One of our absolute favorite places to design is the kitchen—it's that one place in the house where everyone tends to gather. So much of our life happens in this cozy place! We all dream of having a brand new custom space, don't we? The reality is that many of us have small kitchens. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out how to make our such small spaces function for our needs while still looking very nice.
Setting up a small kitchen is a real challenge. It is necessary to take into account not only the visual aspect, but also functionality. See how designers do it.
Interior design features
Nuances to consider when decorating:
- It is not advisable to decorate this space in different style directions.
- In a small studio kitchen, you should not use brown, black, purple and other dark colors, as this will make the room visually smaller.
- For a more comfortable and lighter design, design in light and warm shades, as well as the use of glossy and mirror surfaces that perfectly reflect light, are suitable.
The photo shows a studio kitchen with an interior made in light colors.
Color differentiation
Since we are talking about color, we can divide the zones in the room using color. For example, you can use lighter shades in the kitchen area, and darker shades in the recreation area. Colors can either contrast with each other or be similar in shades.
If your room is small, you can make one wall brighter and the rest in more neutral tones.
Advantages and disadvantages
A combined kitchen-studio, like any other interior solutions, has its own advantages and disadvantages.
| pros | Minuses |
| This redevelopment allows you to achieve a single, spacious room with several functional areas at once. | During cooking, odors are generated that enter the adjacent room. |
| Such redevelopment requires considerable financial costs and approval from the BTI. | |
| It simplifies movement in space, which significantly saves time. | This solution is inappropriate and unsafe when combining a room with a kitchen with a gas water heater. |
Flaws
When creating a studio kitchen, you often have to demolish the wall between the small kitchen and the living room, which requires additional financial investments and special permission.
In addition, the disadvantages of this layout include the following sub-items:
Note!
U-shaped kitchen: pros and cons of the U-shaped layout. Methods of arranging furniture, dividing into working and dining areas. Photos and videos of design ideasKitchen facades: TOP 180 photos and video reviews of kitchen facades. Types of frames, criteria for choosing materials and color solutions
- Short curtains for the kitchen - features of using short curtains in small and large kitchens. Advantages and disadvantages of fabric materials (photo + video)
- When cooking without a good exhaust hood, all odors from the kitchen will spread throughout the room.
- Inability to privacy in the absence of other rooms.
- The noise from kitchen appliances can disturb family members who want to relax.
Layouts
This option requires particularly careful redevelopment and special attention to each element in order to achieve the most harmonious combination of rooms. Before redevelopment, first of all, study the floor plan and identify load-bearing walls. Very often, a studio is equipped in houses, one-room apartments and other apartments, such as Khrushchev or Brezhnevka, that have an inconvenient layout. The interior solution for a studio kitchen is selected taking into account the number of people living; it can be a young couple, a family or just one person.
The photo shows the design of the layout of a kitchen studio in a wooden house.
How to separate the kitchen from the room?
The most popular zoning options.
Partitions
They are the most practical and convenient solution. Quite often in the interior there are partitions made of wood or plasterboard, which can differ in a wide variety of shapes, or less heavy structures made of glass, plastic and even textiles.
The photo shows the interior of a modern kitchen-studio with a partition made of plasterboard.
Arches
They are not only an excellent space divider, but also allow you to endow the surrounding design with special luxury and elegance. Arches are often complemented with columns or niches in which flowers, themed accessories, decorative figurines, etc. can be placed.
Decorative finishing
By using cladding with different colors and textures, it is quite easy to zone a room. For example, for the kitchen area, tiles can be used on the floor, and ceramics, artificial stone, brickwork or decorative plaster on the wall. The rest of the space has walls decorated in the form of wallpaper and flooring with laminate, parquet or carpet.
Multi-level ceiling and floor
In a more spacious and tall studio kitchen, zoning using a two-level ceiling, which can also have built-in lighting to create an even clearer visual boundary between the two parts of the room, would be quite appropriate. Also, a podium floor is installed as a separator, which makes it possible to elevate and visually highlight the kitchen area.
Lighting
To delimit space, various lighting systems are also used, which provide the opportunity to achieve stunning visual effects and further increase the area. In the design of a kitchen studio, all sorts of combinations are often made with the help of a chandelier, spotlights or LED strips.
The photo shows the zoning of a spacious studio kitchen using ceiling spotlights.
Furniture
Furniture items that do not disturb the harmonious combination of all interior components and at the same time create visual boundaries and thematic zones cope no less successfully with zoning.
Decor elements
An undeniably interesting zoning decor are mobile screens, which suggest a visual division of space without defining clear boundaries. Also a fairly common delimiter is a fireplace or ceiling beams.
The photo shows a studio kitchen with a fireplace in the form of a partition in the interior of a country house.
2-level finishing
In large rooms with a high vault, a raised floor, under which communications and pipes are hidden, allows separating recreation and eating areas from the kitchen. This is a fairly effective technique, however, by increasing the height of the floor, it appears that the room is “falling” under it.
Advice! For kitchen flooring, it is better to use materials that are resistant to humidity and temperature changes: tiles, porcelain stoneware or natural wood; they are easy to use, do not require special care, and can last longer than laminate or linoleum.
To zone the kitchen-studio, a multi-level ceiling made of plasterboard sheets is also used. It is important that it fits naturally into the overall environment and does not violate the integrity. This division of useful space looks best in the interior decoration of spacious country cottages.
Kitchen colors
The most universal and relevant solution is considered to be kitchens in light and pastel colors, which, when combined with a dark palette, will allow you to achieve spectacular accents and highlight interior features. One of the popular shade tandems is the black and white combination.
The photo shows a kitchen made in gray in the interior of the apartment.
The white color scheme has unique properties, perfect for adding visual volume to a room, giving the design lightness, airiness and making up for the lack of natural light. To create a cozy and relaxed interior, beige or sand shades are perfect, which will contribute to a truly warm and inviting atmosphere.
The photo shows the interior of the attic in the house, decorated with a white kitchen.
Lighting
For differentiation, point light sources are also used, which make it possible to obtain soft sliding transitions. They are usually placed above a counter or placed on an arch.
Built-in ceiling systems, which are arranged in a rectangle or circle, are also effective. LED lighting for the hood, sink and work surface looks no less original in a small kitchen.
Using LED strips, it is possible to visually delimit the eating area from the kitchen along the perimeter, without using a partition or arched structure for this.
You can create contrast by placing hanging lamps in the kitchen of a small apartment, and floor lamps or table lamps in the living room.
It is better to place work surfaces near the window and complement them with pendant lamps, which are useful in the dark. Note that artificial light sources in each zone must be independent of one another.
Options for delineating the interior decoration of a combined kitchen, hall or living room using artificial lighting are presented in the photo gallery.
Whatever method you prefer (and usually several options are used at the same time), it is important to maintain integrity and organicity in the design of the useful space.
For small rooms, it is better to use neutral, calm light, which will not irritate with variegation and excessive saturation, and will fill the atmosphere with tranquility, homely warmth and comfort.
Bright color accents - painted dishes, natural textiles, various decorative elements - allow you to diversify the interior of the room If necessary, they can be replaced with new ones when they get bored or seem uninteresting.
Forms of kitchen sets
There are several variants of forms.
Corner
It is a fairly universal design, located along adjacent walls, which allows you to conveniently place a refrigerator, sink, hob, dishwasher and thereby form a working triangle.
The photo shows a studio kitchen with a corner-shaped set, made in light colors.
Kitchen niche
Such an interior solution looks very unusual, significantly saves space and visually increases it. In a rectangular or square niche without a window, more compact kitchen units or U-shaped structures are often installed.
With an island
The kitchen island is a rather convenient, ergonomic and practical element, conditionally dividing the space into two parts, while providing free access from either side.
With bar counter
This design is considered no less popular for a studio kitchen. The bar counter not only zones the room and saves space, but also represents a comfortable place for a snack, while the dining table can be placed in another part of the room.
The photo shows a kitchen area with a small bar counter in the studio interior.
Zoning
The room, expanded by the room adjacent to the kitchen, should look holistic and harmonious, be functional and comfortable for all members of the family.
At the same time, it is divided into three interconnected zones: cooking, eating and resting , due to which it acquires a certain rigor and orderliness in design.
We will tell you in more detail what design techniques, interior items, furniture, finishing materials, textiles and lighting are appropriate to use for zoning an open-plan kitchen space.
Arch
To visually fence off the kitchen, you can use a piece of the remaining wall, decorating it with finishing materials that are repeated in the interior, or make an arch from moisture-resistant plasterboard sheets.
However, you need to remember that the arched structure takes up a lot of usable space, so in small apartments with a low vault it should be abandoned - it would be appropriate to make a lightweight ceiling with colored glass.
In large rooms, voluminous arches complemented by high decorative pillars look great.
Bar counter
Usually it is erected near the remaining wall. The bar counter visually differentiates the living room and the food preparation area, making the kitchen space more modern and stylish.
It allows you to save free space by serving as a dining table. It is made from different materials - it all depends on the style of the room and interior decoration.
If necessary, the rack can be equipped with shelves and built-in drawers, resulting in additional space for storing food, utensils, and dishes. In addition, you can organize a small bar inside it.
A traditional addition to the furniture design are high stools or chairs.
Internal partition
The interior wall can be partially dismantled: some part can be left for the convenient arrangement of a kitchen studio. It can be replaced by a partition, which takes up significantly less space than a brick wall.
There are several known ways to zoning a kitchen space:
- Construction of partitions from plasterboard sheets.
- The use of sliding systems - “accordions”. The best penetration of sunlight is provided by models made of frosted glass or translucent PVC.
- Curtains made of dense and lightweight fabric, which are simple, easy to use, easy to clean from dust and dirt, and with proper care can last for many years.
Kitchen area layout options
The most common options are the following:
- On the balcony. If there is a spacious balcony, this space can be used as a working kitchen area with a suite without upper cabinets. For a more comfortable stay on the loggia, you should consider insulating it in the form of high-quality double-glazed windows, heated floors or an additional radiator.
- Near the window. This placement is very convenient and beautiful. Particularly advantageous in this case will be designs shaped like the letter L, with a tabletop running along a blank wall and smoothly flowing into a plane with a window or bay window, where it can replace a window sill.
- On the side wall. Basically, the kitchen area is placed in one row with household appliances arranged in a single straight line.
- On the far wall. This option is considered the most optimal and correct for decorating a small studio.
The photo shows the interior of a modern studio with a kitchen area located along the side wall.
Thanks to a certain type of arrangement, you can achieve more free space and realize many interior ideas.
Recommendations for choosing furniture and equipment
Some tips for making the right choice:
- With such a layout, it is advisable to purchase a more powerful and silent hood, which will clean the air and rid the room of unpleasant odors.
- It would be better to equip a studio kitchen with a sufficient number of storage systems for order and a neat appearance of the room.
- Preference should be given to lighter and more mobile furniture, such as transforming tables or models on wheels.
- To create even more free space, it would be appropriate to use built-in or wall-mounted furniture to achieve a harmonious environment, especially in a small studio.
Kitchen design options
To visually deepen the perspective, a studio kitchen can be decorated with smooth reflective surfaces. For example, in the form of glossy tiles, polished stone, varnished or laminated with PVC film, kitchen facades, chrome appliances or other accessories.
A particularly proportional design is easily achieved thanks to certain interior elements. Tall narrow cabinets, decorative columns or long curtains will visually raise the ceiling plane. You can add additional horizontal volume to your studio using photo wallpaper, an elongated sofa, tables or wide shelves. Bright accents of orange, pink, green, blue, yellow or turquoise, which can be found in individual interior elements or decoration, will significantly dilute the atmosphere.
The photo shows the kitchen area in the studio, located under the stairs with a bright blue apron.
Photos of interiors in various styles
The kitchen-studio, designed in an urban loft style, is decorated in a monochrome color palette, for example, white combined with brown, gray or contrasting black. The design welcomes high-quality finishing with rough brickwork in combination with uncamouflaged communications and ventilation shafts.
For minimalism, it is appropriate to use monochromatic, restrained colors and kitchen fronts made of natural wood, glass or metal. The studio is in a country or chalet style, characterized by a harmonious interior and a complete absence of modern technology. Furniture and decor made from natural materials can achieve a laconic and charming design.
The photo shows the interior design of a kitchen studio, made in Scandinavian style.
A high-tech interior involves intense color combinations, bright walls or facades, rich textiles and trendy metal utensils. The furniture here is distinguished by its laconic forms and functionality. In the manufacture of kitchen sets, materials are used in the form of polished wood, frosted glass, plastic or laminated chipboard.
A studio kitchen in a neoclassical style or a room with a classic design is characterized by light beige, light brown, white or richer burgundy shades. Furniture elements can be decorated with ornaments, carved decor, beveled inserts or other decorations.
The photo shows a studio kitchen in the interior of a country house in Provence style.
Style solutions
Very often, recently, spaces are decorated in a loft style. In contrast to this style, you can decorate the room in a French country style. However, it can be the sensational Scandinavian style, hi-tech, minimalism, in general, everything that will be close to your soul.
In studio kitchens, the interior design can be absolutely anything. Here, of course, you can seek the help of a professional. But if you want to solve all the problems yourself, and become a kind of specialist in the field of interior design, then turn your attention to styles that are convenient from a functional point of view, where you do not need to work out all the details with special care.
