Loft became popular after the 50s in the USA. Representatives of American bohemia settled in the attics of abandoned factories. Nobody renovated the premises. There were no partitions between the rooms. The kitchen, the dining room, the bedroom, and the workspace were combined in one huge area. If you want to replicate the industrial style in your home, it is better to combine the kitchen and living room. So, let's talk about everything in more detail.
Loft in green tones with lots of light
Zoning examples
The most popular way to divide a room into 2 halves without making the kitchen-living room visually smaller is a bar counter. The main advantage is the minimal impact on the visual perception of space. The second advantage is that you don’t have to make a dining table at all or you can move it outside the kitchen.
Modern counters are also called “peninsulas” - a table top that is flush with the rest of the set is more practical than a high one. You can not only eat food with it, but also prepare food: cut, serve.
The second, no less popular option in combined rooms is a sofa with the back facing the kitchen area. The classic approach can be complemented by a console, an island or the same bar counter, standing strictly behind the sofa.
In the photo below you can see a glass partition: black metal, transparent glass and brick walls combine perfectly with each other and create the right atmosphere.
The last design tip is to leave it as is! The “natural” beauty of the open kitchen-living room will do its job: you get a stylish space at minimal cost.
Style Features
Once a favorite of creative personalities and representatives of the art world (who never cared about worldly fuss and luxury in the interior), today the loft style can boast of more influential and wealthy fans.
The first thing required to create it is a sufficiently large area of the room. No internal walls, partitions, maximum space and freedom. And since the kitchen combined with the living room usually has sufficient footage, consider this trump card already in your pocket.
Also characteristic of the loft style:
1. Rough finishing of walls and ceiling. Red or white brick, concrete, and rough plaster are used to decorate the walls. The ceiling is decorated with pipes, wire beams, metal structures and caissons.
2. Minimum walls and partitions. Low interior items such as a bar counter, chest of drawers or sofa will help separate the kitchen and guest area.
3. Warm artificial lighting, creating a cozy homely atmosphere. It will be complemented by original lamps - pendant lamps, spotlights, classic chandeliers, rotating spots or “naked” light bulbs on cords.
4. Simplicity and good quality. That is why the loft style is often associated with a purely masculine interior. The main materials are wood, metal, stone, leather or their substitutes. Wooden design elements can be artificially aged. Plastic and glass are acceptable, but minimally.
5. A combination of vintage and modern interior elements - furniture, appliances, lighting, decorative items. What such harmony of different times looks like is shown in the photo below.
6. Large and uncovered windows, letting in as much sunlight as possible. And this is logical if we remember the origin of the style: attic spaces are located quite high, there is simply no one to peep into them and curtains are not needed here. On the other hand, there will always be a higher building and a couple of curious observers, and our man with curtains is somehow calmer. Here you are faced with a choice - take care of your own comfort or maintain the authenticity of style.
7. Loft interior is very easy to personalize, because its decorative filling has no restrictions. The role of decor will be played by paintings, photos, steampunk items, useful antique gizmos - a coffee grinder, frying pans, spice jars, clocks, musical instruments or a bicycle on the wall.
The combination of rough and regular geometric shapes in interior elements, antique and modern household appliances gives reason to characterize the loft as a kind of mixture of industrial, retro and high-tech.
Within this direction, designers distinguish two substyles - classic, attic and modern, more decorated loft. True, this does not prevent him from getting along well with eco, scandi, modern and other styles, which is clearly visible in these photos.
Recommendations for small rooms
If we look at examples of loft kitchen-living room design, you will notice that they are practically not implemented in small areas. However, if you want, why not try? The main thing is to follow some recommendations.
Firstly, give preference to minimalism: if 60 sq.m. If you can afford to combine opposites, then at 25 it’s better not to do this. Choose 1-3 accents and leave the rest of the elements basic.
In the photo there is a turquoise sofa in the kitchen-living room
Secondly, play with the arrangement of furniture: in a small kitchen-living room there simply isn’t enough floor space to place a sofa with its back to the bar counter. Place the seating opposite, or, if the room is elongated, place the sofa sideways towards the kitchen.
Third, use all available space. Open shelves can be made on an architectural ledge or in a niche, the tabletop can be thrown on the windowsill, and the TV can be placed between the windows.
Pros and cons of combining kitchen and living room
When planning a large room, the living areas of the kitchen and living room are combined into one space.
There are advantages to the idea of combining rooms:
- space expands , the distance and speed of movement around the room at the time of receiving guests decreases;
- it is permissible to set aside a corner for a pantry;
- convenient to watch children;
- design innovation;
- the room becomes bright , there is no need to have 2 TVs.
Disadvantages of this combination:
- smells from the kitchen part of the room spread to the living room area ;
- noise from kitchen appliances;
- Eating while watching TV contributes to weight gain;
- depending on the layout of the walls, legislative norms prohibit the redevelopment of rooms ;
- To avoid the spread of unpleasant odors, you will have to spend money on an exhaust hood.
Before redevelopment, you must consult with a specialist from the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation.
When combining a kitchen and a living room, you need to take care of a high-quality hood
Features of design in a private house
The staircase is the first thing to consider when arranging a cottage. In any other direction you would have to figure out how to disguise it, but in the loft it’s the other way around. The staircase can be made the main architectural accent by highlighting it with black railings up to the ceiling or by installing a dining table opposite it.
The fireplace or stove, along with the chimney pipe, should also be highlighted - in fact, this element is considered classic for industrial, because in factory pavilions it was the main method of eco-heating.
And the last thing is going outside. Doors will not clash with the design of the room if you choose black frames and transparent glass for them. You can support the theme with glass partitions or other accessories (tire lights, black metal shelves).
Decor
In the loft, you can use furniture from a variety of styles to fill the space of the kitchen-living room. It acts as a determinant of the zoning of the room. To unload the room, you need to exclude or reduce the amount of lighting, furniture, and decor.
If there is a load-bearing wall in the living room, then a sofa is placed near it or opposite the kitchen. It will separate the kitchen space from the living room.
A set of furniture is added to the living room one detail at a time: one armchair, a sofa, a guest table, a floor lamp. A place for cooking is left in the kitchen, the main table is moved to the living room, and upholstered furniture is placed nearby.
Decorative elements to suit the owner’s taste will emphasize the originality of the interior
Decorative elements to suit the owner's taste will emphasize the originality of the interior.
Suitable for decor in both zones:
- advertising posters, graffiti;
- newspaper clippings in a chaotic order;
- photography in noir style;
- paintings and signs;
- decorative pillows.
Warm lighting will make the room feel lively and cozy. To increase comfort, floor lamps and wall lamps are used. Lighting is hidden or controlled by automatic switches.
Beautiful design examples
Do you still think that there is no loft without brick? It also happens: concrete walls, smoothly turning into the ceiling - what is not the embodiment of industrial design?
The photo shows concrete wall decoration
For those who do not want to have a dark kitchen-living room and therefore refuse this style, here are examples of bright and light interiors. They look completely different, but both belong to the loft style.
And finally - white headsets! The embodiment of glamorous industrial - white gloss, red brick and, of course, a leather sofa in a Capiton screed.
There is no “right” or “wrong” in the industrial style - have fun decorating the kitchen-living room in the loft style, then the main room of the house will definitely look spectacular!
Color palette
The loft style palette depends on the finishing materials used to decorate the room: gray, brown, black, white. Subdued tones set the basic color scheme. They began to be diluted with inclusions of inserts: lemon, pistachio, turquoise.
Accent - bright poster
Accents in the kitchen can be not only bright furniture details, but also equipment in optimistic tones.
Refrigerator - a bright accent
Textiles, dishes and decorative elements
Coatings and decorative elements are precisely those parts that fully reflect the style. As with furniture, the direction you should focus on is natural materials with a natural structure. You shouldn’t limit yourself to pastel shades; bright colors found in nature will help break up a monotonous interior.
Without decoration, the home will resemble an old abandoned room. Living plants, wooden decorations and natural textiles will help breathe life into the interior
When choosing textiles (curtains, towels, potholders, aprons), preference should be given to natural materials - linen or cotton. A good and practical choice would be roller blinds or blinds made from natural materials, such as wood and bamboo.
Instead of ordinary curtains, it is better to hang roller blinds made of natural bamboo on the windows.
Dishes can be from different sets, made of different styles and materials. Ceramics, enamel, wood, glass will reflect the style well.
To illuminate the room, you can hang lamps that resemble flower buds
The presence of plants is welcome and allows you to reflect the mood of the style. Climbing plants are especially relevant, as well as those that require a minimum of care and are generally unpretentious.
Floor decoration
For finishing the floor, the ideal option would be the same concrete, but it is quite cold and inhospitable to bare feet. To combat this problem, you can use homespun rugs or go the other way, using a wooden or self-leveling floor.
Both of these options involve the use of the simplest materials in light shades without pronounced patterns.
Textile
In a kitchen with an industrial design, curtains are not required; an abundance of light is one of the necessary conditions for creating a high-quality design.
Where curtains are still necessary, curtains made from natural fabrics of straight cut and without patterns are used. Practical roller blinds and blinds are perfect. They will perfectly recreate the factory style.
The upholstery of chairs or sofas is selected to match the curtains. The floor can be decorated with an unusual homemade carpet.
Walls, floors and ceilings for kitchens in eco-style
The main rule that should be followed when finishing is the maximum use of natural or unprocessed building materials.
It is permissible to combine different types of surfaces in wall decoration
Loft classics - raw brick, rough plastered walls. In some cases, it is possible to paint the walls, finish the covering with balsa wood or wood and stone. The kitchen apron must be made of wear-resistant material. Ceramic tiles, stone, glass are the best options. The finishing of the ceiling is not much different from the usual version - plaster and whitewash or upholstery with wooden panels. Suspended ceilings are not permitted.
It is better to cover the floor with natural wood, but you can also use ceramic tiles with electric heating
Window frames, baseboards, floor coverings, and doors are usually made of wood. The door may not be made of solid wood, but with glass inserts.
Mirror to visually increase space
A common problem: even after removing partitions and walls where possible, there is still not enough space for the chosen style. A loft requires the largest possible amount of free space, but in a standard apartment with small ceilings, even after removing all possible partitions, there is not enough space in standard apartments. We have to look for tricks that will make the room larger, at least visually. One such technique is large mirrors that occupy part of a wall or cabinet and create the impression of additional space.
The mirror can be hung above the kitchen table, thereby highlighting the dining area
Another option is a mirror partition, which will reflect the light from the ceiling lamp
