The problem of any small apartment is obvious: lack of free space. The organization of a comfortable and convenient living space in such conditions should be treated with special attention.
Furniture for a small apartment differs from traditional items in its multifunctionality: it allows you to combine several zones with different purposes in a small area.
Modern transformable furniture not only has the necessary level of ergonomics and functionality, but also an attractive, stylish appearance.
Furniture for a small apartment
Individual pieces of furniture
While expecting a baby, few parents think about a full-fledged furniture set. In the next few years it will not be needed, and then we will see.
And some people simply don’t have room in their apartment for such luxury, so they buy only the essentials. This is primarily a bed and a high chair. And, of course, you want these things to last as long as possible, which is why transforming models are chosen.
Beds
Now in stores there is simply a huge selection of multifunctional cribs that can be used as a playpen, and as the child grows, modified and extended.
There are similar ones now, but they have become lighter, more convenient and even more functional. For example, they can turn into a swing, cradle or walker.
But if you already have a comfortable desk or simply have nowhere to put an additional one, you should pay attention to orthopedic chairs with adjustable seat height and depth and a footrest. They can last from infancy to your child's teenage years.
Advantages and disadvantages
If the bedroom is not large, a small closet will be suitable for it. If you approach the issue of selecting such furniture wisely, then even small-sized models will provide the user with high comfort, but at the same time they will be quite roomy and attractive in appearance.
Let us describe the main advantages of small lockers for clothes:
- the ability to fit the model even into a significantly limited space;
- affordable price due to compact size. Since the manufacture of a small product does not require as many materials as in the case of a spacious large cabinet, there is an opportunity to save some money;
- a wide selection of colors and decorative elements allows you to choose a cabinet of current style and design for a small apartment;
- compact wardrobes are distinguished by a high level of comfort and functionality, if you carefully consider their contents. The ability to equip the design with lighting will also increase the level of comfort of the product.
The main disadvantage of furniture of this size is obvious: low level of capacity. A small closet cannot accommodate a huge wardrobe, but it is quite possible to ensure secure storage of the most frequently worn items. If you order the production of such a piece of furniture according to an individual project, you can take personal preferences regarding clothing as the basis for its design. For example, choose the current installation height of the crossbar with hangers or select an area for trousers.
Self-production of a table-rack
Tools you will need
- Orbital sander.
- Screwdriver.
- Plunge saw.
- Welding machine.
Required materials
Table 3. Step-by-step manufacturing instructions.
| Illustration | Description |
Step 1 | First, cut out the parts for the shelves that will form the tabletop. |
Step 2 | The edges of the parts are chamfered at an angle of 45 degrees. |
Step 3 | The parts are polished. |
Step 4 | Apply a protective layer of oil and wax. |
Step 5 | Drawing of an L-shaped element. |
Step 6 | Markings are made on the metal strip. |
Step 7 | Cut the required number of long and short elements. |
Step 8 | Remove the burr from the cut areas. |
| Step 9 | Weld the parts together. |
| Step 10 | Grind the weld seam. |
Step 11 | Finished parts are marked. |
Step 12 | Prepare holes for two self-tapping screws for each board. |
Step 13 | To secure the bearing it is necessary to make a hole with a diameter of 15 mm. |
Step 14 | To do this, use a step drill. |
| Step 15 | The parts are treated with rust-resistant enamel primer. |
| Step 16 | The shelves are assembled to determine the required length of the guides. |
Step 17 | Cut out the guides. |
Step 18 | To secure the bearings and connect them to the guides, you will need to drill a hole with a diameter of 10 mm. |
Step 19 | To do this, use a step drill. |
Step 20 | The rear guide is bolted to the shelves. |
Step 21 | Drill a hole to recess the bolt head. |
Step 22 | Secure the front guides. |
Step 23 | Secure the boards. |
Step 24 | The boards are screwed onto self-tapping screws. |
| Step 25 | In order to connect the shelves with legs, two elements, each 1 meter long, are cut out of a 40 x 20 mm profile. |
| Step 26 | The profile is aligned along the edge of the shelf and screwed onto self-tapping screws. |
Step 27 | Making table legs. |
| Step 28 | Weld the legs. |
Step 29 | 2 spacers are welded between the two guides, which will ensure the horizontal position of the tabletop. |
Step 30 | Metal parts are painted. |
Step 31 | To securely fix the tabletop when disassembled, a hole is made for the bolt. |
Table rack
Video - Review of multifunctional transformable furniture
Application options for a transforming table
Coffee tables are very popular among furniture with a transformation function, allowing you to store various small items and take on the appearance of a dining or work table. No less popular are transforming tables, which when folded resemble a cabinet, but can be expanded into a full-fledged dining table for 8 people.
The coffee table lid forms a working or dining surface
Modern style coffee table
After a simple transformation, the working coffee table turns into a comfortable workplace. The container under the lid allows you to store stationery and paper. When choosing such a model, special attention is paid to the height of the working plane - it should not cause discomfort during work and be sufficiently firmly fixed. Models with several height modes are convenient.
Dining coffee table
The table with storage function can be equipped with several drawers and built-in storage systems. Models with secret compartments for storing valuable documents and things are popular.
Wardrobe-table
Like the bed-wardrobe, there is a table-wardrobe, which unfolds according to the same principle, taking a vertical position, or slides into a special niche. The simplest design is a table that, when folded, is fixed on the wall.
Simple folding table
Folding tables are used in small kitchens or rooms where it is necessary to organize a work area.
Ottoman with the function of transformation into a dining table
Video - How to make an original transforming table yourself
Video - Transformable furniture for small apartments
Background
They began to think about creating multifunctional furniture long before the appearance of cramped Khrushchev apartments. It is known that Tutankhamun had a camp chair that transformed into a throne. And Emperor Alexander III carried with him a chest, the lid of which hinged to the left, forming a desk. At the same time, a sleeping place opened in another part of the chest.
In our country, the peak of demand for transformable furniture occurred in the 70s of the last century. Then, probably, in every apartment there were sliding tables, chair-beds, sofa beds, and tables-bedside tables.
Designer tips for choosing furniture for a small apartment
When arranging the interior of a small apartment, it is important not only to choose the right design style and color scheme, but also the furniture. With its help, you can achieve the desired visual effect, make the room visually more comfortable and spacious.
Table 2. How to choose furniture for a small apartment.
| Designer technique | Description |
Save space with built-in furniture | A simple and frequently used technique that allows you to save maximum free space is built-in furniture. This option is especially relevant if there are niches in the room. The facades are chosen to match the walls or a light shade - this way the cabinet will be invisible. |
Mirror surfaces reflect light and make the room visually more spacious | Mirrored furniture facades, cabinet doors, wall panels and panels visually enlarge the room. It is important to remember that a mirror doubles the number of details in the interior. |
| The cantilever fixation method makes the furniture visually lighter | The use of hanging furniture can visually make a small room seem more spacious, since cabinets and shelves without support do not look massive. |
| Glass furniture is almost invisible | Glass furniture is no less practical than traditional wooden furniture, but it transmits light and is almost invisible in the interior, and therefore does not weigh it down. |
Furniture with storage function | Hidden storage in furnishings - in a bed, in a sofa, in a pouf - clears the interior of unnecessary items, making it freer and tidier. |
Retro furniture: style and practicality | Furniture items that were popular 100 years ago are returning to modern interiors. One of them is a secretary, which is compact but spacious and has a folding working surface. |
Tall cabinet allows you to store more things | Installing tall cabinets “under the ceiling” allows you to use all the space for storage by placing rarely used items on the upper shelves. A full-wall closet with several narrow doors visually “stretches out” the room. |
Multifunctional bathroom furniture | A cabinet under the sink can not only look aesthetically pleasing, but also serve as a practical storage function. |
Modular constructor
Modular furniture is one of the trends of our time. The blocks can be arranged in any arbitrary order, creating pleasant compositions from cabinets, shelves, corner elements, pencil cases, bedside tables and stands.
- The developers saw a continuation of this theme, offering owners of modest apartments a modular construction set that, when folded, occupies one of the corners of the room.
- From the cubes, boards and mats of this construction set you can organize a desk with a chair, a bed, or a dining table.
Shapes and sizes
The classic shape of a wardrobe for a bedroom is a rectangle. Such products are made in standard sizes: width - from 100 cm, height - from 150 cm, depth from 60 cm. But if necessary, you can make an option with specific parameters for height, width, length. The linear model is installed along a free wall. For small-sized housing, it is worth choosing the highest possible closet (230-240 cm in height), which allows you to use the entire height of the room to place clothes and shoes.
An equally popular shape is the triangle. Such structures are installed in a free corner of the room and are characterized by high capacity, so they allow you to rationally plan such an inconvenient space. If space allows, you can equip such a cabinet with radius doors rather than straight ones. This will allow you to slightly expand the usable area, and therefore increase the capacity of the model several times.
Features of a transformable bed
Residents of small apartments also want to have a full-fledged sleeping place in the form of a bed. But even a one-and-a-half-bedroom model will take up almost all the available space, turning the living room into a bedroom. When several functional areas are combined in one room, the bed is abandoned, choosing a transforming sofa. Or they choose a modern model of a transforming bed, which during the daytime, using a convenient mechanism, is retracted into a niche on the wall, turning into a sofa. Otherwise, such a device is called a “wardrobe-bed” for its external resemblance to the facades of a folded closet.
The transforming bed turns into a comfortable sofa during the daytime
The assembled bed-wardrobe is completely invisible in the interior
The advantage of such furniture over the already traditional transforming sofas is as follows:
- They are compact. The niche module, where the assembled bed is placed, requires less space compared to a sofa, since the main area is located along the wall in height.
- The bed forms a full-fledged sleeping place with a solid mattress, without a single joint, which are inevitable when transforming a folding sofa of any modification.
- The bed frame is made of durable metal and slats, which together with a special mattress provide an orthopedic effect and healthy sleep.
- The peculiarity of such a bed is that the bed linen can not be removed during daytime storage, but simply fastened with special straps - this allows you to save a few free minutes in the morning and evening.
Folding bed in a teenager's room - the sheet is fastened with a special strap
The size of the bed is selected depending on the wishes - it can be single or double. The difference is not only in size, but also in the folding mechanism: the former are located horizontally, and the latter – vertically. This should be taken into account when designing the room layout.
Note! When the bed is unfolded, there should still be free space around it for unhindered movement.
When the bed is positioned horizontally, the free space above it is equipped with shelves, niches or mezzanines. When positioned vertically, a flat plane is formed with a sofa attached to it.
A bed tucked into a niche forms a flat wall plane on which a shelf or picture can be placed
When unfolded, such a bed is equipped with high-quality lighting using spotlights mounted on top in a niche. Additionally, the wardrobe-bed is equipped with compartments for storing small items and books.
A wardrobe bed consists not only of a sleeping place and a sofa - it can also include a wardrobe, shelving and shelves
Note! A bed of this design would be appropriate not only in small rooms, but also in fairly spacious living rooms as an additional bed in case guests arrive.
Corner sofa design with built-in bed
When installing such a bed, it should be taken into account that its design is quite massive and requires a level base for both the floor and the wall - this will ensure the correct and long-term operation of the furniture.
Interesting solutions
We will not touch on the topic of well-known folding beds and armchairs that turn into a cozy sofa. These inventions were born half a century ago. It is much more interesting to see what new has appeared on the transformable furniture market in recent years.
Filling
Clothes stored in a closet rationally retain their beauty and neatness for a longer time. Therefore, even in a very small bedroom it is important to organize the closet. To make it as functional as possible, it is worth highlighting four zones for:
- clothes;
- shoes;
- accessories (bags, belts);
- underwear, socks.
By zoning the interior space of the structure into four zones, a person will be able to quickly find the thing that is relevant to him at a particular time.
If the bedroom is too small and a tiny closet is selected for it, you will have to sacrifice one of these areas. Shoes can be stored in the hallway in a specially purchased shoe rack or in one of the hallway departments. The same applies to accessories that can be moved inside cabinets located in the same hallway or living room.
It is irrational to abandon the area with clothes, as well as the area with underwear and socks. The first is represented by shelves and a niche with a crossbar and hangers on it, the second - by drawers (separately for linen, separately for socks). It’s quite possible to store T-shirts, T-shirts, sweaters, tracksuits on shelves. Trousers, dresses, blouses - on hangers in a niche with a horizontal crossbar. This will keep these types of clothes ironed and neat.
