Living Room Into Bedroom

Living Room Into Bedroom

It Can Work: When Your Living Room Is Your Bedroom

Find out how dwellers in 5 studio apartments combine functions in a single room

It's the perpetual design challenge for a studio apartment: how to create an appealing living space that feels cozy, comfortable and not cramped. Each of these five studio apartments accomplishes that in its own way. We're not talking about penthouse lofts — none is larger than 550 square feet. And though Murphy beds and fold-outs can be great options, we focus on studios in which dwellers have found creative ways to conceal, divide or showcase a standard bed in a living space.

1. Put It All Out There

Who lives here: Kristy Degina and her two Chihuahuas, Spike and Little One
Location: Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles
Studio size: 550 square feet (51.1 square meters)

Instead of hiding her bed in a corner or behind a piece of furniture, designer Kristy Degina made it a centerpiece of her room design. "Hotel rooms don't try to hide the bed. Rather, they make it the focal point," she says. "Once I moved the bed front and center and got rid of the bookcases, the room really opened up and gave me enough wall space for the fireplace," she says.

Part of the design's success lies in its cohesiveness, like that of a chic hotel room, with clean lines, high-contrast colors and oversize furniture dominating both the sleeping and living areas. "One of the biggest mistakes people make is to fill a small space with small furniture. That actually makes it feel smaller," Degina says.

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2. Divide and Conquer

Who lives here: Molly Torres and Harry Portnof
Location: Midtown Manhattan
Studio size : 520 square feet (48.3 square meters)

It might go against our design intuition, but floating furniture is a way to make better use of space. It's an especially good solution for a studio if you have limited wall space, minimal storage and want the feeling of distinct rooms rather than having everything out in the open together.

3. Master the Screen

Who lives here: Chris Nguyen
Location: Montrose neighborhood of Houston
Studio size : 450 square feet (41.8 square meters)

Chris Nguyen also broke up his living and sleeping areas, but instead of a solid piece of furniture, he used a retractable

projector screen

. Pulled down, the screen divides the room; rolled up, it opens up the space. Nguyen can project videos onto the screen from the bed side or the living room side of the room.

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4. Keep it Monochromatic

Who lives here: Designer Jane Brown
Location: Bellevue Hill area of Sydney
Studio size : 538 square feet (50 square meters)

It might seem like a lot of work to commit to an all-white apartment, but in this Australian space it feels cozy and comfy. Plus, with everything matching the walls, the eye doesn't linger too long on any one element. Instead of feeling like a bedroom and a living room combined, it simply appears to be a clean, airy living space.

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5. Direct the Eye

Who lives here: A professional woman in her 30s who works in Manhattan and loves fashion and shoes
Location: Hoboken, New Jersey
Studio size : 500 square feet (46.5 square meters)

Designer Marina Cheban's primary layout goal for this studio apartment in New Jersey — in which the kitchen opens to the living area — was to get the bed as far away as possible from the kitchen.

She nestled the bed in the corner opposite the kitchen. The living area sits between the two, almost as a floating island, and is the first thing people see when they enter the apartment. The large sofa and credenza dominate the space, directing the eye to the center of the room rather than to the bed, which is also shielded from view by an armoire.

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Living Room Into Bedroom

Source: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/it-can-work-when-your-living-room-is-your-bedroom-stsetivw-vs~92770858