Scandinavian two-room apartment with a kitchen-niche
The living area is only 40 square meters. In the original layout, the apartment was divided into a large kitchen and a living room, which served as both a living room and a bedroom. A fold-out sofa served as a bed. To get a separate room, designer Irina Nosova suggested partially moving the kitchen to the hallway area.
As a result, the one-room apartment turned into a comfortable two-room apartment with a small bedroom, which is accessed through a door with glass inserts. In the second room, the bay window was used, turning the windowsill into a wide desk. The cooking area was visually divided by tiled flooring and ceiling slats.
Two-room apartment with artificial window
The Moscow apartment of 53 square meters initially had an open plan. A young family with a four-year-old child settled here. The parents wanted the child to have his own space, but they also wanted his own bedroom to be isolated. Designer Aya Lissova managed to turn a one-room apartment into a two-room one by dividing the space into a kitchen-living room, a children’s room (14 sq. m) and a bedroom (9 sq. m).
A partition with a 2×2.5 meter frosted glass window was erected between the bedroom and the children’s room. Thus, natural daylight enters the room, and one of the doors opens for ventilation. Due to the insulated loggia and the installation of transparent doors, it was possible to expand the kitchen and arrange an additional place for relaxation.
Euro-dvushka from a one-room apartment
A 45 sq.m. apartment, designed for a kitchen and a room, was transformed from a concrete box into a comfortable space with a kitchen-living room, a bedroom and a well-thought-out storage system. Designer Victoria Vlasova managed to turn a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment in just 4 months, including approval from the BTI.
Where the kitchen used to be, they planned a bedroom, and the cooking area itself was arranged in the living room, adding part of the hallway. The supporting structure between the rooms remained intact. To make the narrow space seem wider, the designer used several techniques at once:
- Installed built-in storage systems up to the ceiling.
- Hang a wide mirror in the kitchen-living room, reflecting the space and increasing natural light.
- Used a single-color finish.
- Installed sliding doors instead of hinged ones.
Khrushchevka with a separate bedroom
The area of this apartment, which was transformed from a one-room apartment to a two-room apartment, only 34 square meters. The authors of the project are the designer Buro Brainstorm. The main advantage of this Khrushchev-era building is its corner location, thanks to which it was possible to arrange a living room, bedroom and wardrobe in the residential part. Light from three windows penetrates into each zone.
To legitimize the redevelopment, the gasified kitchen was separated from the wardrobe with a sliding partition on rails with doors. The TV was mounted on a swivel bracket so that it could be watched from anywhere in the kitchen-living room. In the bedroom, there is space for a 90 cm deep wardrobe with a mirrored front.
From a one-room apartment of 33 sq.m. to a two-room apartment
The owner of the apartment always dreamed of a separate bedroom with a window, and designer Nikita Zub managed to fulfill the young girl’s wish. He decided to swap the kitchen and bedroom, allocating space for a wardrobe. The redevelopment of a one-room apartment into a two-room one was done without any bureaucratic red tape – there is a non-residential ground floor underneath it, and there is no gas supply in the new building.
A bar counter was made in the kitchen, separating the cooking area from the living area. Kitchen furniture was placed along opposite walls – there were two work surfaces and plenty of storage space. The facades were chosen to be glossy and reflective of light.
A two-room apartment for a bachelor
A connoisseur of simplicity and functionality and a lover of large companies asked designers Diana Karnaukhova and Victoria Karyakina from MAKEdesign to create an interior with a large kitchen, living room and separate bedroom. The area of the one-room apartment is 44 sq.m.
A small bedroom with a window was separated from the kitchen-living room by matte sliding partitions and a brick wall, preserving privacy and not sacrificing too much living room space. The interior turned out to be minimalist due to simple and clear lines, as well as a well-thought-out storage system. The monotony of the decor was diluted with natural materials: brick and wood.
Two-room apartment with a compact kitchen
According to the developers’ plan, the 51 sq.m. apartment was divided into a huge kitchen and a narrow room with a sloping wall. Designer Natalia Shirokorad suggested that the owner use the meters of the unjustifiably large kitchen differently and allocate another room.
An internal window was made between the kitchen and the bedroom to let daylight into the room. The large balcony was insulated and a dressing room was placed there, separated from the room by French doors. The living room was divided into a dining room and a sofa. Despite the small size of the kitchen, it turned out to be functional – with cabinets up to the ceiling and a dishwasher. The dining area also has a designated work area.
One-room apartment for 4 people
A well-designed layout, developed by designer Olga Podolskaya, was decisive in creating a new interior for a large and friendly family – mom, dad and two children. The area of the apartment is 41 sq.m. After remodeling a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment, a niche for the parents’ bed and a small children’s room appeared in it.
The bedroom area for adults was fenced off with thick drapery. The dining area was moved into the living room, where a small sofa and an armchair were placed. Wardrobes with mirrored fronts and a chest of drawers serve as closed storage systems. The washing machine and wardrobe are in the hallway.
In the small children’s room, which was carved out by reducing the kitchen, a bunk bed and tables for studying were installed. Two boys, aged two and three and a half, live in it.
A two-room apartment from a one-room apartment in a P-44 series building
Remodeling apartments in this series requires a lot of effort and money, since the wall separating the kitchen and the room bears the load of the ceiling. Therefore, designer Zhanna Studentsova designed an apartment with an area of 37.5 sq. m. as simply as possible, by dividing the room with a textile partition.
A room for an elderly woman combines a living room and a bedroom, but zoning creates the effect of private space.
If a family with a child lives in a one-room apartment, a loft bed would be the ideal solution. The second floor will serve as a sleeping area, and the free area below will be a study.
Here are a few more examples of redeveloping a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment without demolishing a load-bearing wall. Architects suggest erecting a partition from plasterboard, but one room will remain without light, and the additional opening in the load-bearing wall will have to be reinforced and approved. If you are not satisfied with the presence of a dark room, you can install a light wall made of frosted glass between the bedroom and the living room. Another option is a slatted partition that does not reach the end of the wall.
A two-room apartment from a tiny one-room apartment
The task facing designer Polina Anikeeva was not an easy one – to make two separate spaces out of an elongated 13.5 sq. m. room. All that was in it before the renovation were two small windows, broken walls, two large niches and two ledges.
The color scheme helped to visually enlarge the windows: the window openings and piers were painted white, and curtains were abandoned. The narrow room was divided by two IKEA wardrobes, which created a bedroom, a living room and two places for storing clothes. The zones were divided with different colors.
A 44-square-meter one-room apartment converted into a two-room apartment
Designer Anna Krutova designed this apartment for herself and her husband. The owners tore down the existing walls and built new ones, getting two rooms. They left only the wet areas in place, added a loggia, and set aside part of the kitchen for a bedroom.
The living room has everything you need: a study, a dining area, a TV on a bracket, and a sofa. The walls are painted white to optically expand the space. The kitchen is in a niche, but thanks to the sunny side and a large window, it does not seem dark.
Unusual two-room apartment with a rotating wall
The owner of a one-room apartment of 64 sq. m. wanted it to have a dining room, study, living room and bedroom in addition to the kitchen. The designers of the Gradiz studio solved this problem in an unusual way: in the center of the room they installed a partition that can be rotated around its axis.
Shelves for storing things appeared inside the structure, and there is a place for a TV on it. The result is a separate small bedroom with a full-size bed and mirrored wardrobes, a room for receiving guests, and an office hidden behind thick textile curtains.
Two-room apartment 50 sq.m. from a one-room apartment
Designer Natalia Shirokorad placed a very compact work surface at the entrance to the former kitchen. The living room was zoned into a TV and dining area, expanding the space with the help of mirrors. The owner of the apartment rarely cooks, so the small kitchen was not a problem. But we managed to allocate a separate spacious bedroom with a wardrobe.
Two-room apartment 43 sq.m.
The owner of the one-room apartment, a young girl, likes to receive guests, but needed a bedroom closed off from prying eyes. By adding a loggia, designer Anna Modjaro managed to fit not only two rooms into this space, but also a dressing room.
Two wardrobes were placed in the apartment – one in the bedroom, taking up the entire wall, the other in the hallway. The door to the bedroom was disguised with artistic painting. The open space was supported by light-colored walls and identical tiles on the floor and in the hallway.
When remodeling a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment, you need to consider not only the needs of all family members, but also the possibility of remodeling, which must be approved by the BTI. The photos and project diagrams provided in the article prove that, thanks to an arsenal of design ideas, you can turn a cramped space into a comfortable and functional one.