The importance of good design in planning process

The layout of the apartment is a defining stage in the remodeling of the old apartment, the improvement of the new apartment. A design project, ordered by a specialist, will facilitate the repair. Before you start replanning, study the possible options, listen to the recommendations of experts. And today we’ll look at the importance of design when planning!

Types

Currently, the housing market offers the following types of apartments:

• standard;
• improved;
• Modern.

    Each variety is subject to the interests of its time and has its own characteristics, which are determined by the size, functionality, and number of household members.

Standard

These apartments first appeared in 1968: they were built until 2005 in 5-, 9-, 12-storey panel and brick buildings. Unlike their predecessors, they have a convenient layout, inherent bay windows, art finishing. They are 1-4 room apartments with separate bathrooms, ceiling height of 2.5-2.8 meters, a spacious kitchen, loggias, built-in closets and pantries. Windows in such apartments are often located on two sides.

Superior

These apartments appeared in 1977 and were built until 2006. They are characterized by panel, block or brick houses with 9, 12, or 16 floors. The standard height of the ceiling of such apartments does not exceed 2.5 m, their typical series are characterized by isolated layout of rooms, which may be 1, 2, 3, 4. The peculiarities of such apartments are a separate WC, a loggia 1.4-1.5 m deep, built-in closets and mezzanine. The windows of the rooms may face different sides of the house.

Modern

Apartments built in 1996 and later are considered modern. Their construction is very extensive, which depends on the regions and the premium class of housing. Classic variants are designed for 1, 2, 3, 4 rooms, they are characterized by a large space of each room (residential and nonresidential type). The ceiling height in such apartments is usually 2.8 m, although in the earlier buildings it did not exceed 2.5 m. The bathroom is spacious and separate, with an individual approach to construction it may be made combined, making one large toilet room.

In addition to standard and typical solutions, which include “small family” today are particularly popular non-standard approaches to the layout. These include varieties with a free, circular, corner, Czech, European layout, as well as “butterfly” and “plouffer”. Unlike the old layouts, they do not have the air of heaviness inherent in small-sized layouts. They can be one-, two-, three-, four- or five-bedroom apartments, while still being comfortable.

    The original layout is the studio apartment. It is open: all rooms are united together except for the bathroom. This creates more space, and the arrangement is subject to the principle of zoning, where each section of space has its own purpose.

Design in The Layout

• Despite the fact that all the layouts are different, different in terms of square footage and perspective, they are individual. Each type of layout, including linear, is subject to the rules of the established regulations, which prohibit the demolition of bearing walls, the placement of “wet” areas with the risk of leaks in areas where the neighbors below are living rooms. Each apartment has a scheme with the location of the rooms, their size, features of construction, indicating the cadastral number.

• Features of the layout are protrusions, niches, built-in shelving, podiums, changing the height of the ceiling, columns. Other nuances of the premises include beveled perspective: often at the entrance to the apartment, you can see beveled walls, giving the space a triangular shape. This is extremely uncomfortable and prevents the arrangement of furniture, gives the room a feeling of entering a tunnel. The same can be said about narrow corridors and tiny hallways: they often lead to similarly narrow rooms, located perpendicularly, which can not go without attention in the arrangement of housing.

• Sometimes during construction the technology is not observed, so you can see a clear curvature of the walls: they can be skewed in height, differ in width and length of the two opposite. The disadvantages include the floors, which, starting from the entrance door, are poured at different levels. Aligning them, often the height of the ceiling is visually reduced. In other dwellings from the front door is noticeable slope of the floor: it looks like a hill.

• The problem, spoiling the appearance of the rooms are narrow doorways, arches and doors that are uncomfortable even by the opening side. This execution visually makes any room look like a cage with limited space. Particularly affected are people who are overweight: the minimum width of doorways can be 70 cm. Often the cause of internal imbalance is the height of the arches, which visually makes the ceiling look squat.

• All the features of each particular apartment, indicated in the scheme or visual, require a careful approach to a harmonious arrangement. It is important to create an atmosphere of home comfort, so the housemates do not feel the stress associated with incorrect and ill-conceived layout. It is important to turn the shortcomings of the rooms to their advantages, especially if it is not possible to demolish them. Today, the basis of any layout is space: this is what needs to be demonstrated through design.

Principles of Harmony in Design

Often at the first glance it becomes clear what needs to be done in a given apartment, taking into account its layout. Usually it is immediately clear whether it is worthy of purchase or not. The choice is made on the basis of the amount of work, the area, not forgetting the number of rooms and tenants, their gender and age. There are several design rules that allow you to give the apartment a luxurious appearance and cozy atmosphere.

Lighting

Whatever the square footage of each room, it is necessary to recreate the level of lighting, as close to natural daylight as possible. Often having been in rooms with small window openings located on the north side, natural light hits the eyes.

    This means that you need to create the right level: the lack of light makes the room uncomfortable and causes a depressed state. It is made up for through composite lighting: you need to use ceiling fixtures, wall sconces, lamps, floor varieties.

Where there is no possibility to place massive lighting, it is worth resorting to the method of stylists, placing spot LED lights around the perimeter of the room. Since they are different direct light flux and cannot illuminate every corner of the space, they should be used in the number of pieces, directing the lamps so that the light did not strike the eyes, but at the same time provided the proper level of light. You can fix them on the ceiling, walls, furniture. Each such bulb is different in power and light output temperature, which is expressed in Kelvin with an indication of the degree of heat. Choose warm light: yellow light will create tension in the room, cold light will develop depression.

Bottom Line

A popular trend of the last decade, which was reflected in the concept of designers, was the unification and expansion of space. Modern planning solutions take this trend into account. It manifests itself in a free layout of the rooms, combining separate zones. And we hope that today in this article, you found out why it is still so important to design the layout of the apartment or house and why you should do it.