Help with an open plan kitchen, dining and living area...

8 years ago

Hi,

We have recently rented a condo in Singapore that has a floorplan as attached. We are struggling to make the area feel homely rather than 3 seperate areas with a void inbetween. I do not think we are helped by the neutral colouring of floor, walls and ceiling but we cannot change these since it is rented. The other issue is how narrow the area is that leads to the balcony.

We are a young couple that do not entertain at home much so just really looking to create an area that feels homely. We are open to ideas and I would welcome your thoughts/advice

Thanks
Alex

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PRO

Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID

8 years ago

I would urge you to purchase a round dining table (probably 1 meter diam) just to break up all the straight lines in your apt. Use your rectangular table elsewhere as a desk. Two rugs, one for the dining area and another for the living room, will cover a lot of the concrete. They can be a solid color or a contemporary pattern or even seagrass. Mix with care.

You need a coffee table, but because it needs to fill a narrow rectangular space, I think I'd look for two small (50 cm) round tables to use in front of the sofa instead. Get a neutral, solid colored sofa, possibly black or gray, plus a coordinating chair. Place your blue chair at one end of the sofa and the other facing it from the other end. You can use end tables at each end of the sofa with table lamps, or 1 end table with lamp plus a floor lamp at other end.

Large art or wall hangings of some kind are needed on some of your walls. Don't try to put something on every wall. If you have a lot of art pieces, you can group some of them together on one wall.

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Comments (19)

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Dytecture
8 years ago
Hi, do you have any pictures of this open space and is it possible to put dimensions on the floor plan so we can get a sense of the size?
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
I am away at the moment but will be back home tomorrow and update with both dimensions and some pictures. thanks for your help :)
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David - Thanks! Appreciate that you even drew out the plan. :) You are absolutely right, it's been difficult finding an optimum layout. In fact, our current layout is more or less the same as your plan. Would you have chosen different furniture - a smaller sofa or a different dining table perhaps? (Also, I'm curious: is there a good reason why the architect had the pillar like that?) Mona - Do you mean having a buffet at the entry? I currently do have a sideboard, though it wouldn't fit at the entry - it's about 67" wide by 18" deep. It's currently placed in the middle of the long wall. There's actually still sufficient clearance between it and the 3-seater sofa in David's plan. plague - The household shelter is a local (Singapore) building requirement. Its walls are reinforced and is meant to be a shelter in times of emergency. It can't be removed, and any renovations carried out cannot affect its integrity (there is a list of permitted and prohibited works). Normally it is just used as a pantry or storeroom.
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Thanks for your comments, its great to discuss with houzers! You are so right @decoenthusiaste the view is beautiful and one reason why I chose the apartment. the room is longer than it is wide, and I wanted the kitchen/bar to be included in the seating so the attached pic is how I was planning to lay it out. @cdrdesign I can't/change the table, its a gorgeous mahogany piece I had custom made and one I see keeping for some years yet! I dont plan a TV in this room, will put it in another room. This room in for living and entertaining guests. Sorry I dont have layout software, so you will have to make do with my scribbles using powerpoint! Could really do with help on choosing the light fitting in place of the central fan- what would look nice here or should I wait till the furniture gets here to choose the light to match?
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Hi Janet, ok I originally sketched on my tab (red) as 1 BR then modified on my phone (blue) for 2Br. hope you’ll get the idea. Master’s with walk-in closet, connected bath with added door (for sharing). kept store at end, open kitchen, Living rm ok to fit a sofa with tv/media cabinet. For dining, I’m seeing to combine your work and dining table. get another similar table to combine with your 1.7 table. (or if budget allows get a long table 1 piece.) dining side you put benches and work side get a high chair. this setting becomes the main feature of your house( my idea only not a rule) the bookshelves be on 1 side and can be longer as needed. hope this brings you more ideas for your new home. cheers! arielc
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PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
8 years ago
Yes, I've never worked on a Singapore condo, so looking forward to more info!
PRO
PoshHaus
8 years ago
Want types of appliances are used there?
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
Right...here are some better attachments.

First photo is from the front door towards the balcony.
Second is from what we have as the lounge area towards the kitched
Third is of the kitchen from near the front dor
Fourth is from the space where we have the two bedroom doors and the bathroom door back into the open plan area

You will see some of our furniture already in place but we are up from getting rid of a lot of this and starting again. The only pieces I really want to keep are the plastic blue chair in the lounge and the dining table/chairs. My girlfriend wants to get rid of the red rug as she doesn't like this with the new blue chair :)

What do you think would work best? How do we make it flow better and make the best of the space?
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
Additionally here is the layout again with some measurements. Finally, you may notice Toro our cat in one of the pictures. He is the reason that we need to avoid leather furniture!
PRO
Dytecture
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hello todd192. I am in agreement about the red rug which competes with what you have. A more neutral brown tones will compliment the plastic chair which is on the bright side of blue. Another thing you can do is to switch out the 'daylight' light bulbs to a softer, warmer glow which will make the entire space less 'white'.
PRO
Vikrant Sharma Homez
8 years ago
Hi Todd, Add a Striped runner rug in the narrow passage to balcony , it will make the passage look wide .
PRO
Vikrant Sharma Homez
8 years ago
Hi Todd, Add a Striped runner rug in the narrow passage to balcony , it will make the passage look wide .
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for all you help. Some good ideas that are all headin along the lines I was thinking. How do we get the dining area and lounge to flow? Is it all about common themes, such as shapes and colours, etc? At the moment there feels like a 1-2m barron area running across the room spliting it two which doesn't feel very homely!

Carolyn - There is absolutely no other room in the apartment for the table. Is there anything else we could do to soften the straight lines? (which I hadn't even noticed until you mentioned it) round rug? Round centre piece on the table? etc? I kinda love the table :)

Dytecture - What software can I use to play around with the photos in the way you have?

What would you guys think to swapping the dining area and lounge area over? Is that a bit strange given the kitchen position? It is just that I feel the narrow area by the balcony would suit a dining table!
PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
8 years ago
I would not swap the dining and lounge areas because so much of the dining area is also a traffic path. Where exactly is the empty space that is bothering you? If it's the space along the wall under the blue picture, consider placing a bench or a console with lamp and mirror there.

Go ahead and use your existing dining table since you are attached to it. I would not put a round rug under it, but instead try angling a rectangular rug. That can add interest to the area and interrupt the very square lines that you have.
PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I rather like Vikrant's idea of a striped rug in your lounge area to visually broaden the space. Or you could look for one with circles or swirls.
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
Carolyn. Thanks for your feedback. The area that bothers me is along the wall with the blue painting and then right towards the bedrooms. I understand that it is a walkway though and I think if I move the lounge furniture 1m towards it then that will really help. A console with lamp should also help too.

Would a checkerboard cow print rug be too much for under the table?
PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
8 years ago
I don't think the chairs moving in and out on a cowhide would be good for it and it probably wouldn't be large enough. I've never seen a checkerboard cow! Maybe put it in the lounge instead?
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
I was thinking something like this
Checkerboard Haired Cowhide Rug · More Info
but was worried about damaging it with the chairs too. I guess that is still fairly square...

Would you try and tie in elements of the lounge area to the dining area (such as the blue from the chair) or would you almost design in isolation?
PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
8 years ago
I love the cowhide but worry about wearing it out in spots. Your question about the blue chair is thought provoking. It makes a strong statement. If you have space in a bedroom for the chair and the blue art, put them in the bedroom. Start anew in the lounge and dining area with the cowhide rug in the lounge and perhaps a seagrass rug in the dining area. Stick to black, brown, white, with bits of colored accents...perhaps orange and red.
todd192
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for all your help...we are working on this now based on the feedback and will post some pics over the next few weeks. We are sticking with the blue chair so will try and tie some little bits in subtly...
TraKa Pte Ltd
3 years ago
Hi,

Could you add a pic of the lounge area outside bedrooms? There seem to be too many palettes of colours within furniture from white tv cabinet to dark brown book shelf to light brown dining to black/blue/beige sitting pieces. Tie up sitting by adding few cushions in possibly black/white/blue combo.

Extend sitting area of living through the entire span of AC wall. You need a larger rug for this space. Angle dining table between 30 to 45 degrees with long length between detached counter corner to bookshelf end towards lounge. This will add the flow to lounge. Add a table runner along the centre of the long length.

You need larger artwork pics or a collection of art pieces on living room wall behind beige sofa. Lounge can have a console and wall with a composition of family picture frames to personalise space.

Remove blue artwork in the last pic. Instead, you can add a composition of wall shelves with artefacts on them or wall hooks with hanging artefacts.

Rugs, table lamps, floor lamps and few bold decorative pieces will add the required warmth. A round centre table in the living room can be good.

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Help with an open plan kitchen, dining and living area...

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