In apartments and private houses, designers often use zoning. The living room and kitchen combine well. Two rooms connected to each other look spacious, and this layout will make the space cozy. You can update the design, implement interesting ideas, or repeat a design seen in a magazine, TV show, or photo on the Internet. The style in the living room-kitchen can be different, and choosing it can turn into an exciting experience. Before combining rooms, designers advise taking into account the basic rules, creating a project, choosing colors.
Zoning
Designers do not advise giving in to fashion trends and copying design ideas without taking into account dimensions, location and other nuances. Before planning and arranging furniture, every detail is thought through. There are several simple rules that experts advise you to follow:
- Let the room have natural light. To do this, remove excess walls (except for load-bearing ones).
- If the rooms in the apartment are small (12 sq. m or 16 sq. m), the layout of the kitchen combined with the dining room will be the right solution.
- If the ventilation system is not designed correctly, the smell of food will spread throughout the apartment.
Partitions
The interior of the kitchen and living room begins to be thought out from the junction of two zones. Here are some of the methods and objects that delimit the space: installing a bar counter; a kitchen island; a large table; installing a low partition. Designers advise installing a wide counter, since you can sit at it like at a regular table, and high chairs are quite suitable for the whole family. However, in small rooms (16 sq m), narrow counters are installed. Kitchen islands are convenient to use, but are only suitable for large kitchen-dining rooms (25 sq m or 30 sq m). Capital low partitions are installed only if it has been decided in advance what they will be used for (for example, as a TV stand).
Furniture items
A few examples of furnishing a kitchen combined with a living room:
- 1. Sofa. It becomes an object that zones space. The sofa is placed with its back facing the place where food is prepared. In small rooms (less than 20 sq m) a corner is placed, which is placed against a wall installed perpendicular or parallel to the kitchen.
- 2. Set. According to designers, minimalist models without elaborate details look modern. The service, vases or glasses are placed on an open shelf. You can buy a fashionable display case for them. Furniture is placed near the wall. If the space is large (20 sq. m, 25 sq. m or 30 sq. m), then in the central part you can install an island, which also has sections for kitchen appliances.
- 3. Furniture set. The style should be combined with the design of both rooms. In small rooms, a compact table and chairs made of transparent material or painted in light colors look good. You can add a table with a round top to your living room interior. In spacious rooms, the kit is installed near the wall or in the central part. An elongated rectangular dining table would look good here.
Read here: Coffee table ideas - 125 photos of the best options and examples of creating a stylish design
Basic manufacturing options
We have figured out the area of application of folding tables. If you like the idea, then you need to think about making it, unless of course you want to buy a ready-made product.
There are very, very many manufacturing options. The designs can be different, as well as the methods of fastening to the wall.
Let's look at the main ones.
Multi-level floor
To zone the space, craftsmen install floors at different levels. They advise installing a podium to separate the kitchen and dining room. This option is considered one of the most practical because, among other things, the owners have additional free space where they can hide something. It is convenient to use boxes or drawers for this. Wicker baskets will look good. But such space can remain free.
For podiums, reliable materials are selected that can withstand heavy loads. Usually builders make wooden or metal podiums.
However, such a design should not be made if there are small children in the family, since the podium can become an obstacle for him. In addition, various floor coverings can be used. They will zone the space between the living room and the kitchen and protect the podium from damage. For example, tiles are laid in the kitchen area, and laminate flooring in the dining room. The main thing is to choose colors and textures and combine the finishes correctly.
Types of folding tables
Since we are figuring out how to make a folding table with our own hands, it’s worth finding out what they are like. Previously, we looked at the simplest, most basic example of what a folding table could be.
The first division of folding tables concerns their design - simple and complex. In the first case, we have a regular tabletop with a leg that is mounted directly on the wall. The second case is more interesting, both structurally and aesthetically.
The complex design of the folding table provides for the presence of an additional, decorative detail. Most often this is a small box with shelves inside, which is mounted on the wall in a signed state.
The hinges on the tabletop are designed to lift it up, that is, to close the decorative cabinet.
It is worth noting that in some cases the tabletop may be lowered, and raising it will lead to its horizontal position, but this is very rare.
Loft
This year the style remains in demand. It is often used to equip kitchens combined with a living room. This combination gives more free space, which will only emphasize all the details of the loft.
Today, such a definition as “classic style” is used less and less by designers. Loft - any interior design in which various technical elements are not hidden, but emphasized.
For example, stylists play with brickwork, wires or concrete walls. The photographs clearly show how successful it can look like a living room that is combined with a kitchen. For loft, rough and heterogeneous surfaces and rough materials are selected. In apartments decorated in this style, wall lamps are installed. In this case, the light is directed along the walls. Due to this, shadows fall so that uneven surfaces look three-dimensional. At first, loft was viewed with caution, but it quickly became popular. Designers do not hide finishing materials and even fake them. To imitate a concrete surface and smudges, decorative plaster is used.
How to make it yourself
As a rule, a simple folding table for a balcony does not have very complex elements in its design, so even a novice craftsman can make it. Since most of the balconies in our apartments are not at all impressive in size, it is necessary to make good use of all the free space.
First, you need to choose a model, determine its dimensions and the material from which it will be made, think over the fasteners and select the color of the future product. Any work begins with competent calculations, so it is necessary to make a drawing of the future product and calculate the required amount of consumables.
The future table should not be too heavy, so it is better to use high-quality plywood or chipboard to make it. To work you will need:
- selected wood material;
- hacksaw or jigsaw;
- electric drill;
- screwdriver or screwdriver;
- self-tapping screws and utility hinges;
- sandpaper;
- antifungal composition;
- mounting angles;
- protective varnish or paint for wood.
The folding table consists of a main tabletop and an additional folding part, sides, legs, main support and ties. To place it on the wall, first markings are made and a horizontal corner of a size slightly smaller than the prepared tabletop is fixed with self-tapping screws.
Next, we will analyze point by point all the stages of assembling a simple folding table made of plywood:
We draw a tabletop on a sheet of plywood (it’s better if it has rounded edges) of the required dimensions and carefully cut it out with a jigsaw or hacksaw. We draw a rectangle with a length equal to the length of our table top and a width of 10 - 12 centimeters and also carefully cut it out. All parts must be thoroughly sanded until smooth and all remaining wood dust must be thoroughly removed. Particular attention must be paid to the edges of the tabletop. All finished parts of the future table must be treated with an antifungal compound and covered with several layers of wood varnish. We install a metal corner where the table is attached to the wall of the house
It is very important to securely fix the fasteners in several places. We fasten the sawn tabletop to the corner with medium-sized utility hinges; After this, we need to secure our table unfolded. To do this, we use a support foot, which can be made from an ordinary metal pipe. It is necessary to cut a small recess inside the tabletop to better fix the table when unfolded.
The most difficult thing is to fix the table strictly horizontally in a suspended form. This can be achieved using auxiliary supports made of thin metal rods or tubes.
As you can see, the process of making a comfortable piece of furniture for the balcony is not a very difficult task. You can watch the stages of its construction in more detail in the following video:
Provence
The name of this destination comes from a region in the south of France. Even a small kitchen-living room, the decor of which was inspired by French aesthetics, will be filled with warmth and comfort.
The main thing is that it has a lot of daylight, textiles with romantic prints, and floral patterns. The dining room in the Provence style is designed in pastel shades. Furniture items can be vintage or artificially aged. Plain walls will contrast with large checkered curtains. The door in the kitchen area set is sometimes replaced with curtains made from the same material as the tablecloth. A good addition would be vases and figurines, clay pots, forged metal parts and ribbons.
Choosing material for the countertop
The simplest material for this task is MDF or chipboard. They are light, inexpensive, easy to saw, and resistant to changes in temperature and humidity. You can cut the tabletop using a household tool at home. The average sheet thickness is 20-25 mm. Chipboard can be laminated (any shade) or for additional processing (polishing, painting). Before purchasing, decide on the sizes. Remember that there will be a radiator under your feet. The depth of the tabletop should be such that your knees, at a minimum, do not rest on it.
Adviсe:
- The tabletop should fit under the window frame. Arm yourself with a drill/hammer and knock out a hole of the required size in the brickwork. If this is not done, the gap between the tabletop and the wall under the frame will gradually crack.
- Don't forget to seal the joint with sealant. If the edge of the tabletop is cut off, soak it several times with drying oil or primer (this will protect it from moisture).
- Fill the cracks under the countertop with construction foam.
Color combinations
Stylists advise taking into account the following nuances:
- direction in the interior;
- combination of shades;
- illumination
It is much easier to choose a palette if the style for the kitchen and living room has already been selected. For example, neoclassicism and Provence have their own combinations. In a classic interior, designers combine pastel colors, pale colors, which are slightly diluted with dark shades. In French country houses you can often see soft blue, pink, and pistachio colors. Art Deco designers make up objects and finishing materials in black and white, sometimes beige and brown or silver and black. The main thing is to choose a shade for the walls. White will become universal, it will expand the space, and later you can paint them with any paint. However, in the cooking area, white ceases to look fresh. Beige or gray shades would be more practical. This background will highlight the other colors. In a monochrome interior, designers recommend gluing wallpaper in an unusual color or with a photo print.
Waterproof surfaces are easy to clean, so washable wallpaper is recommended. The colors of the furniture echo the details and accessories, be it cushions for the sofa, curtains or other items.
