Living room interior in a small apartment

The living room is, one might say, the core of the apartment, its basic part. The mood and psychological state of the people living here depend on its design. Particularly carefully consider the interior of the living room in a small apartment, so that in a modest area each family member feels comfortable and has his own corner for relaxation and communication.
small living room design
In modest-sized apartments, the issue of arranging the necessary pieces of furniture and placing the property of residents is sometimes acute. And we are talking not only about standard furniture (sofas, armchairs, tables, cabinets, etc.). After all, people can have personal hobbies, hobbies, special needs. A musician would do well to have a place for his instrument, a book lover would like to have a personal library, a needlewoman — a place for creative work. Therefore, the interior of the living room of a small area, like it or not, but must meet the expectations of all residents.
To achieve the solution of such difficult tasks, space zoning is often used, dividing the common room into separate sections using special wall decoration, podiums, partitions, and the like. Another option for the interior of a living room in a small apartment can be the combination of two or more smaller rooms into one, but spacious.
Design of a small kitchen-living room
If you, as the inimitable Ostap Bender advised, do not make a cult out of food, do not cook too often and not very much, then a small kitchen-living room will suit you. Nevertheless, do not rush to break the wall: the interior of the kitchen-living room in a small apartment requires a thoughtful approach. Keep in mind — there should be no dissonance between the design style of the kitchen and living areas. Use the same motifs in the decoration of both segments, let the elements of their interior and decoration “echo” so that there is no feeling of a “gap of space” in the room.
However, be sure to allocate zones in various ways. It can be:
- color schemes (for example, all kinds of shades of the same color for the kitchen and for the living room);
- the use of various materials (floor in the kitchen — tiles, in the living room area — laminate, linoleum);
- arrangement of light partitions, podiums.
Do you have babies, elderly people or people with special needs in your family? Then it is better to avoid podiums, and for dividing the space:
- apply arches,
- make multi-level ceilings (if the height of the walls allows).
Small living room design
In small and one-room apartments, the solution is often used to combine a bedroom and a living room. Such a solution to the problem of a modest dwelling footage for a person with conservative views causes much less rejection than the kitchen-living room option. The interior of a living room in a small apartment is best done without excessive pomposity, bulky clumsy decorative elements and decoration.
Acceptable styles:
- constructivism;
- minimalism;
- loft;
- modern;
- eco style.
Zoning is mandatory — the principles are the same as when combining a living room with a kitchen.
- The bedroom can be painlessly hidden from prying eyes behind sliding doors, a glass partition, curtains, so such an interior of a small living room in an apartment does not look like the decor of an inexpensive hotel room, even if there are beds in the room.
- Separate the place to sleep with a plasterboard partition, an arched opening, a rack with shelves to make the area impassable.
- Another way to hide a sleeping place is to use sliding chairs and sofas, transforming furniture, when the beds are hidden in a closet, turn into a bedside table or leave under the podium. However, a significant drawback of this economical option is the daily routine of cleaning the beds and bringing the furniture into a “daytime” look. It is not suitable for a busy person.
Small living room with fireplace
Fire always attracts the attention of a person, probably, this is the memory of our ancestors speaking in us. Therefore, a person seeks to recreate a hearth in his home — a symbol of family life. Even in a small living room it is possible to place a fireplace, you just need to try to comply with a few conditions. The main thing is that the fireplace should be in the same style as the living room.
From a safety point of view, it is absolutely impossible to place a wood-burning fireplace with live fire in a multi-storey building. An electric fireplace can become an alternative to it, it will heat the room no worse, it is safe, and modern electric fireplaces look very picturesque. Sometimes false fireplaces are used to give the room a special entourage. They do not serve to heat the room, but perform only a decorative function.
The design of a small living room with a fireplace needs to be developed taking into account the fact that the hearth will always attract attention, so you should not overload the room with details. It is best to emphasize the peculiarity of the room by highlighting the wall near which the fireplace is located, finishing or hanging a picture on it. Near the fireplace it would be nice to place cozy armchairs, sofas for the rest of the household.
Living room with balcony in a small apartment
One of the most common types of apartment layouts, especially old buildings, is when the door to the balcony is in the living room. Today’s view of the functional purpose of a balcony or loggia does not imply their use as a storage room for trash. So the owners solve the problem of living space for themselves by adding the little-used balcony area to the living room footage.
External walls are almost always load-bearing. Thoughtlessly removing part of this wall, you will become the culprit of a terrible tragedy, leaving yourself and your neighbors homeless, and it’s good if there are no human casualties. In addition, as a rule, under the window overlooking the balcony, there are heating radiators. Transferring them to another wall can be problematic, pipes from the upper and lower floors approach them.
But there are no hopeless situations! If the wall is not completely eliminated, then the rest of the wall can be used as a zoning element. Obviously, you should take care of the insulation of the balcony, the installation of good double-glazed windows. But then you can arrange a working corner, a place to relax, a home mini-gym or even a nice bedroom on the additional area. At the same time, the interior of a small living room will only benefit, because additional living space will make it more convenient to place furniture and the impression of congestion, cluttered space will disappear.
Decorating a small living room
Designing a living room is a daunting task, because the room has so many purposes! This is a place to relax with the family, here, as a rule, they receive guests. Moreover, pieces of furniture strive to fill all the free space with themselves. What to do if the living room is modest in size? In fact, there is more than one solution, the main thing is to understand what you want and how the main room of the house should look according to your understanding.
Each designer may have their own suggestions, but still it is believed that small rooms benefit if they are decorated in bright colors. Then the walls are visually “moved apart” and space is added. It does not matter what you choose: a small living room in a classic style or a living room in a more modern, maybe even avant-garde look. It is much more important that the view of the room does not cause negative feelings for any of the tenants of the apartment.
Wallpaper in a small living room
The living room in a small apartment does not involve the use of dark-colored wallpapers. If plain white or light wallpapers seem boring to you, then you can decorate one wall as a bright color spot, for example, using wallpaper with photo printing or a contrasting color for this. Horizontal stripes in the wall decoration visually expand the space of the room. Vertical striped wallpaper will visually increase the ceiling, but in a small room it may feel like a “well”. Decorate only one wall with striped wallpaper, and the rest with plain colors that harmonize in color.
Ceiling in a small living room
The design of a modern living room in a small apartment necessarily includes, as an important component, the design of the ceiling. The white ceiling will suit almost any style. The impression of spaciousness can give a glossy stretch ceiling, preferably white or a very light shade. The interior of a living room in a small apartment will be overloaded if you arrange artsy multi-level plasterboard ceilings, place moldings on the ceiling. When decorating the ceiling in a small room, it is preferable to stay on strict minimalism.
Curtains for a small living room
To make the interior of the living room in a small apartment look completely harmonious, you need to choose the right design for the windows. Mostly use straight curtains with a minimum of drapery or without it at all. Modern fashion also offers such ideas for a small living room as:
- curtains sewn from fabrics of two colors;
- Roman blinds from fabrics of various density;
- Austrian curtains with light drapery at the bottom;
- Japanese curtains in the form of sliding panels and others.
Chandelier in a small living room
The design of a small living room will be incomplete if you do not take care of the lighting fixtures. A tasteful chandelier always looks beautiful. Sometimes they use the formula for calculating the approximate dimensions of a chandelier: sum up the length plus the width of the room (in meters), then multiply the result by 10 — the resulting figure will be the maximum diameter of the lamp (in centimeters). As for the appearance, the style of the chandelier should be selected in accordance with the style of the interior of the living room.
Small sofa in the living room
When choosing furniture for a small living room, think about a sofa. If it is not supposed to arrange a sleeping place on it, get a small sofa. You will save space, but at the same time do not lose the opportunity, covering your legs with a blanket, you will comfortably sit on the sofa with a book, or in front of the TV screen. Another option is a small corner sofa. An overly voluminous sofa in a tiny living room will take up the lion’s share of the space, which is already not enough.
Small armchairs for the living room
Armchairs are traditional living room furniture. A small cozy living room can be equipped with one or two elegant armchairs instead of a sofa. To comfortably arrange your legs buzzing with fatigue, place a soft stool or ottoman next to the chair. If there is very little space, then install a folding chair where you would like to relax.
Small wardrobe in the living room
Thinking about how to furnish a small living room, you are likely to wonder how appropriate a closet would be in the living room. With the skillful design of the doors, such a wardrobe will harmoniously fit into the room and can even become one of the most successful details of the interior of the room. Use corners, alcoves, niches to install the wardrobe, or place it along one of the walls.
Small slide for the living room
Against the backdrop of bulky furniture sets of the past, a small wall in the living room in a modern style compares favorably. It can be selected taking into account the needs of storing certain things. The components of such a slide can be chests of drawers for linen, closed shelves, open hanging shelves for books and decorative elements, a TV cabinet or other equipment, and the like.
As you can see, small-sized housing is not at all a sentence for living in a boring home full of furniture. With an effort, you can make a wonderful House out of an ordinary “Khrushchev”, where you will be happy to return from work, invite relatives and friends to visit. Yes, this will require some financial investments, but a lot can be done with your own hands, thereby reducing the cost of the project.