The idea of a combined kitchen with a living room is great because a spacious room serves as both a place for cooking and receiving guests, a dining area, a relaxation room, and sometimes also a study. But no matter how functional the room is, household items and furniture knocked together will trumpet the lack of taste and love for the mess of the owners of the house. Therefore, in the interior of the room, it is simply necessary to zoning the kitchen and living room, which will divide the space into clear mini-parts, presenting them as independent compositions.
Advantages and disadvantages of combined space
Kitchen and living room usually become one in studio apartments, Khrushchevs and other buildings with a small area. Such design measures are decided, as a rule, in the name of increasing the usable area and expanding the existing space. The process of organizing celebrations is also greatly simplified: everything is nearby andat hand. As a result of radical measures, freedom-loving owners acquire a spacious double, and sometimes triple-use premises. Zoning of the kitchen and living room (photo samples are presented below) is carried out using all kinds of partitions, barriers, islands and other interior tricks.
However, while some owners are in a state of euphoria from the acquisition of such a wide free space, others are faced with a number of troubles. Kitchen smells, smoke, noise, a high degree of humidity, panic over the optimal delimitation of a single area are becoming almost a global problem. Designers advise in such cases to purchase a hood and a dehumidifier, constantly monitor the cleanliness and order in the cooking area. The merger of two rooms will meet expectations only if you make a competent zoning of the kitchen-living room space.
Tips for dividing the area
When solving the issue of delimiting zones, you need to familiarize yourself with the following nuances:
- Furniture in the two parts of the room should follow the same style direction, despite the fact that the zones differ in the properties of their functions.
- 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 effects of the cooking process do not affect you and your guests.
- Zoning the kitchen and living room is a prerequisite for the combined space, butthe method can be varied, ranging from light partitions to the construction of drywall walls.
- Dividing 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 relaxing in the living room.
- Interior design in two zones should be designed in the same style and from homogeneous materials.
Kitchen and living room zoning ideas. Top 15
Let's take a look at the 15 most interesting ideas for delimiting a single room.
Partitions
Installation of light, translucent partitions made of glass, plastic or wood will divide the space without cluttering it up. In this case, it is better to use folding screens and movable partitions. You can also use functional false walls or shelving: with climbing plants, an aquarium and the possibility of using them as cabinets and serving tables. There are more pragmatic partitions on which you can install a plasma TV. High false walls with openings look interesting: 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 everything that is done in the kitchen from prying eyes.
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 lightweight 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 a formal boundary between different zones. By connecting ingenuity, it can be shaped into arches and other intricate objects.
Podiums and multi-level flooring
In the concept of a multi-level floor, a low podium is installed on the side of the kitchen, which differs in coverage from the main floor. Such a design trick serves as a visual separation of zones without the use of partitions, barriers and walls. Under the raised floor, pipes, wiring and other communication cables can be disguised. However, the podium zoning of the kitchen and living room is not recommended if small children and the elderly live among the household.
Columns and arches
In a room stylized as classics, modern and hi-tech, artificial architectural objects will fit perfectly: columns, semi-columns, pilasters and arches. Elements made of polyurethane foam or chrome steel are easy to use and not capricious in terms of operation.
Bar counter
A high bar can act as part of a wall or as a false object. This simple design solution is used in the interiors of many apartments and is especially suitable for newlyweds who gravitate towards parties and hosting 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: the 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 divide the 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 sofa, you will find yourself within the walls of the living room, and bypassing it you will find yourself in the kitchen. This arrangement is great because, sitting on the sofa with your back to the kitchen, you do not see everything that is happening in it, and eating in the dining room, you get the opportunity to watch TV, standing opposite the delimiting piece of furniture.
Lighting
The light zoning of the kitchen and living room with one window looks no less impressive. The lack of natural light can be filled with an 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 zones, and table lamps.
Decoration of the doorway
The easiest and most aesthetic way to combine and zoning two rooms is to remove the door and expand 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 the ceiling zoning of the kitchen-living room. The photo clearly illustrates to us how the kitchen half acquires clear lines of division in the upper part of the interior. Moreover, you can use not only multi-level ceilings, but also stretch fabricoptions and suspended modular designs. Designers install them both individually and create an unusual mix of three types of ceiling compositions.
Various finishing materials
The simplest method to distinguish between two zones is to use dissimilar floor coverings. For example, in the kitchen you can lay durable porcelain stoneware, and in the living room - less resistant materials - boards, parquet, laminate. Borders can be marked with straight or curved lines.
Wall decoration
Kitchen-living room zoning options are widespread, in which colors and wallpapers are connected to the case. You can divide the territory by using contrasting shades, heterogeneous wallpaper and diverse artistic wall painting. The concept of delimiting a single area is based in these cases on a clear and distinct vision of the dividing lines of the two zones.
Islands
The natural boundary between the zones will be kitchen islands or peninsulas, which can also serve as a bar counter. A popular direction today is the installation of a two-level countertop, the high part of which faces the living room. It camouflages kitchen clutter and divides the space nicely.
Dining table
By placing 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 another world in one movement: visuallysplit the two and prioritize each room.
Curtains
Curtains, curtains, heavy curtains will cope with the desired mission no worse than the above options, creating two independent compositions on 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 select curtains to match the rest of the textiles present in the design of the room, without focusing on bright colors or flashy designs.
Spacious closet
If you are one of those hosts who hardly cooks at home, the zoning of the kitchen and living room is ideal for you (photo confirms this), in which the culinary part is placed in a spacious stylized cabinet without doors. Moreover, it may not necessarily be a closet, but its likeness. Another original design invention is a niche for the kitchen. However, this option is applicable in the case of a special layout of the apartment. A glazed balcony or loggia can also serve as a niche.
It is absolutely pointless to convince the owners to abandon the concept of combined space: this design trick will dominate the interior craftsmanship for a long time to come. Of course, there are pluses and minuses here, but with a competent approach and detailed study of all the nuances, the room will become a work of art: beautiful, comfortable, functional. You can endlessly list ideas for zoning the kitchen and living room: the final choice will be based onpersonal preferences and own vision of the picture of the interior.
Color solutions of the combined area
When choosing a palette that will reign in your favorite walls, you must consider:
- designation of individual corners of the room;
- character of lighting (dominance of natural or artificial light);
- items and styling of furniture;
- style direction of the interior;
- individual attraction of households to certain shades.
In combined rooms, designers recommend avoiding contrasting combinations and sharp color transitions - the interior will not look very aesthetically pleasing, and the feeling of a single space will also be lost. And as you know, the goal of merging the kitchen and living room is to create a common room, gently 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 colors. The ceiling, walls, massive objects and wide surfaces are best given to the power of the pastel palette, and decor elements should be made bright and catchy. Don't forget that:
- orange and red tones increase appetite, while blue tones decrease;
- all shades of blue expand the space, while brown and black colors narrow it;
- green has a calming effect, while red can evoke aggression.
Furniture Arrangement
Living room and kitchen furniture should be in harmony with each other and obey the same style. For a known reason, moisture resistant items should be selected. The main rule of the combined space is more freedom, a minimum of furniture and a maximum of functionality. Built-in appliances will help save extra meters, and the correct location of fittings will make the atmosphere cozy and comfortable. A great option would be mobile or transformable furniture.
Zoning the kitchen and living room is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Here it is important to streamline the interior, not overload it, make the boundaries of the zones soft but visible, combine comfort, practicality and aesthetics.
