Features of the design of the kitchen-living room in the "loft" style

The loft style originated in America in the 50s. At that time, industrial spaces were used as living quarters without any improvement. All rooms were combined. In order to reproduce the characteristic features of this style in your apartment, it is enough to connect two adjacent rooms - the kitchen and the living room.

To recreate the features of the loft direction, the following guidelines must be observed.

• The walls of a loft-style kitchen-living room should be concrete or brick without decorative design.
• All technical elements: gas pipes, corrugations, water connections, ventilation in this design should not be hidden behind wall cabinets, but displayed.
• The ceiling in the room should be high. All overlaps should be clearly visible. This style does not accept any stretch or plasterboard ceiling.
• Large windows are required, preferably on the floor. An alternative to the usual curtains will be wooden blinds and heavy shutters.
• The furniture set in the kitchen and in the hall should be sharply different from the rest of the apartment design, but in harmony with each other.

To the positive features of the combined kitchen-living room the following points can be attributed.

• The absence of interior partitions allows you to increase the living area by several square meters. This means that the apartment seems more spacious and more airy.
• Convenience in everyday life. While cooking, you can calmly watch the series and look after the children playing right there.

Among the disadvantages of this design:

• the absence of a hood can lead to deformation of kitchen surfaces if you use this room regularly;
• the same drawback affects the spread of kitchen odors throughout the house, it is good if these are pleasant aromas, but it happens that fish is boiled in the kitchen or milk has escaped, then you can only sympathize with the tenants and their guests;
• not only decoration, but all kitchen accessories will have to be selected in the same style: dishes, cutlery, tablecloth and others;
• if the faucet goes off in the kitchen or something catches on fire, the living room may also be damaged.

The complexity of loft-style decoration in combined rooms lies in the fact that they must be kept in the same style. This applies to everything: wallpaper, flooring, furniture, dishes, appliances.

With regard to technology, a combination of antiques and modern things is permissible. This combination looks very original. For example, a multifunctional coffee machine and a Soviet gas stove.

The floor in the combined kitchen-living room should be plain, made of tiles, porcelain stoneware or wood. A laminate with a natural wood look is usually used. If tiled masonry is chosen, then it should be dark shades with an aged effect. Alternatively, you can use a self-leveling coating or linoleum.

The walls in the dwelling do not have to be made of natural concrete or brick, these materials can be imitated using vinyl wallpaper, decorative veneers, tiles and plastic panels.

An original design solution is the treatment of the wall with slate paint. This gives residents an extra functional surface on which to chalk up recipes or a list of products to purchase. The surface is quickly cleaned with a damp sponge and does not deteriorate from the use of chalk.

If the apartment has complex corners, boxes, niches, the loft will beat them perfectly. You can slightly expand the scope of the style by installing a glass partition with metal parts, a screen made of various materials or a bookcase for the rooms. In this case, small stylistic errors in the design of rooms (accessories in the wrong style) will not be so obvious.

The modern housing market offers ideal opportunities for loft-style living spaces. This option is studio apartments. However, in this type of premises there are some limitations to recreate the required style: low ceilings, standard windows. If you correctly approach the design of the home, these disadvantages can be minimized.

Wallpaper with vertical stripes or a narrow elongated mirror, posters or wooden beams will help to visually stretch the walls.

A small apartment is not a reason to give up making your dreams come true. Thanks to innovative materials and non-standard design solutions, any room can be visually expanded. It is important to follow a few basic guidelines.

• The room cannot be oversaturated with things and household items. All furniture should be slightly less than standard standards: a miniature sink, a small kitchen table, non-bulky cabinets (wooden, monochromatic). It is necessary to free up space as much as possible by hiding all small accessories: potholders, ladles, lids and other kitchen utensils.
• The sofa is the centerpiece. It should be small, ideally leathery, with an aged effect. Large soft armchairs with armrests must be replaced with compact poufs or chairs.
• Interior items should be "light": with a glass base, thin legs, with a small amount of decorative elements.

The loft style does not mean at all that the rooms should be designed in dark colors. Any tones can be chosen, and thanks to the spacious windows, even when decorated in a dark color, the room will not seem gloomy.

Often, designers prefer a snow-white shade as the main tone of furniture, and a dark one, choosing it to decorate the floor and walls.

Bright, saturated colors are used only as accents, but never as dominant.

Copper, brick and black shades will help create the necessary style mood.

The originality of the combined kitchen-living room in the loft style will be added by a retro telephone installed in plain sight, a microwave oven or a bar counter with collectible alcohol and beautiful wine glasses. That is, all items that are on display must perform not only an aesthetic, but also a practical function.

An overview of the loft-style kitchen-living room is waiting for you in the video below.