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A kitchen with a bay window has two attractive qualities – an increased glass area and additional space. A bay window is a specially organized protruding part of a building, which, with the help of special structures, is carried outside the walls. This is achieved by increasing the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe kitchen. But designing a kitchen with a bay window is not such an easy task. It is necessary to arrange the furniture and organize the space in such a way as to emphasize and fully use the advantages of this element of the interior.
Shapes and sizes
Bay windows come in six shapes – semicircular, square, trapezoidal (with different angles and number of faces), triangular.
In private houses, these decorative elements are usually made semicircular or multifaceted, but in shape they are very close to semicircular. Sizes are chosen arbitrarily – at the request of the owners. But kitchens with a bay window in a private house are rarely done. This architectural “excess” is usually reserved for the living room, rarely for the bedroom, even more rarely for the office. It’s just that the living room allows you to spend time looking out the window. After all, a large window is one of the main advantages of this decorative element.
If we talk about high-rise buildings, then kitchens with a bay window are implemented in houses of the P-44T series.
Help. The P-44T house is a further development of the P-44 predecessor series. It features increased thermal insulation of external hinged panels, higher ceilings inside the apartments (2,7-2,75 m versus 2,64 m), bay windows and half-windows on the facade. Due to the low cost of production and installation, and at the same time the apartment sizes that are quite comfortable for panel houses, the series has become very widespread and is being built at the present time.
The smallest bay kitchens in the houses of the P-44T series – for one-room apartments – have an area of u13bu14bup to 16-XNUMX square meters. This is quite good and there is where to turn around. For apartments with two or more rooms – an area of XNUMX squares or more. Such premises allow you to come up with and implement interesting projects.
Free access
The simplest solution is to leave the kitchen bay window free. Here you can put a couple of comfortable chairs and a small coffee table. By hanging translucent curtains on the windows or by installing roller or Roman blinds, blinds, we achieve the look and functionality that seems more acceptable to you.
The disadvantage of such a solution is obvious – the irrational use of the premises. If this is not critical for you, the solution itself is not bad: you can admire the opening view. In other cases, they try to develop a kitchen design with a bay window so that it is not only beautiful, but also functional.
Cooking area in bay window
One of the most rational ways to equip a kitchen with a bay window is to make a work area. Work tables without wall cabinets are installed in the ledge, and gas stoves or other gas equipment cannot be installed here. You can install electrical appliances, but it’s hardly worth it – you can’t hang a hood here, it’s difficult and costly to organize the removal of polluted air in a different way. So it’s a good idea, but difficult to implement.
If the layout allows, you can take out a table with a sink here, but usually you have to pull the water and sewer pipes – the risers are located far away. The result is a rather long route, which is also expensive in the device and not very convenient in operation: if the pipes become clogged, cleaning them is not the easiest and most pleasant job.
So in the ledge in the kitchen there are floor cabinets with a countertop. It’s nice to work looking out the window. Without problems in this area, you can put a mini-fridge or freezer up to a meter high. At this height, they fit under the countertop. Refrigeration equipment of this size is enough for one or two people. This option can be seen in single apartments. There is nowhere to turn around and this is perhaps the best kitchen design with a bay window for such an occasion.
There are two drawbacks to organizing a working kitchen area in a bay window. The first – access to windows is closed. The main advantage of the bay window is a wider view. When arranging a working area in a kitchen bay window, the view can only be enjoyed during work. Sitting at the other end of the room you will not see much. That’s good too, but…
The second drawback is the complexity of implementing most of the ideas, and these are additional costs. Even if you just put furniture, it will have to be made to order. It will not work to assemble a modular kitchen – the layout is non-standard, you need corner cabinets with non-standard corners and filling. So only under the order, and this is a lot of money.
Dinner Zone
Another opportunity to make the kitchen design with a bay window functional is to arrange a dining area here. If you put the table so that half of the space remains free, it will be convenient and beautiful. The table does not have to be placed close to the window, but if necessary, you can do so.
Pros – free access to windows, the ability to make zoning, ease of implementation. It will be necessary to decide on the size and shape of the table additionally, but it is quite possible to find a ready-made dining table. You can search among folding / folding tables. In this case, it will also be possible to increase the functionality.
Bar counter
It is boring for young people to sit at the dining table – you can make a bar counter along the bay windows. It does not block the view from the windows, and looks modern, and the functionality is normal. That is, of course, if you enjoy sitting in high chairs and trying to squeeze into small spaces.
For those who plan to periodically sit at the table, and not just at the bar, there are folding or folding dining tables. When folded, they take up very little space. There are tables in the form of cabinets, there are even very similar to a picture or a mirror in a frame. In general, there is room for imagination, and a decent size.
By the way, you can combine it – make a rack on one half of the bay window, and a table on the other. It will be necessary to choose levels, think about width / depth, do not forget about safety (so as not to hit the edge of the bar counter).
Sofa: comfortable or not?
If you really need an extra bed, you can consider installing a sofa in the bay window. At first glance, this idea seems very attractive – you can enjoy the view from the window while sitting on the couch. This is a plus to the fact that there is an extra bed. If the sofa is folding, there can be two or three beds.
But there are also disadvantages: in practice, it turns out that this is not so convenient – you can’t go up to the windows, and most of the panorama is covered by the back. And if you add to this the high cost of a custom-made sofa and the rather small probability of selling it due to limited demand, the picture is not so rosy.
Therefore, even if you need a sleeping place, try to design a kitchen with a bay window so that at least half of the windows are free. Because a sofa covering everything just eats up space and is uncomfortable at the same time.
Window decoration in the kitchen bay window
When designing a kitchen with a bay window, you will definitely encounter the problem of window decoration. The choice of curtains for the kitchen is standard, but depends on the chosen method of using the bay area:
- With free access to the windows or if the bay window in the kitchen is used as a dining area, you can hang any curtains at all, including long classic ones to the floor with tulle.
- All other options are limited to short options:
- the same classic combination – curtains + tulle – but up to the window sill or the working surface of the table;
- roller blinds;
- blinds – vertical or horizontal;
- Roman curtains.
Many people think that roller blinds are the most convenient.
In any case, it is desirable to choose fabrics that are well washed. But the selection of colors, shades, textures is a purely individual matter and depends on the chosen style of the kitchen.
Photos of interesting options
For self-development of a kitchen design with a bay window, any photo can be a source of ideas. To have more ideas, in this section we have collected the most interesting options.