Pom's ideas
Build in bespoke storageIf there’s one thing Houzzers really love, it’s a clever storage solution, and no fewer than six of the images in this round-up feature built-in pantry cupboards. This tall unit is a lovely example of bespoke cabinetry packed with clever storage options, from slim shelves inside the door for herbs and spices, to deeper shelves for dry goods and neat baskets for organising fruit and vegetables. The dark grey exterior paint is neatly on-trend, particularly when teamed with white cupboards elsewhere in the kitchen for a ‘mix-and-match’ effect.Read about the trend for mix-and-match cupboards
Here’s what you had to say“Open-plan kitchens get my vote. From experience, they tend to be more sociable spaces and allow the family to come together in a single room (parents can be cooking and kids doing homework etc). I’ve opened up a few kitchens in my time and it’s surprising how often clients tell me it’s changed the way they use their house.”N7 Design Studio
Could any of these arguments make you reconsider your renovation plans? Let us know which side of the fence you’re on in the Comments below.
“With two teenage sons, a fully open ground floor wouldn’t work for us. So while I like the look of open-plan, sometimes it can be more practical to have separate living areas. We do have an open kitchen-dining-living area, which is great for entertaining and having the whole family in, but they still each have their own areas (albeit compact!) to retreat to. Two of our other rooms have double doors, which can be opened out to create nearly a fully open ground floor though – maybe the best of both worlds!”rmmul
Above the kitchen is the bedroom, which can be accessed through a hatch in the ceiling.
The gold-painted border that frames the wallpaper is an example of the quirky ideas that emerged along the way.“Here I just thought, ‘What goes well with the dark colours?’ Well, gold does!” the owner says, pointing out that, as a whole, the renovation has not turned out very differently from what he originally had in mind.See how to bring your home alive with a vertical garden
The kitchen is a mix of expensive materials and bargains. The kitchen cabinets are from Ikea, while the countertop is made of Corian with a built-in sink and flush hotplate; the backsplash is made of copper. The refrigerator is hidden behind a cabinet door.“Overall, I think I’m good at combining materials that are not necessarily costly and spicing them up with expensive details, so the finished result is gorgeous and unique,” Bjørnberg Hansen says.The dining table is made of old Indonesian ship planks, purchased in the Dutch store One World Interiors, while the dark, leather-textured wallpaper was purchased at Rue Verte in Copenhagen.
Opening to the bedroom, the bathroom has a large shower of 90 x 120 centimetres, the frame of which was made by the same artisan metalworker who made the glass wall. Visually, its boundaries are marked by a niche in waxed concrete, which includes storage space for the towels. The tile looks like natural stone and continues the theme of natural materials. On the wall, there is only one large tile which enhances the illusion and gives a feeling of seamlessness.
The mezzanine is another source of light for the room: “Initially, we mounted a partition that went directly to the ceiling to separate the apartment from the office, and then we made a window at the railing level to let light in,” Lefèvre says. “But in the end we sadly realised that the room didn’t get much light from that window, which was only two metres behind the partition.”The designer therefore decided to build a mezzanine to connect the window to the room and maximise the brightness. The 5-square-metre surface of the mezzanine is not really intended to be usable, though it does accommodate an extra bed.The mezzanine also allows a break in the volume of the room. The unfinished wood frame slightly protrudes from the wall to create depth, and the railing is composed of steel bars that give a graphic look to the whole composition.
Originally, the living area (formerly a bedroom) was dark and constricted under the arches. Lowering the floor made it possible to gain 80 centimetres of ceiling height and to increase the volume of the room. The arches have also been cleared to highlight their curves.The arch above the couch is covered with gypsum and has been smoothed to give a more modern look to the room, serving as a contrast to the exposed stones. The walls now accommodate storage niches, and the dropped ceiling has lighting in the form of spotlights. “I wanted to achieve a harmonious balance between the old and the contemporary by highlighting all the original elements that I could find,” says Lefèvre.The brick arch that frames the glass wall was partly covered with cement and partly concealed in the ground. It was later cleared and highlighted by means of a light at the bottom.View thousands of living room ideas
The same choice applies to the kitchen unit, which is finished with a steel plate to provide character.The floor of the living room is lower than that of the kitchen. They dug down to remove all the backfills added over the years and to increase ceiling height in the room. The floor of the kitchen has been extended over into the living room to increase floor area, without creating a block that would have reduced the space perceived in the living area. “In this way we managed to gain a few additional square metres in the kitchen for all the necessary appliances and furnishings: a spice rack, an oven, a four-burner stove, a dishwasher under the sink and pot drawers,” says Lefèvre. This open workspace system also accommodates storage for the living room (in wooden boxes) and provides additional seating room.Three cement steps allow access to the living room below. Their texture hints at the spaces between the stones on the wall. A spotlight illuminates them and contributes to the overall lighting effects desired by the decorator.
A glass wall separates the living room from the bedroom. It was custom made by an artisan metalworker to be perfectly in sync with the arch of the apartment. “A cement base has been added to the post of the arch for aesthetic reasons and to give the impression that the pillar is old. This element highlights the character of the apartment,” says Lefèvre.The brick post on the other side of the glass wall is new and made out of materials matching those of the original arch to integrate it well with the rest of the room.
Window glass wall
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