Kitchen-niche is a relatively new concept in the interior designer environment. As practice shows, not everyone understands the same thing. Someone believes that both the balcony can make the kitchen area and call it a niche, someone is ready to sacrifice the storeroom for the kitchen device. However, there is a clear definition of what kitchen-niche is.
What it is?
In accordance with the standards of kitchen-niche, it is customary called non-residential premises in which washing and stove are present . The minimum area of this premises should be 5 m2. The smaller the useful area of the apartment, the more profitable to organize the kitchen zone of this type in it. Most often, this type of kitchen is equipped in studios or one-bedroom apartments. However, due to the small occupied area, the kitchen-niche enjoys well-deserved popularity in multi-room housing. In the houses of the old planning niche was provided directly in the construction process.
Advantages and disadvantages
Like any other interior solution, a niche with a kitchen area has both pros and cons. Undoubted advantages include the following:
- Savings of the apartment area, as there is no dining area in niche;
- The ability to place the "kitchen" in the place where it is dark in the storage room or in the corridor, since the kitchen is not so basic insolation and light-resistant partitions;
- Possibility in the room provided by the project for the kitchen, place another room.
In addition, there are several flaws.
- High likelihood of difficulties to correct air circulation and ventilation.
- It is not easy to sum up engineering communications.
- The absence of natural light (accordingly will have to use electricity).
- In accordance with SNIPM and SanPines, it is possible to install only an electric stove in the kitchen-niche. Gas stoves are prohibited here.
Where to place?
There are rules and norms where it is possible, and where it is impossible to place the kitchen-niche zone. The placement is possible only in the area provided for by the project for the kitchen room, or in a non-residential room (corridor, pantry). As for the living rooms, it is excluded in them to accommodate the kitchen corner. This also applies to wet points. - Toilet, bathroom or combined bathroom. Also are completely excluded for kitchen arrangement balcony and loggia.
BTI believes that The kitchen in the apartment is located where there is a stove and sink. Accordingly, when planning a kitchen corner in Niche, these 2 "pillar" should stand in a non-residential part. As for the refrigerator and dishwasher, they can accommodate in residential rooms. The kitchen in the niche should be located in such a way that it occupy 5 m2, while residential premises remained intact. The exit from the kitchen room should not lead to a room equipped with a toilet (both joint bathroom and toilet).
Situations in which the kitchen is equipped in niche
Not every apartment needs a similar designer decision. Apartments of a new layout with spacious rooms and rooms allow you to equip a large island kitchen. As for the studios or freely planned apartments, there such design solutions will be very weltering, since the kitchen room in the plan is provided, and in fact it is included in the overall residential space. Also, such things are equipped in apartments where redevelopment is made.
The kitchen turns out to be in the corridor or pantry, and at the expense of the kitchen room, the area of other rooms is expanding. Should consider that The redevelopment will have to be coordinated in all the instances for this, and will also have to sum up the relevant communications, which can cause certain difficulties.
Soviet times presented the experimental houses with apartments in which the kitchen and the living room were connected through handouts, as in the dining room. In such a layout, the kitchen space was in a rather dark room without windows and, of course, needed additional artificial lighting.
But it was not necessary to think how to beat the peculiarity of such a layout, because the communications were already summed upwards, and the design was quite defined.
No special differences in the kitchen-living room there. We can say that One is a particular case of another. When the kitchen and living room are combined in the redevelopment process, it turns out a kitchen niche within the living room. In all other cases when For the arrangement of the niche kitchen area, the room is selected, not adjacent from the living room, we are talking about the usual kitchen in a niche.
How to improve arrangement and coordinate redevelopment?
The urban apartment is rich in places where you can arrange the kitchen-niche. Such documents, as SNiP and Sanpin are adamant, without leaving space for maneuvers. In no case is your kitchen zone, whether it is direct, angular or even built-in, should not impede or completely overlap the outlet outlet. These are the requirements of fire standards and rules.
You are lucky if the apartment in which redevelopment is produced is on the first floor. The same applies to apartments under which the technical floor is located. Here you can equip the kitchen in the place in which you want it, because you will not be flooded with anyone.
Kitchen-niche in the apartment is "Khrushchev" - the option is almost impossible, because in such a layout there are no so wide storage or corridors, where you could "enter" 5 kitchen squares. Installation in the kitchen-niche of the gas boiler will not be aligned, as it does not allow it to. It is important to take into account that For the arrangement on the territory of a former kitchen of any room, the kitchen should not have an area of less than 9 m2.
In addition to this requirement, the apartment must have a different living room of more than 9 m2 square. If we are talking about redevelopment of a one-room apartment, the only room should be an area of 14 m2 or more.
If you transfer the kitchen area outside the place allocated in terms of it, it must be allocated to the specifications. The admission of SRO is the fact that the organization should have, which will give conclusion about the legality and permissibility of redevelopment.
Design options
To take into account all the nuances and place in a small size niche, everything is necessary, it is better to order her design from professionals. They will work so that it will satisfy you aesthetically, and also do not violate the current norms and rules relating to the improvement of ventilation, summing up communications, lighting and everything else. So that the niche is not clogged and is littered with unnecessary details, It is recommended to adhere to minimalism.
Yes, the kitchen area should be combined with the common style of the apartment, especially the squares adjacent to it, however, should not forget that there are only 5-6 square meters of the area at your disposal. It is necessary to use them as rational as possible by organizing the working area in such a way that you can comfortably cook.
Designers in the process of developing the design of the kitchen area will take into account all the little things, even your height. To make it convenient to get different accessories from lockers, without climbing each time the stepladder, you need to place the shelves and hinged cabinets at the level of growth. The kitchen in the niche can be both angular and straight - it depends on the type of niche and its location in the apartment. "Corner" can be as "classic", that is, the letter r, and have a P-shaped form, if the niche is rather deep and allows such a layout.
If the apartment is small, and the ceilings in it are low, no extra partitions. You can restrict ourselves to the branch of the niche from the room with a curtain, screen or thin sliding door.
For the features of the kitchen-niche, see the next video.