The biggest advantage of a balcony is undoubtedly that it combines the advantages of the house and the street. Whether you have a small balcony in the city center or a large outdoor space in the form of a terrace with a garden, it is worth turning this area into a comfortable and functional space in which all members of the household will spend time together, not only when the weather is good.
Pros of combining a living room with a balcony
First of all, you should highlight all the advantages that can be obtained by connecting the living room with the balcony area:
- significant increase in area;
- zoning the space in the room;
- an easy design project for a living room connected to a balcony.
The area where there is access to the loggia can be decorated with a beautiful tulle veil.
Advantages and disadvantages of combining a balcony with a living room
First, let's look at what advantages are hidden in combining a balcony with a living room:
- increasing the premises several times;
- an additional area can be organized in the living room;
- Thinking through the design of a living room with a combined loggia is much simpler and easier than designing a balcony with a room separately.
Modern interior of a living room enlarged by connecting to a balcony
But this combination also has its disadvantages. Here are the main disadvantages:
- In order for the entire room to have a stable temperature and stay warm, it must be properly insulated;
- it is difficult to formalize the redevelopment from a legal point of view;
- Such a connection between the balcony and the living room is dangerous in the event of an emergency in the house.
A modern living room in a minimalist style connected to a loggia.
Therefore, you should carefully consider and weigh your decision regarding the redevelopment of the living room and loggia. Often in the event of a fire, the balcony is the only safe place. You are putting yourself and your family at risk in this case. If you still have the desire to combine the room with the living room, then consult with specialists who will help with their recommendations for combination.
The exit to the balcony should be decorated with beautiful tulle and curtains to match the style of the room
Disadvantages of combining a living room with a balcony
At the same time, there are also disadvantages of combining two spaces, namely:
- maximum financial investments associated with insulating the loggia;
- difficulties in obtaining permission to change the layout of the apartment;
- threat in the event of an emergency.
In the event of a fire, the balcony is a safe place where it is recommended to remain until the incident is eliminated. Therefore, before redevelopment, you should obtain permission from experienced specialists.
Pros and cons of merger
We include among the positive qualities: Living space increases; On the balcony you can organize a play area for children or create a study; Creating a design project is much easier, because... a whole room is decorated, not two.
Disadvantages of combining: The balcony will have to be well insulated so that the cold does not enter the main room through the cracks; It is necessary to collect a large number of documents and obtain permission from the architect;
The temperature in the room will be much lower because... the area of the room will increase several times; If repair work is carried out incorrectly, there is a high probability that the balcony will collapse over time.
Remember! A balcony is not just additional space that can be used at your discretion. It is important that the passage to it is not blocked, and that the windows always open.
That is why, choose this type of design for this room so that in case of emergency, you and your family can easily go to the windows and get out.
Balcony in the living room interior
If there is no desire to combine the living room and loggia into one whole, it is still necessary to insulate the balcony structure. The photo of the living room with a balcony shows that this area acts as a separate living space.
A balcony that does not have glazing or cladding requires urgent restoration. Regardless of whether there was a union or not, it is necessary to make a frame and further cladding. Then you can install high-quality metal-plastic windows.
What to do next? Subsequent work is related to insulation, because the balcony area will be used as a living area in the apartment.
The final stage will be the interior design of the room, based on the stylistic direction of the living room.
Subtleties of combination. Points to consider
There are two options for a united territory:
An option when the opening remains. Curtains for a living room with a balcony are considered the most common way to decorate the border between them. It is better to choose classic, roller or Roman curtains.
And if you decide to give preference to curtains of modern design, then it is better that in the door opening they reach the floor, and in the window opening they reach the window sill board.
Full combination of balcony and living room. If you decide to completely remove the window and door part, designers do not recommend framing the resulting opening with curtains. But, if the dismantling is partial, then the decoration should be appropriate.
Complete removal is rare, since interior decorators advise leaving part of the partition to facilitate further zoning of the space. In addition, as can be seen in the photo of the living room with a balcony, the remaining fragments can serve as the basis for bookshelves, decoration with flowers and indoor plants, etc.
In the case of complete combination of the balcony and living room areas, the interior of the living room and balcony should be designed in the same style.
An alternative to the traditional design of a living room with a balcony can be a project that includes panoramic glazing as a partition.
Another no less original idea is the installation of two hinged glass doors. Both of the ideas described above will add spaciousness and airiness to the room.
Interior design
The opening with a door and a window, located between the living room and the loggia, should be decorated using curtains. In this case, various types of rolled or classic products are in demand.
Note!
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When using curtains for a living room connected to a balcony, you should take care of the appropriate length of the curtains. In the area of the door area, the length of the curtains to the floor looks great, and on the window openings - to the window sill.
If, when combining the loggia and the living room, the opening is completely removed, then there is no need to decorate it.
Is a new layout needed?
If the room has a balcony, you most likely have often thought that it would be nice to combine the room with the living room in order to slightly expand the space of the room. But is it necessary to bother so much?
Pros:
- Expanding the area of the room - if it is small, then after redevelopment it will become a couple of squares larger.
- There are a lot of options on how to do zoning and how to use space correctly. So, an office, a romantic corner, or a club of interests can be organized on the balcony.
Minuses:
- To demolish a wall, you need to obtain permission for these actions from the BTI.
- The balcony must be carefully insulated to minimize heat loss.
- Redevelopment means an increase in space heating costs.
- The work is labor-intensive and costly.
- If suddenly there is an emergency, then the balcony is the place that is considered a “safety island”.
What to choose?
The balcony is “isolated”, but still becomes residential, because it is arranged in the same way as any other living space.
Partial alignment - only some part of the wall is demolished. As an example, the area where the door is is demolished, and the window is blocked, and thus a partition is created.
Moreover, you can remove both the door and the window, leaving only the “window sill,” which will isolate the area.
Complete combination - the entire wall is demolished, and therefore the end result is a single, spacious room.
Classic design example
The interior design of a living room combined with a balcony in a classic style includes decorating the window opening using beautiful curtains and tulle. Often, dim sliding curtains are chosen that can completely cover the doorway.
Next, you need to decide on the color when decorating the space. Note that light colors contribute to the visual expansion of space. On the contrary, dark shades compress the area, making it smaller.
An excellent solution would be to choose a light palette of shades, which will highlight the contrast of dark furniture and other interior elements. Furniture in light colors looks similar against the background of brown walls in the room.
Note!
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Entrance to the loggia
If the partition between the rooms remains unchanged, then the opening with the window and door must be decorated with curtains. There can be completely different options: blinds, roller structures, textiles.
The optimal length of curtains for a living room with a balcony in a modern design is to the bottom of the door above the entrance, and to the window sill above the window opening.
If the partition is demolished, then there is no need to decorate the opening, but at the request of the household, it can be partially decorated.
The most common way to combine a hall and a balcony is to dismantle the door and window. This way, most of the wall remains intact and repair costs and volume are minimized.Complete redevelopment is rare, and it involves merging two rooms into one.
Design example
So, what could be the design of a living room with a balcony? To ensure that the passage to the loggia remains as free as possible, in a rectangular living room you can place upholstered furniture on one side of the room.
Opposite it there should be a TV and paintings. In this way, it will be possible to maintain a balance between opposite sides.
A square-shaped hall can be easily decorated beautifully by playing around the corners of the room. In this case, the passage to the loggia will also remain free.
Photo of the combined balcony
Read here Loggia design: design nuances and real photos, ideas for inspiration
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How to decorate a living room with a loggia
Apartments with a small area always want to be expanded. An option for this would be to use redevelopment, due to which the balcony and living room are combined. At the same time, it is important to delimit the zones from each other.
Significant advantages of such a design solution will be an increase in the area in the living room and the embodiment of the desired design ideas.
Note!
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If it was not possible to dismantle the partition between the loggia and the room for some reason, you can make an original opening in the form of an arch.
This can be easily achieved by installing the lower part of the window opening at the location where the central heating battery is mounted.
Combined balcony
When deciding to combine a balcony with the main room, you need to be prepared for certain financial costs. The merger involves dismantling the balcony block and opening. This is considered redevelopment and requires coordination with the relevant services and authorities.
Main stages of the project:
- Drawing up a design project. To do this, it is best to contact a design bureau. Often such organizations take care of all approvals for redevelopment, which significantly saves the time and nerves of property owners.
- Coordination and approval.
- Carrying out rough repair work at a high level. It is necessary to carefully work out problem areas, seams, joints, and then thoroughly insulate them. If you do not pay due attention to this, in winter you will face cold and disappointment from the redevelopment instead of the joy from the increased area of the room.
- Selection of materials and implementation of the intended design.
Design techniques for combined rooms
The main important question that arises when combining is how to decorate the opening between the room and the balcony (loggia). It must be remembered that removing the window sill under the former window is only possible in brick houses. This is strictly prohibited in panel walls, so you should immediately consider how this part of the wall will be used. For example, as a countertop or bar counter when combining a kitchen and a balcony.
Bar counter in the kitchen with a balcony
For a living room - a TV stand, an aquarium or shelving.
As a rule, the decision to combine a room with a loggia is driven by the desire to increase the total living space of the rooms. In this case, other design solutions should also work for expansion:
- uniform wall color throughout the entire combined space;
- single level floor;
- light pastel colors;
- a minimum of small parts, figurines and souvenirs; the abundance of such things clutters up and visually reduces the room;
- free floor or small rug;
- vertical furniture fronts and the same arrangement of handles;
- the color of the furniture matches the walls or is a couple of shades lighter;
- upholstered furniture with the lowest backrests and armrests;
- a moderate amount of bright color accents;
- light and light fabrics for curtains.
A room with a balcony in the same style.
And vice versa, if you plan to visually highlight the balcony area , you need to use the appropriate techniques:
- the natural zoning element will be the window sill part of the wall;
- multi-level floor and ceiling; Often, after dismantling the window and door unit, a threshold remains that cannot be removed; if you want to make zoning, this will be a plus.
- various textured and color designs of walls; at the same time, the overall style of the room should be uniform, and the transition from one zone should be smooth.
- textile curtains for the opening;
- use of mobile screens; This technique is especially typical for “shabby chic”, Chinese, Japanese styles;
Design for partial dismantling of the opening
If the bottom of the window opening is not completely dismantled, this makes it possible to use the window sill as a bar counter or a stylish flower shelf. In addition, a beautifully designed shelf can act as a decorative element.
Both options will fit perfectly into the overall interior of the room. The two combined zones should be made in a similar stylistic direction. To do this, it is advisable to use the same finishing materials and decorative elements.
Design for complete dismantling of the partition
In the case of combining two areas by eliminating the partition, a classic or modern design is performed. In the first case, the side sections can be decorated with columns.
The design solution of today involves the creation of a two-level ceiling. To do this you will need drywall and beautiful lighting.
What could the interior be like?
Planning the interior of a living room with a balcony is not an easy task. You need to look for the latest design solutions, and don’t forget about the existing functions of the room. Experienced designers give some advice.
When creating a stylish interior, you should take care of the presence of curtains and tulle. Sometimes beautiful blinds are used for this.
A classic interior should include calm colors in neutral shades.
The area of passage to the balcony should not be cluttered with various objects. The spaciousness in the balcony area gives a feeling of comfort.
Spotlights are used for lighting. The presence of table lamps or wall sconces will add warmth and comfort.
An installed fireplace will help give the living room an exclusive look.
As you understand, there are many options for designing a living room with a balcony. Using your own imagination, you will be able to create a stylish interior that your loved ones will definitely like.
