Clients often ask me how to make a living room and an open kitchen feel coherent - like one space rather than two. Here are five tricks for joining those two functions, shown through our Pastelowa Oaza project.
Pastelowa Oaza - the Pastel Oasis, as we named it - is 65 square metres we designed for a family of three: a couple with a three-year-old daughter. They like spending time together, cooking, hosting and lingering at the table. They love natural materials, wood, stone, beiges, greys and pastels.
The clients were set on a comfortable kitchen with plenty of storage, a kitchen island and a table for four. In the living area, besides a sofa and coffee table, we also had to find room for a work-from-home corner.
A kitchen in minimalist form
We designed the kitchen with generous worktops and a sizeable island. It was built by joiners to our drawings and specification. The cabinetry itself is lacquered MDF in a matt, warm beige. We hunted for the perfect shade - not too yellow, not too grey. We landed on NCS S 2005-Y50R.
Although the cabinetry is very simple in form, the cherry on top are the T-BAR GRAF MINI knobs from Skandynawskie Uchwyty. Details like these are jewellery for cabinet fronts - their distinctive crossed diamond pattern lends the whole thing a certain refinement. Gold runs through the kitchen: the tap, the knobs, the fittings on the lighting.
The worktops and splashback are Technistone Cristal Polare White quartz. Its neutral tone lets the beige fronts come forward, with the quartz acting as a safe backdrop. That gives a sense of clean form and coherence in a piece as large as a fitted kitchen.
- Fronts: lacquered MDF, matt, NCS S 2005-Y50R
- Carcasses: Kronospan K003 PW laminate, Gold Craft Oak
- Worktops and splashback: Technistone Cristal Polare White quartz
- Knobs: T-BAR GRAF MINI, Skandynawskie Uchwyty
- Floor: oak, Hungarian herringbone, cut at 60 degrees
Trick 1. End the run of cabinetry with something that doesn't read as kitchen
The first trick is to finish the run of cabinetry with a glazed cabinet or a bookcase. It softens the transition from kitchen to living room. In Pastelowa Oaza we designed a tall display cabinet for ceramics and glass, reachable from the seating side. Its form and material echo the other cabinetry in the room.
Trick 2. Push the short side of the table against the island
A kitchen island is very often the piece our clients dream of - extra worktop, plus cupboards and drawers for storage. But in smaller flats there isn't always room for one. Our solution: push the short side of the table up against the island. It saves space and puts the table at the very centre of the home. And the table, as we all know, is the heart of the house.
For this project we chose a beautiful solid oak table from Woodica. Above it hang three modernist glass globes with gold fittings, marking out this important spot in the home.
Trick 3. Hide the appliances in the cabinetry
A fridge, a dishwasher or an extractor are not things you necessarily want to look at from the comfort of the sofa. So it is worth hiding them behind cabinet fronts. Seen from the living room, you then get a calm wall of furniture rather than a row of appliances.
Trick 4. One floor across the whole living area
The fourth trick is a single floor in both the living room and the kitchen. Across the whole living area we specified a wooden floor in Hungarian herringbone, with the staves cut at 60 degrees. The same material throughout makes the room feel optically larger but, more importantly, it stops the space being visually chopped into zones.
The warm tone of the oak herringbone also sits beautifully with the beige, the pastel chair upholstery and the pink sofa.
Trick 5. Repeat the colour of the cabinetry
The fifth move we use to bring a living room and open kitchen together is repeating the colour of the cabinetry. You can see it clearly here: the kitchen fronts are the same shade of beige as the TV unit. The media unit connects to the desk and, together with the wood-effect slats, forms the work zone. Above the desk hangs a fluted-front cabinet with an LED strip built into its underside, lighting the desktop evenly.
The whole thing reads as genuinely harmonious. Because the unit under the television is wall-hung, the run of cabinet and desk looks light despite its considerable size. And the roomy cupboards are excellent storage for both media kit and office supplies.
The seating area
In the seating area it is the pink corner sofa that draws the eye. Above it hang two beautiful collages by the artist Aleksandra Morawiak, framed in minimalist gold. Black elements complete the arrangement: the track lighting and the frame of the Amsterdam coffee table from take me HOME.
The result we and our clients were after has been achieved. In its pastel register the interior is timeless, and the functional solutions we used were tailored to the people who live here. Bright, luminous colours, an oak floor, soft velvet fabrics - all of it means our clients feel genuinely good in this space.
Five tricks for joining a living room and an open kitchen - a proven recipe for a living area that is both beautiful and functional.
Design and styling: Duet Studio