7 steps of design and arrangement of kitchen-living room

Combining the kitchen and the living room is almost always a good idea, especially if the kitchen is small. Of course, you will not add square meters to it, but at least you will be able to visually increase it due to doubled light and putting the dining area on the border between the rooms. And even in such a space it is more convenient to communicate with the family (all household members can be close, not looking up from their affairs), receive guests and arrange holidays.

However, joining the living room, you need to be prepared for some inconvenience:

• The noise of the work of kitchen appliances (from a refrigerator to a blender) often prevents vacationers on the couch. Conversely, noise from the living room, for example, from the TV, can interfere with the cook.
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• Smells of food unobstructed walk between rooms, over time, textiles are soaked in smells and salted.
• If we admit an easy mess in an isolated kitchen, then in the kitchen-living room is unlikely, and therefore, the working area will have to be cleaned twice more carefully. At the same time, the chaos in the living room can disturb the comfort of the combined kitchen and dining room.
• In an isolated kitchen, it is sometimes so nice to retire after daily activities or to arrange chamber gatherings for tea. However, adding a living room to it, there will be no such opportunity.
• In the end, the very process of uniting the kitchen and hall is very troublesome, time-consuming and financially expensive. After all, you have to first develop a project, approve it and only then proceed to demolish the wall.

In this article we will tell you how to legally attach the living room to the kitchen and plan the design of the combined space. Also, the material will be interesting for owners of apartment-studios and apartments with a combined kitchen-living room (in this case, go directly to Step # 3).

See also: Design of a dining room combined with a kitchen and / or living room.

Step 1. Make sure that redevelopment is possible and reconcile it

To unite the kitchen and living room is not enough just to tear down the wall between them. First you need to make sure that this wall is not a carrier, and then agree on a future alteration in the local Zhilinspektsii.

• Coordinate the redevelopment of the apartment is necessary, first, in order not to violate the structural strength and security of the house, and secondly, in order to avoid unpleasant and very costly consequences (a fine or a prescription to return the apartment to its original state).

However, a simple re-planning with the demolition of the curtain wall, the creation of an opening in the curtain wall or the construction of the partition, which does not increase the load on the floors, you can do it immediately and only then "legalize".

So, to harmonize the unification of the kitchen and the living room, you need:

1. Contact the local housing inspection for a free consultation. Here you will be told what can and can not be done in your case, and what documents you need to collect.
2. Contact BTI for the passport of your apartment. Having received this document, you will understand whether the wall is between the rooms of the carrier or not.
3. Develop a redevelopment project by contacting the designer of your home or any design organization that has SRO admission. However, if you just need to demolish the curtain wall, then a simple sketch, that is, a plan of the apartment, in which the demolished wall will be marked in red, will fit.

1. If the project is complex, then it needs to be coordinated in:

• CHGSN;
• Fire Service;
• In the management company, HOA or other homeowner.

1. Collect and return the package of documents to the local Zhilinspektsiyu or MFC.

Step 2. If your apartment is gasified, turn off the gas and switch to electrical appliances

If the kitchen has a gas stove or water heater, then to connect the living room, the gas will have to be turned off. To do this, you need to write an application to the local gas service and, after installing the plug / brewing pipe of the gas pipeline, get a certificate confirming the gas shut-off. The next step is to change the tariff for electricity and install an electric stove and / or electric water heater. And here lies the main obstacle. In some cases, irresistible.

• The fact is that the power supply systems of old houses (Khrushchev, Stalin, etc.) are simply not designed for high power consumption. Therefore, in order to install an electric stove or a water heater, it is necessary to organize the modernization and increase in the power of the electric network of the whole house, which is very difficult and not always possible.

If the power of the common power network allows, then increase the wiring capacity of your apartment is not difficult. Most likely, for an electric stove, an oven and a water heater, you will be offered to conduct a separate wiring from the flap in the entrance.

• What can I do if there is gas in the kitchen, the wiring is obsolete in the house, but I really want to add the living room? We propose to compromise and unite the rooms partially - replacing the swinging door with a sliding (see Fig. photo below) or a folding "accordion". Thus, you can leave the kitchen open most of the time, without breaking the law.

Step 3. Buy a powerful hood

To culinary smells do not eat into the curtains and furniture upholstery in the living room, install a very powerful hood. Do not forget that its performance should be calculated taking into account the area of ​​not only the kitchen, but also the hall. To calculate the optimum output of the hood, use the formula:

• P = V * H * 12 *,

, where P is the required minimum extractor output (m3 / h); V - the area of ​​the kitchen-living room; H - ceiling height; 12 - optimal air exchange per hour according to the norms of SES;, - coefficient for electric cooking surface (for a gas cooker is needed coefficient 2).

See material on the topic: Extraction in the kitchen - what you need to pay attention to when buying.

Step 4. Plan design kitchen-living room in one style

We must try to decorate the interior of the two rooms so that there is something in common between them, but at the same time, that the kitchen remains a kitchen and the living room a resting place.

Linking the interiors of the kitchen and living area can be done with the help of color, identical finishes, echoing curtains, upholstery, lamps and other accessories.

Step 5. ZONE SPACE

To the kitchen-living room looked orderly and harmonious, it must be visually or physically divided into zones. Here are some great tricks:

• Different finishing of the floor.Most often, the floor in the kitchen is finished with tiles or stone, and in the living room - with a parquet board or a piece parquet (cf. a photo). This method allows not only to designate the boundaries of rooms, but also make the floor in the working area practical.

• Installation of the podium.On the podium can be a kitchen or living room, as shown in the interior in the photo below.

• Separation of furniture.On the border between the kitchen and the living room you can put a bar, an island, a dining table, a sofa and even a rack.

• Color transition in the decoration of the walls.The transition can be smooth, when the walls in the living room are made a bit darker and more saturated than in the kitchen. Or, conversely, contrast. In the next photo-example, the walls in the kitchen are painted in light gray, and in the living room - in graphite.

• Miscellaneous lighting zones.There are several ways to zonirovat kitchen-living room with the help of lights and lamps. First, hangers, wall sconces or a floor lamp on the floor can directly indicate the boundary between the rooms. Secondly, different lighting fixtures will help to sort out the multifunctional space - a chandelier in the center of the living room and a more modest looking lamp (or spotlights) in the work area. There is a third way, when both the kitchen and the living room are illuminated by spotlights along the perimeter of the ceiling, and the front lamp hangs directly above the table.

• Creating or preserving partitions, columns, beams and other architectural elements.If you only plan to tear down the wall between the kitchen and the living room, then you can leave a piece of partition or build a new one. Also zonirovat space will help the ceiling beam (as, usually, the beams are bearing and not subject to demolition) or the column.

• Arch or portal between the kitchen and the living room.This way of zoning will bring solemnity to the interior and, at the same time, will make the kitchen a little secluded. Before starting the redevelopment, you need to make sure that the wall between the kitchen and the living room is not a carrier.

See material on the topic: Arch in the kitchen - design and manufacture by your own hands

• A curtain.Textile curtains are not very practical, but look beautiful and allow you to often update the interior.

Step 6. Arrange a beautiful dining area

If the area of ​​the kitchen-living room is not great, and the way of life of the households allows, then the dining area can be very compact and mobile, for example, in the form of a bar counter or a small table for 2 people as in the photo below.

But in most cases, the kitchen-living room allows you to equip a roomy dining room, which can seem truly ceremonial. For this, the table is best chosen round or oval, of course, sliding in the case of receiving guests. In a pair to it is necessary to pick up elegant chairs, it is desirable to decorate walls with pictures, hours or other decor, and on the table itself to put beautiful accessories, for example, candy, candles or a vase for fruit. In the next selection of photos you can learn different ideas for decorating the dining area.

See also: Decor and decoration of the dining area

Below is the interior of the kitchen-living room, in which there was a place for a bar counter, and for the ceremonial table.

Step 7. Combine the curtains

Curtains in the living room and in the kitchen do not have to be the same, but must be combined with each other. For example, they can combine the same print, texture, color or style.

For more details, see the material: How to choose curtains in the kitchen: color, material, look and style

Read also:

• . Design of the kitchen, combined with the hallway.
• . 11 practical tips for equipping the kitchen in the studio apartment and 5 zoning ideas.
• . Combining the kitchen with the balcony - the idea of ​​design and the rules for redevelopment.
• . Kitchen design with bay window.
• . All about the design of a small kitchen - 16 super-receptions and 70 photos.
• . Design and repair of a small kitchen in Khrushchev - 13 tested solutions.