Arranging a studio apartment? (Google Sketchup) (ceiling, kitchen, loft, photos)
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I've lived in the same studio apartment for over six years now, and it's terribly arranged. I even went so far as to create a perfect 3D model of the studio so that I could virtually arrange a bed, entertainment system, and couch. But I still can't come up with anything. Can someone give me some suggestions, on how to arrange a studio like this? I don't have much furniture, just a mattress on the ground, so I can buy whatever is suggested. The model for the studio is here:
Dimensions of the room would be helpful. Dimensions aside, from we can see so far, unless the model is very deceptive, you need to get rid of the bed and buy a good pullout or if you want to spend $$, a Murphy bed. Unless that room is a lot larger than it looks, you are not getting a bed and a couch and an entertainment system in that space. I assume the wall opposite the kitchen is a wall of windows, so give us the window dimensions, in other words, what kind of space do you have to work with on either side of the windows?
Hi nuts2uiam, the wall with the windows is 17.5 feet, and the other wall is about 13.5 feet. The large area to the left of the windows is 5.5 feet, enough for a queen size mattress. The small area to the right of the mattress is 2.5 feet. It actually feels like there is a lot of space, but the difficulty is in how to arrange things. I can buy a murphy bed or pullout bed, but the problem is figuring out what to buy and how the room will be laid out.
KATZI, I've got some suggestions for you. In your last post, the first link you put, the arrangement you have first up, which when I clicked on it to enlarge, it was titled, "Layout 2," that is the one I want to refer to. Instead of putting a pull-down where you have it, put your bed, with the head right up close to the window, and the foot facing the hallway. That way, you put your bed along that wall where you have the pull-out. Another way to describe it is, as you come out of the hallway and you're facing the windows, put your bed along that wall on the right, long-ways. The divider should go next to it, of course. You can either leave enough room to put an endtable, but I think putting a couple shelves on the wall, up a little bit, would suffice. You could put a little light, a clock, a couple books and magazines. If you have a dresser and it will fit, you can put it at the foot of the bed.
Now, that will make your living area to the left as you come out of the hallway and facing the windows, just like you have it in your first layout (Layout 2). This will work really well because (a) the kitchen and living are a combo thing, (b) you can push the sliding door open to get on the balcony, and (c) it will be MUCH easier for you to get out of bed and use the bathroom without having to go into the living room, and (d) the living room then has the nicer light and view.
As for furniture arrangement, I know you're trying to put the TV so you'll be able to see it from the bed, but you CAN buy a small television to put on the shelf in your "bedroom," and the cable or sat people can come over and rig it up, too. Me, I have no satellite attached to the bedroom TV, just a Radio Shack box on top and we can pick up a half-dozen stations, which is sort of limited but enough to get to sleep. So, just for idea's sake, this means you could put your big TV anywhere. I drew it out two ways, and prefer this description: Put your couch so its back is parallel with the kitchen bar, but of course leaving space for the stools. Put a couple chairs against the divider, with a plant to sort of help blend the divider better. That way you can put the TV either on the wall or next to the sliding doors.
The other way to do the furniture, which seems a little "heavy" in the middle to me, but you can put the couch against the divider, a couple chairs backed up to the kitchen bar, leaving room for stools, and the TV once again can go either on the wall or next to the sliding doors. You know the measurements of everything, so you could try both those layouts for your living area and see if you like it and if it will fit. And that is why the divider should go pretty close to the side of the bed, using wall shelfs for your nighttime belongings; it will give more room for the living area. If I can get a program online to work for me, I'll draw it out for you, but don't hold your breath.
Yes, the first one is exactly as I had imagined. Now, the second one, I was ONLY referring to the pull-out in your linked layout as being where you should put your real bed, to give a reference point, becuz in your link you had the big red murphy bed thing along that wall! I wouldn't put a pull-out when you can keep your regular bed. And yes, in the third one, that was the other way to arrange your living room furniture.
You can see how tucking your bed behind the divider and long-ways on the wall frees up a lot more space for your living area, and it also keeps the living and kitchen kind of together, as it should be. I'm really glad you were able to draw that thing out.
Also, an inexpensive "divider" that I saw on TV one time was a curtain-type thing hung over a thick wire strung between two ceiling hooks, and you could even put a third hook so as to make a corner for another bit of curtain at the foot of the bed, to hide it from the hallway entryway. Really inexpensive, you just pick out fabric you like a lot, whip-stitch and knot about a two-inch hem (folding four inches over and sewing) so it'll slide over a tightly-pulled wire. And I'm sure there are clever room dividers like you had in your link, or a folding divider you can buy at some stores would work, or a couple open or closed tall bookshelves anchored to each other and then to the wall over the windows to prevent tipping.
Thanks for the help, gigimac. I've just moved the furniture to match suggestion #1 and I'm really liking it so far. But I might try the other arrangements just to test them out.
Thanks for coming back, Katz! I lived in a studio one time, just for about a year, and I can't tell you how many times I've thought back on that place and thought about how I could have arranged it better. One thought I later had was to get a bunkbed thing or even have one made, that put me above everything, like a "loft" within a room. Come back anytime! GG
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Gigimac 01: Did you mean like this? With the little wall?
