
- orange and red tones increase appetite, and blue - reduce;
- all shades of blue expand the space, and brown and black colors narrow it;
- green has a calming effect, while red is able to arouse aggression.
Furniture Arrangement
The furniture of the living room and kitchen should be in harmony with each other and obey the same style. For a well-known reason, moisture resistant items should be selected. The main rule of the combined space is more freedom, minimum furniture and maximum functionality. Built-in appliances can save extra meters, and the correct location of accessories - to make the atmosphere cozy and comfortable. A great option would be a mobile or transformable furniture.
Zoning the kitchen and living room is far from as simple as it seems at first glance. It is important to streamline the interior, not overload, make the borders of the zones soft but visible, to combine cosiness, practicality and aesthetics.