The living room is an important place in any home. All households, friends, relatives can gather here. However, many people do not know how to properly equip a hall, what elements to include in the interior, what color scheme is best to choose. Most often, owners of small apartments face such problems.
Features of the
Today, repair specialists can offer a considerable number of different options for arranging a hall with an area of 16-18 sq. m. Usually living rooms of this size can be found in a panel house, for example, in the "Khrushchev".
First of all, the design of the space in a small apartment should not be too loaded with unnecessary items. Otherwise, the design will be too ridiculous and will create an unpleasant atmosphere.
At the moment, there are a great many tricks on how to make the living room space visually much larger. Every person who owns an apartment with a small hall of 17-18 square meters should use these rules. Designers advise choosing the right lighting, color palette, furniture to visually expand the room.
The interiors of small living areas should not be overloaded with too many decorative items. Also, you should not place massive pieces of furniture in such a design. It is best to choose a light color scheme (pastel colors). In this case, dark, harsh shades should be avoided.
Care must be taken when choosing coatings for walls, floors and ceilings. Not all types of material can fit into the design of a small living space. Also, do not forget about the lighting, with which you can visually enlarge the room without much difficulty. An important question is the selection of furniture suitable for the interior.
Zoning
When decorating a hall, it is important for the owners to decide whether the room will be used only as a living room, or whether it will combine a children's or sleeping area. Many designers advise, when arranging a room in a rectangular shape, to divide the space using thin partitions. Moreover, their color should be slightly darker compared to the tone of other walls.
A fashionable type of housing today is a studio apartment. As a rule, such dwellings are characterized by small dimensions. A living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a children's area can be simultaneously located in one single space. In this case, it is most correct to use small partition structures.
You can often find a design project for living rooms with an area of 18-19 square meters, in which the hall is combined with the space of the balcony. It is quite possible to arrange narrow loggias in the same space with a small room. Also, this option will be able to make the lighting of the space more saturated, which will visually increase the size of the living area.
Some designers offer design options in which the hall is combined with the walk-through area. Such projects allow you to visually expand the space. Also, such arrangement options are the most fashionable and functional. But when choosing such a layout, you should pay attention to the lighting, colors, because these ideas are far from always possible to be implemented in the interior.
In living rooms with a small area, you can make a layout with a fifth corner. With this technique, you can visually expand the space without much difficulty. Also, this type of design will allow you to highlight several different zones (workplace, play area for small children, sleeping place).
There are many options for small rooms with one window. The zoning of such a space should be carefully thought out, since the presence of only one window opening dramatically complicates the lighting of the entire space and each zone separately. But this is not difficult to fix with special lighting systems.
Styles
Now experts can advise a huge variety of different options for decorating living rooms.
Designers distinguish several main interior styles:
- modern style;
- classic style;
- loft style;
- minimalism;
- provence.
Modern style
Modern types of arrangement will perfectly fit into the living areas. This concept implies simplicity, versatility, and convenience. The main place in this design is occupied by straight lines, different surfaces, geometric clear forms. In the design of rooms of this type, you should not use too many decorative items, this can violate the stylistic intent.
Classic style
Classics have always been one of the most sought-after design trends. This style will help create a chic, unobtrusive and unusually beautiful interior in the living room. Decorated wood furniture, textile wallpaper, curtains with large floral patterns are important details of this type of design.
Loft
This stylistic direction is one of the most trendy today. The arrangement of a room of this type will not cost the owners dearly, since this design trend does not require expensive furniture and complex finishes. As a rule, simple brickwork is left for the walls or a concrete base is used.
Many designers claim that coatings look best if they have different textures and irregularities.
Minimalism
This direction is characterized by high versatility and simplicity. In an ordinary minimalist interior, there must be high ceilings, furniture with matte surfaces, smooth lines, several mirrors are permissible. For such a design trend, products are used from natural materials (various types of wood, cement, metals, glass). But it is worth noting that the design of the room in this stylistic direction will cost the owners a considerable sum of money.
Provence
A similar design trend is perfect for a living room with a small area. Such interior decoration will help to create a cozy and pleasant atmosphere in the hall. For this design, wooden furniture with carved inserts is typical. Items decorated with textiles are often used. A characteristic feature of Provence is also a large number of ceramic decorative items and natural fabrics.
Color solutions
When arranging the interior of a small hall, you need to carefully choose the color palette. Not all tones can be suitable for the design of such rooms. It should be noted that with the correct ratio of shades, it will be easy to make the living room space visually much larger.
Some experts advise to decorate the hall in beige tones. With this solution, you can create a relaxed and pleasant environment in your home. Such a palette will visually expand the living area, which is an important point when renovating small rooms.
In a small one-room apartment, it is also worth making a design in light colors. Many renovation experts argue that in such cases, it is best to make the living room and hallway in the same color scheme. This will help create a harmonious and attractive interior in your apartment.
In a small private house, when arranging a room, it is also better to use various light colors (gray, beige, brown, cream, white, mustard). These shades are ideal for suburban homes. These color solutions will make it possible to create a unique and beautiful style in the interior.
Decor
The issue of decorating ceilings, walls and floors is the main one when arranging a living area. Most designers recommend using light wood flooring in small spaces. A fluffy carpet of a brighter color (blue, yellow, orange, light gray, green, purple) can give a special sophistication to the interior. Such an element will perfectly fit into almost any living area.
Often, experts offer design projects for living rooms of a small area with a massive corner sofa. Despite the fact that the space should not be overloaded with too large products, it is better to choose voluminous and large elements like these. Such a soft piece of furniture will be a suitable option for almost every type of design.
For wall coverings, it is beneficial to use types of wallpaper in pastel colors. It should be noted that large plant patterns on such materials are best avoided. At the same time, the presence of another pattern is quite acceptable (a wide or narrow strip, applied in the form of clear geometric shapes).
Many designers recommend finishing ceilings in small spaces with a darker shade than walls. This solution will make your interior harmonious. The presence of all kinds of inserts and sketches of other colors on the coatings is acceptable. But still, a simple plain material is considered the most acceptable economy option.
For halls with a bay window, you need to very carefully select all coverings and pieces of furniture, since this layout option is rather complicated. White or light brown finishes are ideal for these spaces. Interior components should be chosen in light, but not too bright colors (pastel shades, light gray, pale yellow, blue, lilac).
When buying furniture, it is important to take into account the real dimensions of the area of the room. It is imperative to remember that not all items can be suitable for small living rooms.
Today there are a considerable number of options that it is desirable to have in living areas with a small area:
- sofa bed;
- wall racks with spacious storage compartments;
- armchairs and poufs with built-in deep drawers;
- tables with pull-out compartments;
- open wide shelves;
- wardrobes.
Modern developments give people the opportunity to choose multifunctional, high-quality furniture of low cost, which will not take up too much space in your home. We must not forget that overly massive objects will make the interior of the living room overloaded and ugly. And a considerable number of decorative elements can also spoil the whole project.
Tips & Tricks
When arranging living spaces of a small footage, you should not forget about lighting. It occupies a rather important place in the design. By choosing the right lighting installations, you can give the hall a pleasant atmosphere and make it visually more spacious.
A certain number of glass products and mirrored surfaces will perfectly fit into the interior of small living areas. But at the same time, it should be noted that such materials will not be suitable for all stylistic directions. Most effectively, these elements will be located in a minimalist and modern direction.
Overly dark color shades (black, chocolate, dark gray, burgundy, purple, blue) should not be used when creating an interior project in small rooms. It is permissible to use such tones only in small quantities to dilute the design.
A certain amount of bright decorative items is also acceptable, which will also help to avoid intrusiveness in the living space.
Beautiful examples in the interior
Currently, designers offer a huge variety of options for arranging small living areas. Each project is distinguished by its originality and elegance. But it is not at all necessary to turn to the help of specialists to decorate the room. Each person can independently create a beautiful interior design. In this case, you need to rely on your desires and imagination.
A perfect solution for small rooms would be the design of floor, wall and ceiling coverings in gray. But it should be noted that all elements must differ from each other in shades. Walls and floors are best made slightly darker than ceilings. Choose a sofa in white or ash colors. An armchair trimmed with a dark fabric (black, brown, blue) will look good.
It is best to choose curtains in chocolate shade. Some designers argue that for curtains you need to use mostly plain fabrics without patterns and patterns. In the center of the living room, you can place a coffee table made of dark wood. Such a piece of furniture will add solidity and sophistication to the interior.
Another good solution would be to decorate the walls and floors with a discreet beige color. For the ceiling, in this case, a white monochromatic material is suitable. Upholstered furniture can be selected in gray or white-gray tones.
To prevent the space setting from becoming too boring and unpleasant, it can be diluted with a soft black carpet and a small table with a square or rectangular glass top. It is also possible to use a number of decorative items (paintings, vases), which can also give the room a unique and elegant character.
A large number of designers offer ideas for combining a living area and a dressing room. These options are quite popular nowadays. If you decide to create just this type of design in your home, be sure to properly plan the zones so as not to overload the design.
For information on how to visually expand the room, see the next video.