The combination of the living room and the hallway is carried out for the sake of increasing the useful area of the apartment. Modern design solutions allow to solve this problem not only from a functional point of view, but also with an aesthetic one. Typical hallway is a tight, long-drawn-out room, in which several people can hardly fit. In the combined options, guests are given the opportunity not to crowd at the entrance, but to spread out around the room and calmly gather before leaving or undress / undress after a visit. The hallway is usually considered an intermediate area between the street and the house. Here dirt accumulates and can also draw cold from the entrance door. The entrance hall combined with the living room becomes a rather risky option, because both rooms have different functional purposes. The main task of the designer is not only to smooth out these differences, but also to choose a universal interior design that will unite them in a kind of hall.
Has a similar option and a number of cons, they are all related to the proximity of the entrance hall with the entrance:
- Possible noise from neighbors who arrange riots or quarrels in the stairwell. The problem of "foreign" people in the entrances is now solved with the help of intercoms and concierge, but there are still houses where the tenants themselves arrange gatherings or noisy disassemblies outside the private apartment.
- Cold, which can "pull" from the door. If before a low temperature in the winter was delayed in the hallway, now the cool air from the entrance will be free to enter the reception room.
- A smoking room in the stairwell, from which smoke and the smell of nicotine spread.
- Street mud that will drag into the living room. This problem is partially solved by placing the rug in the corridor. Home and guests should be taught to constantly wipe their feet. Most shortcomings are eliminated by installing a quality front door. In private houses of the minuses there is only street mud.
Zoning methods
To combine two rooms is only half the battle. To create a psychological comfort and facilitate the perception of a two-in-one room kit, it is necessary to conduct a competent zoning of the space. Its main goal is not to delimit the two rooms, but to smooth the difference between them, to ensure a smooth transition from one room to another so that they together become a single composition, and individually retain their characteristics. You can perform this task in several ways:
- Color separation. The design of both rooms in this case is drawn up according to a single concept, but has obvious differences in the palette of shades. Admission is referred to as "soft", which are easily perceived visually.
- The relief of the ceiling and the floor. Create frame projections in the border zone, such "steps" refer to the obvious zoning.
- By a similar principle, additional elements are created on the walls, most often arches.
- Light composition. Refers to a "ghost" zoning system. More effectively looks in combination with other methods.
- Furniture and decor. Zoning cabinets, sofas and shelves are recommended to hold in rooms of identical size. In the situation with the hallway and the living room, it is better to resort to the use of decor. It can be two symmetrical figurines, flower pots or soft ottomans, which are located on both sides of the conditional line.
In some cases, mobile partitions or curtains are used. By the way, these elements are able to further protect the living room from the interference of the "street".
Furniture
"On the joys" of the realization of a long-standing dream, many owners are beginning to actively induce the premises with furniture elements, thereby nullifying the effect of the combined option. The rational layout of the interior decoration of the room can further increase space. A well-designed design will eliminate possible inconveniences: the furniture, placed not in its places, will not only interfere with the passage, but will force a number of extra gestures. The furnishings of the hallway-living room are being developed even before connecting the two rooms. Designers recommend the main problem, which forced the owners to combine (lack of space), to strike a double blow. Including the placement of furniture. Replace the dresser or cabinet in the hallway with a narrow and compact storage system. Here, leave only an open coat rack, which does not "clutter up" the space. It can store the necessary minimum. The rest of things, which are not necessary in this season, are transferred to the built-in dressing room. It will become the main storage system for two rooms at once. The setting of the hall, as a rule, is made in the best traditions of the living room: a sofa, a coffee table, a pair of armchairs, a place for a TV, a shelving with books.
In this case, the combined version is applied "in the interests" of the hallway, and the living room "goes" to meet it. For this reason, in the second room the situation remains standard with small additions that will help to "unload" the narrow corridor.
Color of walls
Do not make out both rooms in the same color. This will create the "canvas" effect, which will narrow the space and make the room dull and dull. Use the same principle of combination of tones. For this purpose, take one primary color, which prevails, and two of its hues. As a supplementary animation, the fourth contrast accent is used. Vivid details are distributed throughout the room in small quantities, but in no case do they form a transition zone. Such a mistake once again emphasizes the "artificiality" of the unification, as if one room stuck to the other.
Decor
If you decide to combine two rooms, then the decor should be given special attention. In this case, it is assigned to two functions:
- Interior decoration;
- Smooth and soft zoning.
A vertical collage of photos on the wall will conditionally break up two rooms. High vases in the area of the former doorway, unobtrusively show that this place starts a completely different room.
Lighting
A well-designed lighting system allows not only to create a warm cosiness in the room, but also to emphasize the differences between its main zones. For these purposes, use complex combinations of light sources located at different levels. Ceiling chandeliers can be two or only one in the living room (the other is replaced by spotlights). As a result, you should get a complex composition that delimits the zones from each other and emphasizes the advantages of decoration and interior.
Floors
The first thing that a person unconsciously draws attention to in an apartment is its floors. The expression "look under the feet" in this case implies not so much the presence of obstacles as a comfortable covering that causes a sense of reliability (here one can step on, and not lose balance). Playing on the contrast of colors and textures will further split the functional areas. This distinction will not be evident, there will be an impact on the subconscious level. A person of difference will notice, but will not give them much importance, and information will be deposited in the head. The habit of walking at home in shoes is found only in the heroes of soap operas, in the harsh reality there are trails of mud from the street, which must be systematically removed from the hallway. For this reason, it uses a durable and washable coating. In the living room, the use of materials in which the decorative function is in the first place (cork, lacquered parquet) is allowed.
Ceiling
Ceilings, like floors, play an important role in zoning and can perform decorative function. Only a small change in its level will already serve as a point where the view will "catch", and the person will understand the unobtrusive hint that the conditional border is passing through. The advantage of ceiling zoning is that it is easy to see from both the living room and the threshold. Also for finishing use materials that have a special texture, decorative ceiling beams, tension and suspension structures. With the help of any of these options, you can not only stylishly decorate the room, but also gently show what part of it belongs to the hallway, and which - to the guest room.
Partitions
In this case, not for monumental walls, but for light structures. In their role can act as decorative "barriers" from glass, plastic or carved wood, as well as mobile options. If necessary, the partitions are folded and cleaned in a special place for storage. In the rest of the time they serve as a border pillar, which does not clutter up space, but, on the contrary, adds airiness to it. More often under the partitions are meant folding screens, on the textile surface of which are depicted thematic drawings.
Angles, supports, passages
Those who decided to combine the hallway with the hall, does not necessarily have to destroy all the elements that used to be part of the dismantled wall. You can even leave some area of it, and adjust this natural ledge under the countertop, support for the stand or shelf. A similar situation develops with the corners and the aisles. Owners can emphasize the layout features by artificially pushing the corner, which "looks" towards the living room.
See also: Interior of the living room in the style of Provence - examples of design 
Built-in storage
With the help of an easy, through rack with open shelves, you can draw up an obvious separation of two rooms. Having installed this furniture against a wall or perpendicular to it, the owners will receive a new area for storing small things and an original interior partition. To emphasize its "airiness", the coloring of the cabinet is chosen from light colors.
Entrance door
Entrance door должна иметь хорошую тепло- и шумоизоляцию. Помимо этого элемент будет «маячить» перед глазами постоянно, ведь стены, которая раньше отделяла его от зоны отдыха больше нет. По этой причине избегайте использования излишне ярких оттенков в оформлении, так как подобное быстро приедается. Также не стоит делать дверь максимально нейтральной и неприметной, нельзя чтобы она сливалась с отделкой стен. Дизайнеры советуют найти золотую середину в расцветке, которая не будет раздражать и одновременно подчеркнет наличие выхода из комнаты.
Entrance hall in the apartment
The idea of uniting premises for the first time came into the heads of apartment owners. These people are forced to huddle in boxes that can not be expanded. And once you can not increase it, then you have to demolish the generally accepted framework of planning, and with them also walls. The apartments are popular options for the fusion of kitchens and living rooms with dining rooms, study rooms with libraries, hallways with halls. Thus, an imitation of fashionable studios now, where everything is in the "one bottle", is obtained. The combination of the hallway and the living room in the apartment is more a necessity than the whim of its owners. This is a real way to transform the usual interior beyond recognition and place everything you wanted before, but it did not work out.
Entrance hall in a private house
In private houses, the process of matching is usually thought through at the design stage. This is a deliberate decision, which is more of an ornamental character, a desire to stand out among the standard layouts in other private houses than the need.
Stairway in the hallway-living room
The staircase in this room is more often found in private buildings and less often in luxurious two-story apartments of apartment buildings. This interior element is played in such a way that from a functional area for transition from one floor to another, to turn into a stylish element of the situation, its conditional center, from which "dance" when creating a general composition. In the combined premises, the staircase will perform the role of the main "candle on the cake", pulling attention from the transition zone to yourself. Or, with a successful arrangement, it will become a natural delimiter of two rooms.
Conclusion
The hallway is conditionally the "face" of the house, the very first room, by the form of which the guests can already judge the neatness and taste preferences of the owners. Expansion of its space allows you to breathe a "full breast" in a once close room, which usually deprive the owners of attention. Accurate look and competently carried out the combination, will judge the owners, as the personalities of the extraordinary, who are not afraid of risky experiments.
