Kitchen and Living Room in One Space. Kitchen Living Room Interior

So-called input data are important: room dimensions, your financial capabilities, and the specific purposes for which you will use the space. For example, you can design a dining room-kitchen. If gathering as a family around the dinner table, you may find that you forgot to bring forks, but you won't have to run far.

Photo 1 — Variants of dining room-kitchen design

By the way, island kitchens are currently trendy. Thanks to their functionality, they can simultaneously serve as a work surface and as a dining table.

If the room size allows, you can also set up a relaxation area with a sofa and TV. After all, it's much more pleasant to make sandwiches and coffee without being distracted by your favorite movie. In a kitchen joined with the living room's relaxation zone, this is easy to achieve. The dividing elements between the kitchen and relaxation zones can be:

• a bar counter,
• an island kitchen,
• a sofa facing the kitchen,
• a large aquarium,
• gypsum board constructions.

Kitchen-Living Room Design: Pros and Cons

An undeniable advantage of such an open layout is that it increases free space and solves the problem of a small kitchen when family members no longer fit around the dining table. We should also note that while preparing a festive table and the feast itself, the hostess does not need to leave the guests to fetch another dish or step out of the company. It seems that such a kitchen-living room interior significantly simplifies life for housewives.

But it should be remembered that this layout has some drawbacks. For example, if you're frying fish, everyone present will know about it, so it's better to think about good ventilation from the start. Additionally, you will have to wash even a single cup at the sink to avoid spoiling the overall impression. All sounds made by kitchen appliances will complement the audio of a movie.

You can separate the kitchen and living room zones both conditionally and actually. If a kitchen-living room was created through reconfiguration (removing the wall between these two spaces), you can separate them using a gypsum board partition or sliding doors. However, the possibilities of gypsum board today allow constructing light walls even where they were not originally intended.

Another option for zoning is a level difference in the floor and combining floor coverings. In this way, you can visually separate the kitchen zone from the living room zone without using partitions.

Design of a Combined Kitchen and Living Room with a Bay Window: How to Use the Extra Space Wisely?

If you're lucky enough to have a flat with a bay window, it means that your living room will be much brighter and cozier than those who don't have this architectural feature.

Depending on its size, depth, and view from it, a bay window can be used in various ways.

If the bay window is small, you can place a kitchen work area there:

Or, if space allows, set up a dining area or relaxation zone as shown in the photo below. For housewives to note: several windows on such a small area create an effect of closeness to nature, and as you know, appetite improves in nature. Thus, there's a chance that children will finish their breakfast.

It feels cozy to sit on a sofa with a book in hand, feeling the warmth of sunlight – such an opportunity is provided by placing a sofa or armchairs in the bay window area.

The bay window space must be utilized, otherwise its charm and purpose disappear. On the next photo, you will see how not to treat a bay window.

Living Room-Kitchen with a Fireplace in the Interior

Nothing warms the soul more than the gentle crackling of a fireplace, especially when there is a full moon outside or a winter storm. By the way, a fireplace can also help separate the kitchen from the living room. Even if you live in an urban apartment – no problem. Modern industry offers electric fireplaces that are almost on par with real ones in aesthetics and functionality.

So, you don't have to worry that your apartment doesn't have a chimney. This will indeed complicate Santa Claus’s work on New Year's Eve... But if you’ve stopped believing in fairy tales, this won’t disappoint you much.

Try not to forget that a fireplace, like a TV, has the ability to draw attention. Therefore, don't place these two important interior elements too close to each other. Though maybe you would rather watch the eternal dance of flames than the latest news report.