Choosing a layout
The nature of the location of key functional areas in the room depends on it. A good choice will help you extract maximum dividends from the usable space at your disposal, while a wrong choice will “bury” even the most promising configuration.
Corner
Part of the kitchen unit covers the corner of the adjacent wall. In square kitchens, it allows you to comfortably equip a dining area on the furniture-free side.
Sometimes the set is positioned in such a way that the working surface is directly opposite the window.
Linear
Everything here is extremely simple: along one wall there is a set and a refrigerator, along the other there is a dining table, sofa or chairs.
This is probably the best layout for small kitchens because:
- eliminates clutter near the entrance to the room;
- you can optimally place all zones in space with convenient movement between them.
With bar counter
If there is not enough space for a dining complex, its implementation corrects the situation.
True, there are also options when the bar counter acts as an attribute of an open plan and divides the cooking and eating area.
There is another way to beautifully fit a bar counter into the space. It is suitable for kitchens that have access to a balcony. The dividing wall is partially dismantled and replaced by a comfortable counter that can serve as a dining table or just a place to relax with your favorite drinks.
U-shaped
If you want to achieve ideal ergonomics between functional areas, try placing the set in a U shape. It runs along three walls, while the work area can be either along one of the parallel sides or located on the third, narrower one.
Often there are options when it is adjacent to the window.
This layout is comfortable with perfect ergonomics and completely eliminates discomfort.
New designs
The ideal path connecting household appliances and countertops should form an equilateral triangle:
- This means that the same distance must be walked from the refrigerator to the sink and then to the burners;
- Therefore, it is very important to carefully evaluate the distance between the sink and the hob, we usually calculate a maximum of 2 steps (i.e. about 120 cm) between one and the other.
Try to identify yourself with the path you choose:
- For example, to drain boiled potatoes, you will have to take a pan full of boiling water from the heat and get to the sink, so you will prefer to take one step, two at most, instead of three or more.
- Particular attention should be paid to the space for handling food.
- In this case, the hob located between the sink and the refrigerator is most often used.
- Many people make the mistake of placing the sink away from this area.
In general, it is better not to place a refrigerator and heating appliances next to each other, separating these two appliances with a pencil case for storing canned goods, cereals, and small household appliances.
We think over the arrangement of furniture and equipment
It all depends on the configuration of your kitchen. For example, corner sets with furniture arranged on 3 walls fit well into square rooms. Rectangular - a linearly arranged set, in which the parallel walls remain untouched. Let's look at all this in detail with photo examples from life.
What will the headset be like?
For a modern kitchen, decorated in minimalist, scandi and hi-tech styles, sets with modules up to the ceiling are well suited. This can be considered a standard of convenience and healthy pragmatics, since all other options clutter up the space.
The handles are replaced with hidden fittings, or the hinged facades are simply made a few centimeters higher to make them comfortable to open.
Designer tips
Dmitriy
interior designer
You can do without upper cabinets altogether, replacing them with open storage systems. Relevant for those who do not store many dishes in the kitchen. So take note for bachelors.
If you like the classics, this set will also fit perfectly into a 9 sq. m kitchen format. meters. The only question is its configuration: for square rooms it is better to choose a corner option, for elongated ones - linear or U-shaped.
Where to put the refrigerator?
There are two popular options:
- corner near the window;
- end at the entrance to the room.
Often there is an option in which the refrigerator is placed next to the dining complex opposite the kitchen unit. Or it can be taken out onto the balcony if it is well insulated. In this case, you can even dismantle the entire dividing wall and in this simple way make the kitchen larger and the ergonomics between the functional areas perfect.
Filling space
Typically, a comfortable and cozy kitchen space of 9 meters includes:
- Fridge;
- Dishwasher;
- Electric oven;
- Microwave;
- Induction, electric or gas stove.
Often in the kitchen you need space to store small household appliances: mixers, blenders, sandwich makers, coffee grinders. A kettle, toaster and multicooker, if available, are usually constantly located on the countertop.
Which style should you choose?
At 9 sq. meters, you can easily play with any design style, so there is no need to limit your design imagination. But don’t forget about balance - without it, any design becomes a loudly screaming bad manners.
Classic and neoclassical
Characteristic attributes of the classical style are carved facades with chamfers, arches, an abundance of stucco on furniture, elegant cornices and a balanced color scheme. The predominant shades are light beige, cream and others from the pastel group.
Read more about beige kitchen design here >>> go
When decorating floors and walls, noble stone textures are often used - carrara, calacatta, etc. Wood is also actively integrated into the space, especially often in the form of flooring. This can be either linoleum with a characteristic texture or ceramic tiles with a first-class imitation.
Modern
Modern design involves a more obvious emphasis on correct geometry. Accordingly, the furniture has clear contours, avoiding deliberately expressive elements. Simply put, take the classics, remove all the “decoration” from it and get that very modern style that dominates most interiors.
Provence and country
Both styles are rustic, so in the decoration you can often find wood and stone - natural textures that create home comfort and emotional stability.
Leave flashy textiles and elegant decors to other design projects - in Provence and country, dark imitations of wood like beech, pine, oak or cherry are most often found. Moreover, if Provence is characterized by purer and more delicate shades, then country will have an advantage in aged surfaces with cracks, scratches and abrasions.
Minimalism and hi-tech
This design will definitely appeal to those who love asceticism and welcome pragmatic interiors with impeccable geometry, clear contours of the kitchen unit and chrome inserts, active use of cool shades and contrasting pairs.
Household appliances are most often used built-in, often with a metal surface polished to a shine. The predominant color scheme is a white or light gray base, to which more intense shades are gradually added.
Loft
Design a loft in the kitchen of 9 square meters. meters is a bold decision, because this space is clearly not enough to create the characteristic effect of an open space devoid of any partitions. However, with proper implementation, you can at least partially convey its atmosphere.
To help you:
- imitation red brick made of gypsum decorative stone;
- cold porcelain stoneware surfaces under poured raw concrete;
- design of external wiring;
- implementation of track lighting systems.
Recently, concrete lamps have become popular. They are poured into a mold onto a workpiece and are most often used for zoning.
Beautiful interior ideas
The photo shows how discreet light and olive tones can transform a space. Graceful curls and pretty glass inserts only make the composition better. A light gray countertop is also a good choice. A tall white refrigerator adds a classic touch, and placing a houseplant on top of it adds a cheerful touch.
And this is how a modern composition can look. The play of light, dark and silver tones adds charm. The white countertop harmonizes perfectly with the same color of the upper facade.
A minimalist corner kitchen can look like this - there is a pure white tier on top, and a noble wood countertop below. The composition is completed by a light gray floor, which completely matches the furniture.
An alternative solution for a corner kitchen involves converting the window sill into a full-fledged countertop. The light green top tier of the set looks attractive. The solid dark tabletop is very beautiful. The lower tier is made in pure white. There are both closed and open elements on top.
Thus, the kitchen in the Khrushchev can turn into a favorite place in the house, become cozy and, of course, convenient for moving and preparing food.
Choosing a color scheme
9 sq. meters - these are no longer Khrushchev buildings with their tiny usable space, but also not open-plan kitchens and living rooms, where square meters are not counted. Therefore, warm pastel colors are best suited for such a room, creating coziness inside and at the same time visually pushing the boundaries. This advice is especially relevant if the windows face north. In such cases, a light beige base can be safely crossed with red and orange, or added brown.
Conversely, a south-facing kitchen looks better in cool shades. Bold contrasts are always appropriate here, so you can often find bright spots in the design. An apron often plays the role of such a spot; curtains, textiles, and upholstery of a furniture group also stand out with an intense shade. The kitchen itself can be simply light or emphatically white.
Designer tips
Irina
founder of the interior studio, architect and interior designer. The main area of work is kitchen design
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When choosing a floor covering, keep in mind that its color should match the kitchen unit. For example, the apron and floor can be designed in a single stylistic key and thereby achieve standard color harmony. An alternative option is to match the tabletop or facade elements with the color of the floor.
If your soul persistently demands rich colors, then do not go against your inner desires, but rather work on how to correctly integrate them into a real project. Bright colors can always be offset by pastel shades next to them - and achieve an overall color balance in the perception of the room.
Lighting
Despite the small area of the kitchen, just one chandelier will not be enough. To prepare dinner in the dark after a long day at work, it will be difficult for your eyes to focus in dim lighting. Adhere to the principle of zoning.
It is better to place the main source of light - a chandelier - above the dining table, and additionally place spotlights with a separate switch above the work area.
It is more practical and simple to install such spotlights in the top drawers of the headset or under them on the apron. For washing dishes and cooking, separate lamps are the best solution.
Design features
The kitchen is a functional type of room: something is constantly being cooked, fried, stewed here, and cooking artifacts inevitably settle on the walls, ceiling and floor covering. To prevent finishing materials from losing their appearance and quickly becoming unusable, carefully select them.
Floor and ceiling
Laminate flooring, which is common in other rooms in the kitchen, is not recommended for installation: even if moisture resistance is stated in its specifications, water can get into the seams and over time swell the laid tiles. A good alternative is dense linoleum on a polyurethane foam base. It is quite easy to install, has no problems with cutting and is not at all afraid of moisture. In addition, its surface copes well with mechanical stress and has a shock-absorbing effect, so dropped plates or cups will remain intact.
You will learn how to choose linoleum for the kitchen and how to fit it into the interior from our separate material >>> go
Everything is fine with linoleum except for one thing - the material is short-lived. In this regard, ceramic tiles have no equal. It is better to prefer its reinforced version - porcelain stoneware. It is hardened at high temperatures, so it has excellent wear resistance and bending strength. Porcelain tiles are available in any form and imitate both wood and classic stones with characteristic stains.
Ceiling design in the kitchen 9 sq. meters it is better to make it non-aggressive: a regular tension fabric is enough. If you want a spectacular play of light, use a glossy finish, but it reflects not only all the objects in the kitchen, but also captures part of the environment from the street. Over time, this begins to irritate, tested in practice. But with a matte finish, such problems do not arise - besides, it looks solid and beautiful.
Designer tips
Dmitriy
interior designer
An ordinary ceiling can be made more interesting by using suspended plasterboard structures. This way you can easily highlight the cooking area or dining area.
Walls
Most often, either good old wallpaper or equally good old paint is used to decorate walls.
Both options have their pros and cons: even expensive water-based emulsion loses color over time and begins to peel off, just as wallpaper can wrinkle unsightly and become stained due to temperature changes.
By thinking through the design of walls, you can solve far more than just aesthetic problems: if you choose wallpaper with vertical stripes, the room will visually become taller, and with horizontal stripes, it will be longer.
It is better to avoid too intrusive patterns: instead of them, various decorative elements or posters work well.
The wall opposite the set can be decorated with decorative stone or brick. After installation, it is better to treat it with impregnation so that it collects less dust and does not lose its original color.
Apron
The eternal question: what material to choose for its finishing? Ceramic tiles solve this issue - and lay them along the entire height of the apron. This is 60 cm. Moreover, it is worth choosing collections that give the same 0.6 meters without trimming, otherwise you will have to hide the tiles under a cabinet or trim them, which is not very convenient, and the perception will not be so impressive.
Surprisingly, even in 2021, “hog” tiles are still just as popular.
Although it has a serious competitor in the form of huge porcelain stoneware slabs measuring 60x120. They cover almost the entire apron, creating a solid and visually perfect canvas.
More fresh ideas for decorating an apron in our separate article >>> read
They threw it off in the same way, but few people use them lately: they are expensive and not very practical.
Curtains and textiles
In design, they perform a secondary function, but are very convenient for introducing a companion color or creating bright spots if the rest of the room’s design turns out to be a little boring and monochrome. When choosing colors, no one has canceled the laws of temperature compatibility: for example, for a contrasting black and white kitchen, bright red curtains would be appropriate. Or for beige - a model with deep dark brown.
In this case, textiles also take on the role of equalizing the color load.
Accessories and decor
The larger the kitchen, the wider the space of options for integrating decorative elements and auxiliary accessories into it. This can be either ordinary kitchen utensils or various posters, boards, including slates, on which you can leave notes or draw interesting patterns.
Actively use your imagination to make your kitchen interior truly extraordinary and memorable.
Opening upper cabinets
The upper cabinets of the kitchen set are used to store plates, pots and various spices. To complete the design, the facades are covered with cabinets, each of which has its own opening option. It is worth taking a closer look at the most popular options.
Swing
The cheapest option for opening upper cabinet doors. Personally, I find this method the most practical. In this case, the mechanisms will last a long time, and repairs will not require much effort.
Folding
To open the cabinet, you will need to lift the door and lock it in the required position. Not the most convenient option, because you will need to take care of the high quality of the door fittings. If you approach the installation of folding cabinet mechanisms irresponsibly, over time they will quickly fail.
Folding
An expensive option, but at the same time the most beautiful. Clients often turn to him if financial capabilities and room space allow. Allows you to open the cabinet quite quickly. The mechanisms last a long time and do not spoil the appearance of the kitchen. However, this method of opening the doors is not suitable for short people.
Kitchen lighting 9 sq.m
When putting into practice the planned lighting scenario, start from the minimum illumination threshold adopted by Gosstandart. It is measured in lux and is equal to 150 units. Just in case, here is his formula, which explains everything: 1 lx = 1 lm/sq. meter, where lx is lux, and lm is lumen, which measures the luminous flux, which falls exactly on 1 square meter of area.
Should I use a central chandelier? Yes, a classic lamp in the center is convenient because it takes on the overall load of distributing light into the kitchen spaces, but often it is not enough for a comfortable level of illumination in key functional areas.
Therefore, people use spots - small spotlights - in the cooking area or to illuminate the dining area.
Instead of spots, you can use suspended structures. They are especially relevant for mounting on a wall adjacent to the dining table.
You can extend the RGB LED strip and run it along the bottom contour of the upper cabinets. If it has a dimmer, you can set different lighting scenarios, so your kitchen will never be boring.
Designer tips
Irina
founder of the interior studio, architect and interior designer. The main area of work is kitchen design
If you are so disgusted with classic chandeliers, replace them with large flat plates. They do not produce the brightest lighting, but in the general lighting context it will be enough for comfort.
Are track systems suitable for a 9 square meter kitchen? They are used even in Khrushchev buildings, so definitely yes. However, when choosing, you need to accurately calculate the power of the luminous flux so that there is no imbalance during use.
You may also be interested in: Ideal lighting in the kitchen: 7 rules and 109 design options
How to line the walls in a nine-meter kitchen?
Painted walls are a laconic and versatile backdrop for medium-sized kitchen spaces. It can be easily combined with other types of wall covering materials, which can be part of the stylistic solution - wallpaper, tiles, decorative brickwork.
Don't know what to choose? Read our article about 2022 kitchen design trends.
Current trends from the designer
Read this section carefully to stay up to date with all the latest design trends - then your kitchen has every chance of becoming truly fashionable and maintaining aesthetic relevance for years to come.
Built-in furniture up to the ceiling
If you have high-tech, Scandinavian minimalism or simply a pragmatic modern design in your kitchen, be sure to try this solution. It will allow you to place significantly more items on the shelves, and will also provide that very visual perfection for which, in fact, interiors are built.
Natural palette
For 2022, the recommended palette has, on the one hand, complex and deep saturated tones:
- blue-green;
- coffee;
- purple.
On the other hand, the trend will be dark gray, sunny yellow, scarlet, bright pink - that is, active and bright shades that create a great mood and are pleasing to the eye.
Delicate shades of pink and blue are also equally popular. The classic neutral palette also does not lose ground and is always in place for integration into the kitchen space. The main rule for successful implementation is a verified color balance, which we see most often in those cases when we go to nature and spy on its amazing organic matter.
Natural materials in finishing
This trend has been formed for a long time, but still remains relevant. Natural textures in the kitchen should be introduced thoughtfully: first choose a concept, then create a composition, correctly distributing the selected materials and “tasting” the play of textures. For example, a solid oak tabletop will go perfectly with the stone surface of the apron.
Natural materials also include decorative plaster. Classic Venetian, bark beetle, fur coat, lamb or any other type - any one is suitable.
Environmental friendliness and comfort
Give up everything unnecessary in favor of minimalism and simplicity: eco-friendly design involves choosing discreet natural textures that are easy to install, creating a cozy and natural environment in the kitchen.
You can appeal to environmental friendliness not only by using natural materials, but also by details: the presence of living plants in the kitchen is not only beautiful, but also useful, as they purify the air and make human breathing cleaner.
How to design a nine-square kitchen apron?
In combination with or without a countertop, it is the apron that often plays the main decorative role in a standard three-by-three kitchen.
Here are some interesting solutions:
For the advantages and disadvantages of the materials from which an apron can be made, see our infographics.
