Increasingly, design magazines and articles mention the so-called studio apartments, there are special recommendations for their design and even advice on turning standard apartments into housing of such a non-standard format. A logical question arises: what is a studio apartment and how does it differ from an ordinary one-room apartment?
In none of the regulatory documents regulating building codes and regulations, you will find the concept of "studio apartment", so it cannot be clearly defined. However, this type of housing, which appeared in the 20s of the twentieth century in America, and in the 90s already in the USSR, has a set of characteristic features that make it possible to get a fairly clear idea of what a studio apartment looks like.
The main features of the studio apartment
So, a studio, or a studio apartment, is easy to recognize thanks to its following features:
- The area is not divided into isolated rooms - there are practically no partitions in an apartment of this format, except for the bathroom.
- Bearing walls are located around the perimeter of the apartment.
- Most often, studio apartments are quite modest in size, although there are elite apartments of a very impressive area and even two-level options.
A studio apartment is not just a large space in which there are no isolated rooms. Her territory divided into functional areas using color, finishes, mobile partitions, furniture or other design techniques.
It turns out that all studio apartments can be divided into 3 types:
- Small apartments, the total area of which starts from 19 square meters. m, related to economy class housing. Designed for single people, students, couples without children with a limited budget.
- Large, sometimes even huge apartments, where the absence of capital partitions between functional areas is dictated not by saving space and the desire to reduce the cost of housing, but by fashion trends. Such housing is acquired by people who strive to always be in trend, as well as individuals leading a creative lifestyle.
- Typical apartments that have survived redevelopment and demolition, or at least partial dismantling of internal partitions. When deciding on such a step, the owners are usually guided by the desire or need to expand the free space or personal design preferences.
Pros and cons of a studio apartment
Like any housing, a studio apartment has its advantages and disadvantages. Both those and others may be insignificant for someone, but for someone they will become a determining factor when choosing an apartment for permanent residence.
Advantages of a studio apartment:
- Lots of natural light and free space. Even in a very small studio it will be more spacious than in a simple one-room apartment of a similar area, and the absence of blank partitions will ensure the flow of light from the windows.
- Increase in useful space due to inclusion in the usable area of the corridor.
- Ease of movement around the apartment, not limited by doors and openings.
- Ability to reconfigure zones to meet specific needs. For example, you can quickly expand the dining area for the arrival of guests by simply rearranging the furniture.
- Good acoustics, which will be appreciated by professional musicians and people who have a weakness for surround and high-quality sound when listening to music.
- Ample opportunities in the field of interior design of the apartment.
The spacious room allows you to not limit yourself when choosing a style.
The disadvantages of a studio apartment, which, with an objective approach, are no less than advantages:
- This accommodation is not suitable for families with more than 2 people. Even one child over 5 needs their own space.With great love for the free layout of a studio apartment, a compromise option can be implemented with living room combined with kitchenbut with separate bedrooms.
- A kitchen that is not separated from the living space can create certain inconveniences: smells and noise during cooking spread more freely throughout the apartment.
- Lack of privacy. Even if you live in an apartment only with your other half, one of you may have a need to be alone. Partially, this problem is solved with the help of screens or mobile partitions.
- The bathroom is usually small in size, forcing you to abandon the bath in favor of a shower.
- Redevelopment of an ordinary apartment into a studio entails certain difficulties and large financial expenses. Most likely, it will be necessary to lay all communications according to a new scheme, starting with heating wiring and ending with ventilation.
When redevelopment of housing is required to obtain permission from the relevant services. In the case when the internal walls of the apartment are load-bearing, no one will give you such permission, which means that it will not work to convert it into a studio.
Who is the studio apartment for?
A studio apartment can attract the attention of completely different people, but most often it is chosen:
- People of creative professions, gravitating towards free space and the same free lifestyle.
- Young people who often throw parties and host a large number of guests.
- Lonely people - for one person, such housing will be even more comfortable and convenient than a standard one-room apartment.
- Young married couples without children or with a small child under 5 years old. In the second case, the absence of partitions provides every minute supervision of the baby without interruption from household chores.
- Entrepreneurs involved in the rental of real estate. Studio apartments located in resort areas are especially popular.
Turning an ordinary apartment into a studio
How to make a studio apartment from an ordinary apartment with one or more rooms? The algorithm of actions will look like this:
- Collection of documents, obtaining permission for redevelopment, project approval.
- Demolition of partitions between rooms. Let's allow partial dismantling of interior walls. Partitions in the apartment, limiting the bathroom and toilet, remain in place or are transferred.
- Thinking over the location of functional areas.
Note! There are certain restrictions on the transfer of the stove, the “wet zone”, plumbing fixtures, keep this in mind when thinking through the redevelopment of the apartment.
- The choice of the style of a studio apartment and the development of a design project, which includes, in addition to zoning, the choice of color scheme, interior items, finishing materials, and the correct organization of lighting. We must not forget about thinking through the location of communications, sockets, electrical wiring.
Design features of a studio apartment
A competent and harmonious design of a studio apartment is not an easy task, which means that it is highly advisable to entrust its solution to a specialist, since possible design errors will always be in your mind and can cost you dearly. In any case, it is worth paying attention to a few tips that will help equip the studio.
- A small studio apartment can be expanded by adding an insulated balcony or loggia, moving the partition separating the bathroom.
- In an apartment with high ceilings of the "highlet" format, you can equip the second floor - mezzanines, which can accommodate a bedroom or office.
- You can zone an apartment in different ways: with color, light, with the help of furniture, partitions, arches, columns, multi-level ceilings, podiums, various finishing materials.A combination of zoning methods is welcome.
- When choosing furniture for a studio apartment, it is advisable to give preference to compact modular and transforming options, multi-tiered vertical structures, wardrobes.
