How to demarcate an apartment in a new way to make it more convenient and not get into trouble with regulatory authorities - this is in the article.
You will learn:
- which methods of redeveloping a two-room apartment into a three-room apartment are legal and which are prohibited;
- practical separation options without major repairs;
- what furniture will allow you to rationally use every centimeter of the rebuilt apartment;
- non-standard methods of arranging sleeping areas that are suitable even for a small bedroom.
Layout
Initially, the apartment was a standard “panel” with two separate small rooms and a small kitchen. As a result of the redevelopment, the result was a “conditional three-room apartment” with separate sleeping places for parents and a growing child, a common space consisting of a combined kitchen and living room, and even a small pantry for storing things.
“The apartment has only three windows, so it was not possible to create two full bedrooms for the child and parents,” says Alena. “At the same time, the owners wanted to sleep on the bed, not on the sofa. Therefore, a sleeping area was created for them behind a glass partition. The child got a separate spacious room.
Hallway.
Examples of redevelopment from a two-room apartment to a three-room apartment
Increasing the number of rooms without thinking through their future functional purpose is the wrong strategy. Clearly define the purpose of the redevelopment: for example, to arrange a nursery for a second child or a living room for friendly gatherings. Can the room be a walk-through room, is it necessary to have windows? We take into account the answers to these questions when selecting the optimal example of redevelopment.
Two out of one
An obvious and universal way would be to divide a room of maximum area with a main wall into two parts. Each of them, according to the standards, should not be less than 10 sq.m., and for a child’s room - 12 sq.m. m. The ideal base for separation would be a spacious room with two windows, where it is possible to make two separate entrances.
A room divided into a bedroom and a living room
Partition wall with interior window
Wall with sliding door dividing room
Zoning
If long-term repair work to convert a two-room apartment into a three-room apartment is not planned, then divide the space using zoning methods:
- a plasterboard partition 1.3-1.5 m high;
- sliding door with glass facades;
- massive rack;
- wardrobe;
- glass block wall:
- slatted partition.
Glass sliding doors to create an office
Zoning with a functional column
The zones are visually separated by different finishing materials, and in fact by the back of the sofa
A plasterboard partition is a worthy alternative to a wall
What options will be successful? The large room is divided into two by means of zoning: a living room and a single bedroom-children's room. If the child is an adult, then he is given a separate bedroom; if not, the parents are located in it. The bed is located in the part closest to the window.
A practical example would be turning a kitchen into a kitchen-living room. For example, a room with a high back sofa or a shelf with a TV divides the room into cooking and leisure zones. The remaining area of the two-room apartment is allocated for two bedrooms.
Combining bath and toilet
Making a combined bathroom from a separate one makes sense to get rid of one door and increase the free space in the corridor. This will allow you to move the wall in the next room.
A low partition will make the combined bathroom more comfortable
Connecting a corridor to a room
Demolition of the wall between the corridor and the living room will increase its area. The next step in order to get a three-ruble from a two-room apartment is to divide the formed zone.
Connecting the corridor to the rooms made it possible to create a built-in wardrobe in the kitchen in a common wall
The corridor is separated from the kitchen-living room only by a partition
Corridor with seating area and storage system
Combining a kitchen with an adjacent room
If the apartment is not gasified, combining the kitchen with living rooms is allowed. In other cases, a door between them is required. The renewed space is divided according to the planned plan, but only zoning is allowed. Expanding the living space at the expense of the kitchen is prohibited.
Combining the kitchen with the corridor
Combining the kitchen with the living room
Bedroom on the second floor
If the height of the ceilings of the two-room apartment exceeds 3 m, then arrange the bedroom on the constructed second tier. The vacated first tier is entirely allocated to a living room, office or other area.
Second tier above the office in a small apartment
Bedroom above living room
Attic spaces are great for dividing into tiers
Kitchen relocation
The example of converting a two-room apartment into a three-room apartment with the relocation of the kitchen is possible with serious reservations. Conditions: the original plan of the apartment includes a non-residential area (living room, hall, storage room) next to sewer and water drains, with direct access to sunlight. In other cases, the redevelopment will not be legalized. If the kitchen is moved, then in its place another area is set up, which cannot officially be called residential.
In some cases, it is possible to move the kitchen to the hallway
Loggia - in action
A loggia, unlike a balcony, is easier to attach to a two-room apartment to make a three-room apartment out of it. The redevelopment will be legalized if you do not move the central heating radiators onto the loggia and do not affect the supporting structures. If global work is not included in the plans, then if the area is sufficient, the loggia is insulated and an additional room is equipped on it. Space limited? Then a working or living area is created on the loggia.
Sleeping area on the loggia
Dressing room on the loggia
Living room in the hallway
Another example of how to make a three-room apartment out of a two-room apartment is to move the living room into the hallway, the area of which sometimes reaches 6-7 sq.m. In post-Soviet countries, the presence of a hallway as a zone between the street and the living space is common, but in the Western tradition this part of the room is absent.
Hallway as a living room area
Living room and kitchen
According to the designer, the family loves to get together with friends, play board games and have fun, so it was important to organize a common space in the apartment for receiving guests.
“The bar counter became the key place in this space,” notes Alena. – You can sit comfortably behind it from all sides. Additionally, we installed a folding dining table, which we found at IKEA, but the owners say that they hardly use it. The bar counter turned out to be the most convenient place.
The bar counter and kitchen countertop are made of solid oak.
– When designing a small space, you need to use every centimeter. Therefore, we made almost all the furniture to order - ready-made solutions are often not suitable.
The wall in the TV area, kitchen cabinets, chairs at the bar, a sofa - everything was ordered from a Belarusian manufacturer. Only the chair was bought at IKEA.
There is an opinion that if you make it to order, it will a priori be very expensive. But in reality this is far from the case. If you order some pieces of furniture individually, you can always vary the sizes and materials - and often it turns out even cheaper.
– The customer really loves the color blue, and one of her wishes was to maximize the use of all its shades in the interior. That's why blue is present in every room - even in the bathroom.
Types of redevelopment prohibited by law
What are the consequences of violating the law with examples when converting from a two-room apartment to a three-room apartment? An apartment that has been modernized in violation of building codes is more difficult to sell, donate, or bequeath. Neglect of the requirements of the law also threatens to violate the integrity of the building.
Prohibited:
- carry out serious manipulations with load-bearing walls, including between the room and the balcony;
- carry out construction work that complicates access to communications;
- combine the bathroom with living rooms or move it to the kitchen;
- change the location of central heating radiators, move them to the loggia or balcony;
- combine the living space with a gasified kitchen without installing a lockable partition.
Sleeping place for parents
– The customer’s favorite hobby is literature. He has a large collection of books, and for it we allocated a spacious closet in the hallway, all the shelves in which were designed to fit the size of specific publications.
In this regard, the issue of storage space remained open. Therefore, it was decided to raise the sleeping place onto the podium, and make additional drawers below.
The sleeping “set” (bed and side cabinets) was also made to order from Belarusian furniture makers. The sliding partition was made of ferrous metal and glass. A thick curtain was hung immediately behind it, allowing the owners to separate their space from the common area of the kitchen and living room.
Choosing interior color when remodeling a four-room Khrushchev house
The right choice of color can set the tone for the entire interior, so you need to choose carefully. It is worth following these recommendations:
- to visually expand the hall, light colors are used, from white to light green, as well as yellow, white or reddish lighting;
- the windows are decorated with curtains in light colors;
- It is better to decorate the bedroom in light, cool shades, while installing lighting with white or bluish light;
- For the kitchen, light warm colors are used, as well as intense and bright lighting;
- a color contrast option is possible, when the lower part of the walls is decorated in dark colors, and the upper part in light colors;
- furniture should be light brown or white.
You can use built-in wardrobes, which are distinguished by their space saving.
If you approach it wisely and with imagination, you can create the ideal apartment for yourself.
Redevelopment of a Khrushchev building is not the easiest, but very interesting task. If you approach it wisely and with imagination, you can create the ideal apartment for yourself.
Bathroom
Initially, the bathroom was separate, but as a result of the redevelopment, the small bathroom and toilet rooms were combined into one fairly spacious and bright room.
In the corner there is a large closet with a washing machine and shelves. Cabinets with quartz stone countertops were made to order. The tiles used were Spanish.
Redevelopment of a one-room Khrushchev house
2.1. Redevelopment of a one-room Khrushchev house into a two-room apartment
In this category of houses, the area of one-room apartments is quite small. But it often happens that in a one-room apartment you need to divide the bedroom, separating off another living room. Is it really possible to turn a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment with such a small-sized initial layout? Such options are possible, regardless of what series of Khrushchev buildings and what size of the one-room apartment.
If there are two windows in the living room in the corner Khrushchev, it is possible to divide it into two. If there is only one window in the room, then the space without a window in the redevelopment project can be called a storage room.
Children's
– The family travels a lot, so in the nursery we suggested making a map of the world on which we could mark the countries visited. The customers liked the idea, but they didn’t like ready-made solutions - they wanted something original, their own.
Therefore, we ordered a map from an artist, who hand-painted it above the bed. Now this is such an original feature of the children's room that all guests like.
All furniture for the children's room (bed, cabinets, table) was ordered from Belarusian furniture makers according to individual sketches. Smaller decor was purchased from IKEA.
The work area is highlighted in blue, which also extends to the ceiling.
“The room is quite large, so we decided to visually zone it - it turned out interesting,” explains Alena.
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Subtleties of surface design in small rooms
Finishing and design of surfaces will help not only decorate the interior, but also create the desired effect of expanding the space. The contrasting design of a white ceiling with a slight gloss and a dark floor will be the optimal solution for a small living space of 44 square meters. Raising the floor or combining different materials will organically emphasize the design and division of the room into zones.
Stones, liquid wallpaper, textured plaster, and stucco are used as finishing materials to decorate load-bearing walls. Selling modern textures and color variations of wallpaper makes it easy to create a beautiful design. Despite the low ceilings and non-standard floor plan, it is allowed to use tension and plasterboard ceiling structures. Organic transitions of multi-level options will help in zoning even a walk-through room
During DIY repairs, it is especially important to consider the practicality and quality of finishing materials
Unloading the premises
To remodel an apartment and make an additional room in it, you must first increase the entire space of such a room. It is rational to start such actions from the hallway. It can have a lot of space if there are no bulky cabinets or various bedside tables. In order to increase the space and compactly place all the necessary things, you can use a sliding wardrobe, which in its capacity is not inferior to several ordinary wardrobes.
Then you need to draw up a detailed apartment plan with the exact dimensions of the rooms. If there is an entrance to sanitary areas from the corridor, and there may be several of them, then it is rational to combine a bathroom with a toilet and slightly move their dividing wall deeper into such rooms.
An example of such a plan for a 3-room corner apartment
Thanks to such actions, the corridor will increase. After this, you should move on to the living room. It can be a walk-through room. The wall between the corridor and the living room is moved deeper into this room and, thus, a passage opens to the second room.
Advice. Such redevelopment is best carried out in Khrushchev-era apartment buildings, where there is a small corridor, but quite large and spacious rooms.
Typical standard layout of a two-room Khrushchev house
To allow light to enter the newly formed living room, you can use glass blocks. They can be matte or multi-colored. Everything will depend on the interior design.
Redevelopment of a two-room Khrushchev house into a three-room apartment Return to contents
Where and how is approval for the redevelopment of an apartment carried out?
Documents for obtaining permission for redevelopment
Permission to redevelop an apartment is usually issued by the competent local government authorities of the administrative district in which the housing is located. To find out the specific location and name of this organization, the degree of its powers, you can contact the management company that services a specific house.
Any redevelopment of housing can be carried out only on the basis of an agreed and approved project
For approval, you will need to prepare a package of some documents, which are best to start collecting in advance:
- Technical or cadastral passport for the apartment.
- Documents confirming ownership.
- Redevelopment plan.
An example of a graphic plan for apartment redevelopment
Application with a detailed description of the redevelopment. To do this, you will need a special form issued by the commission dealing with such issues. The application must contain the signatures of all residents registered in the apartment, who confirm their consent to carry out the planned construction work.
An example of an application form for redevelopment.
- Houses of series 1-510, 1-511, 1-477, 1-515 do not belong to architectural structures that are of historical value, so you will not have to contact a local organization involved in the protection of monuments to obtain a permit for reconstruction work.
- This list of documents is required for submission to the commission in any region throughout the Russian Federation. The commission should not require other, additional documents. Previously, the approval process was more complex, since members of the housing commission in each specific case could decide for themselves what documents needed to be provided to approve alterations in the apartment. Now, it seems, order has been established in this matter - everything is unified.
Terms of approval and receipt of permits
When all the documents are collected and transferred to the specified commission, work with them can last no more than one and a half months. Having submitted the package for approval, the owner of the property must receive a receipt indicating the documents submitted and the date they were accepted for work.
After the specified period has expired, the certified finished document can be received in hand within three working days, after which you can proceed to the planned redevelopment. If the commission did not approve the project, then it is worth correcting the circumstances that caused the refusal. Typically these include three points:
- An incomplete package of necessary documents has been collected.
- The project plan does not comply with the requirements established by the current rules and regulations.
- The documents were submitted to the wrong commission. To prevent such an incident from happening, and to avoid wasting time, it is recommended to find out in advance the exact location of the relevant governing body authorized to solve such problems.
If, in the opinion of the applicant, the redevelopment was denied unlawfully, then the issue is resolved in court. However, if all the documents were collected correctly, and the planned events themselves do not contradict the existing rules, the request for redevelopment will most likely not be refused.
Only having an approved permit for redevelopment in hand can you begin repair and construction work
After all redevelopment activities have been carried out, it is necessary to invite representatives of the commission to accept the work performed and verify it with the approved plan. Having carried out the audit, the appointed commission must draw up an act, after which the general package of documents, including the acceptance certificate, is submitted to the local organization involved in registration of ownership rights to real estate, which finally legitimizes all the actions taken, makes changes to the technical and cadastral passport of housing. And now, when it has been legally confirmed that all the alterations were carried out legally, the apartment, if necessary, can be freely exchanged or sold.
What can be changed
In a panel or brick Khrushchev house, the law allows the following repair and construction work:
- demolition of the wall between the toilet and the bathroom with the installation of a combined bathroom (if desired, it can be enlarged by the corridor);
- increasing the living space by combining it with a corridor;
- constructing doorways anywhere, since the partitions inside Khrushchev buildings are non-load-bearing;
- connecting the kitchen with one of the adjacent rooms, resulting in a spacious kitchen-living room (this is only possible if the kitchen has an electric stove);
- increasing the area of living rooms due to niches, storage rooms, built-in wardrobes;
- if the dimensions of the corridor allow, you can make a second entrance door with a vestibule;
- you can attach a balcony to a room by removing the window sill block.
Types of curtains
There are several options for outdoor curtain designs.
Roller blinds
They are easy to use, do not take up much space, and perfectly prevent the penetration of bright sunlight into the room. Quite often, translucent models are chosen for external curtains; they softly shade the veranda or gazebo and do not deprive the opportunity to enjoy the surrounding view.
The photo shows translucent roller blinds on the summer veranda.
Rafblinds
They are an analogue of blinds, only this light-protection system is installed outside. This outdoor structure prevents heating of the room and is not subject to deformation and corrosion.
The photo shows a veranda with light-colored outdoor blinds.
Classic curtains
Curtains can radically change and enliven the appearance of a building. They are able to create a cozy atmosphere in the room and promote relaxation and quiet rest. Such models can be used both in an open veranda and in a glazed one.
The photo shows a terrace with classic curtains decorated with a print.
What is prohibited and permitted by law when converting a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment
When starting renovation work that involves changes to the layout, it is important to familiarize yourself with the list of things that are prohibited by law, and also take into account everything that is permitted
- Load-bearing walls. Any construction work that involves the complete or partial demolition of such structures or the deterioration of their technical characteristics is prohibited. The information in the technical data sheet will help you complete all the work safely.
- It is prohibited not only to demolish load-bearing walls, but also to install additional loads on them.
For carrying out unauthorized redevelopment, a fine of 4 thousand rubles is provided.
Load-bearing walls include all external structures, as well as those walls that separate apartments from each other. In the apartment plan, all load-bearing walls are marked with special shading or a thick line.
When carrying out redevelopment, it is impossible to use public communications. As a rule, these include hot water and a heating system. That is, if the owners of the apartment want to equip the room with heated floors, it is necessary to install an additional device. Otherwise, the load on public communications will be too great, and the water temperature in the taps will be below the required level. This is why batteries cannot be installed on loggias and balconies. During work, ventilation systems, water risers and gas pipes must not be touched without permission from the relevant organizations. As a rule, apartment owners encounter this when they want to replace a gas stove with an electric one or install an additional opening in the wall. It is prohibited to reduce residential premises in favor of non-residential ones
It is also important to consider that the area of the living room must be at least 8 square meters. Significant change in the location of the bathroom. If there are living rooms above and below the new planned location, then you cannot install a bathtub, sink or shower.
But the legislation still presupposes a number of actions that are permitted, so in order to carry out a safe and proper redevelopment, you need to familiarize yourself with the housing code.
Actions permitted by the Housing Code must be supported by documentation. The need to legitimize all your actions remains relevant in any case.
Scheme of redevelopment of a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment
Those walls that are not load-bearing can be demolished. They can be completely dismantled or partially, moved or simply modified
Additional structures can also be erected, but it is important to consider the load on the building’s floors. Not everyone will be able to do this on their own, and therefore it is better to entrust these calculations to professionals. You can dismantle the wall between the loggia and the room to increase the living space
In this case, it is also better to seek the help of professionals who will help you choose the most suitable redevelopment option. It was already said earlier that installing a battery on the loggia will not work, which means the changes need to be thought out in such a way that the cold from the loggia does not make the room uncomfortable in temperature. It is also permitted to increase the area of the bathroom at the expense of adjacent non-residential premises. This could be a hallway or a storage room. The wall that separates these spaces can either be demolished or moved. With the help of specialists from the relevant services, gas and water supply systems can be adjusted. Licensed organizations have the right to carry out appropriate calculations. Using the space of non-residential premises, you can increase the area of the room. The only exception is the combination of a living room with a kitchen in which a gas stove is installed. It is allowed to install additional partitions in rooms. First, as in all cases, you must obtain appropriate permission.
Furniture can be used as partitions
