An open-plan apartment: how to choose the perfect option

Choosing a home takes time, effort and nervous energy. And before you rush into the hot embrace of a mortgage, you should take a closer look at what you are buying there. When everything suits you - the square, the view from the window, the metro station nearby, the school in the courtyard and even the height of the ceilings - one more check remains to be done.

From the experience of architects, only one of our customers has ever approached us for advice before buying an apartment. Usually we are already informed about the fact: “Here we bought an apartment. See what you can do? We look - and everything is bad there. Apartment of 50 m², two windows, a family of three. No architectural thought will help here.

Not everyone has an architect friend who will give advice at the right time. Here is a small checklist for buying an open-plan apartment, which will help you understand how good it is for you.

1. Determine the number of living rooms

Ideally - bedrooms + 1. We don't count the kitchen.

There is an option to combine the kitchen and living room. For example, for a family of two adults and two children - a master bedroom, a nursery and a common family space. The number of windows in the apartment should correspond to the number of rooms. No window - no room!

2. Place the living areas on the plan

Let's try to draw these zones on the apartment plan with a colored pencil. If the apartment is not located above a non-residential area or on the ground floor, you cannot move or expand the bathrooms and kitchen at the expense of living rooms. In this case, all wet areas can be moved or expanded at the expense of non-residential premises (corridor, storage room).

Redevelopment issues have many subtleties. Permits for your case can be requested from government agencies. Any redevelopment of an apartment must be approved before the start of work, amateur performance is fraught with fines and restoration of the original layout. One leak, a visit from neighbors - and you are caught.

It should be possible to arrange doorways or sliding partitions between the zones. Here are the zoning options for an example of an apartment located above a non-residential floor.

Option 1

Adults and children receive a separate room. There is enough space to organize sleeping and working places, storage. Fine! But the living room does not work, only a large kitchen.

Option 2

So you can zone the apartment with the transfer of the kitchen. Again, decent bedrooms have turned out, and they are spaced apart, which is very convenient. The area of the living room and kitchen-dining room is already enough for everything to fit. It is necessary to additionally assess the orientation of the apartment to the cardinal points so that people spend most of the day in a lighted room. Children's room, living room - more sun is needed here.

Option 3

Option with the transfer of the living room and kitchen-dining room into a long narrow room. It can be conveniently divided into zones, however, you can pull the hood far from the kitchen into your riser (now it is in a small bathroom). Bedrooms are side by side, built-in wardrobes can be placed between them.

Option 4

Living room, kitchen, dining table - the area allows you to place everything. The parent bedroom is separate from the common areas. The nursery is small, but you can attach a loggia and put desks there, just be sure to install a sliding glass partition between the loggia and the room. And between the nursery and the living room, a sliding door will fit well.

In this version, you will also need a powerful hood for the kitchen.

3. Draw the arrangement of furniture on the selected option

So, you have several layout options to choose from and the understanding that, in principle, this apartment suits you. Choose the plan that best suits your family in terms of habits, family composition, lifestyle.

To be sure that you are right, imagine how the furniture will be located in the chosen option, and mark it on the diagram. It will look like this:

The arrangement of furniture can be redrawn for a long time: move the kitchen corner and dining table, look for a place for built-in wardrobes, and so on. Repeat the procedure until everyone is happy.

Finally - another useful tip

Non-standard furniture will help you make the most of the space's possibilities: podium beds, individual walk-in closets, headboards for beds with storage space, sideboards, built-in wardrobes and sliding partitions. Such solutions not only create additional space for things, but also shape the space, become art objects and allow you not to spend money on interior decoration.

You can create your own unique, modern and comfortable home with a basic interior - make high-quality flooring, light-colored walls and good "scenario" lighting. It is easy to give such an interior any mood with the help of details and accents - textiles, decorative lamps and unusual accessories. Everything is possible - from strict classics to exuberant ethno. Do not be afraid of unusual solutions. You have a new life in a new apartment!