Furniture design is not just a visualization of a picture of the future environment, it is a complex design development, the entire functionality of the interior depends on the precise elaboration of which. The furniture design project, created by the hands of a professional, will be based on the preferences of the client, his lifestyle. The designer has several tasks: to organize the space competently , to choose materials that combine in texture, style and color, to think through all communications, while taking into account all the wishes of the customer.
What is a furniture design project?
Author's design of furniture is distinguished by an individual approach and originality. A detailed study will allow you to plan in advance the smallest details of the interior, work out lighting issues, take into account the location of sockets and switches, ventilation openings.
The 3D visualist will be able to create a general plan of the future room or kitchen. Most often, the PRO100 program is used in salons for this. Designing furniture with its help allows you to quickly create a project template and view it in all planes separately and in perspective. You can simulate a project in this program yourself, but you need to understand that often newcomers in the field of design make a number of mistakes, therefore it is better to trust a professional in this matter.
At the order stage, in addition to visualization, the package of documents included in the project will contain: a drawing (assembly diagram) of future furniture indicating the dimensions of all cabinet products included in the kit; room measurement plan; product specification, including the name of all materials, color schemes and accessories.
What to do first: repair or project?
After the decision is made to make repairs in the room or in the kitchen, many begin to search the Internet for pictures with projects in order to find the “same” furniture design of their dreams. After repeated attempts to determine the model, color and other characteristics of future furniture, some begin immediately to repair.
What is the mistake here? Such a rash decision during the project development process can lead to problems that will have to be solved either by compromise, agreeing to unplanned furniture sizes, or through a remake of the repair. This often happens when they begin to design cabinet furniture in the kitchen, without planning the location of outlets and plumbing. Often you have to redo the finished suspended ceiling, because in fact it turns out that the location of the hood leads to a distortion of the entire project externally or it is simply inconvenient due to the proximity of other elements of household appliances to the hob.
Even if you clearly understand where what will be located, without a project, the definition of sockets "by eye" is often erroneous, as a result, you have to transfer the points of the electrics.
When developing a project, rooms often forget about sockets, and then you have to close them with furniture. In addition, lighting in furniture is often used today, and this is a competent decision, however, it is not always possible to realize ideas with a ready-made repair. Therefore, proper repair in the apartment should begin with the development of the project.
The main stages of design: we determine the style of the room
It often happens that the design of a room during repair is chosen in the same style, and when choosing a headset when furniture is being designed, samples like a completely different plan are liked. Therefore, it is very important to first determine what style of furniture will be the solution, and already under it to choose materials for walls, floors, and think through the design of the ceiling.
Modern furniture materials are simply full of a variety of textures, styles and shades. Furniture in a classic style requires appropriate solutions in the design of the room.
The modern style of the loft also does not fit into the standard repair, it will need special materials for decoration.
Patchwork is also popular today, where it is most relevant to use the appropriate style tile.
The latest materials: Spanish high-gloss Alvic, Italian Cleaf, wood-style plastics, wooden facades - they are able to create a special interior.
The main stages of design: furniture layout
Often, customers come with a picture from the Internet and ask the designer to design similar furniture to fit their sizes. It should be understood that there are no two identical projects, and this is especially true of modern furniture trends. In any case, given the dimensions of the room, you will have to change something.
Therefore, the design of furniture at the next stage after determining the style will consist in the arrangement of cabinet elements. Here, the most important task for the designer will be the development of functional zones.
In the bedroom, the main thing is the bed. In the children's room - work and play areas. In the guest room, the most important thing is the competent design of upholstered furniture, which should be given special attention. And in the kitchen ... In the kitchen, everything is important! From the working triangle to the opening angle of each door (which we will talk about below).
The main stages of design: location of communications
Only after the visualization of future furniture has been created does the arrangement of sockets, switches, ventilation and other communications outputs begin. Of course, we are talking about cases where the design of furniture occurs in the correct sequence.
To avoid all kinds of laying wires and cables along the walls, using extension cords, you need to immediately plan all the lighting and connection of all devices, taking into account such as a mobile phone. In a modern technological society, there are not many sockets. Ideally, if for each device or group of devices will be different. Backlight elements should also be planned during the design phase.
In the kitchen, it is important to understand what plumbing will be used, namely: whether a dishwasher will be installed (it is better to install it right away, because today more than 90% of the developed population of the earth uses this benefit of civilization), is it planned to install a filter on the water, where the microwave will be connected, and also all built-in appliances and small household appliances. It should be said right away that the use of sockets on an apron near a gas stove is a bad option in terms of their frequent pollution.
The main stages of design: the interior space of furniture
The appearance of the furniture, of course, is important, especially from an aesthetic point of view. But it is worth paying attention to the internal arrangement.
In the lower zone of any furniture, whether it be cabinets or a kitchen set, it is most convenient to arrange drawers. They can be made internal (behind the main facades) or external - it all depends on personal choice. It is more convenient for faster access to the contents to make them with external facades, but from the point of view of aesthetics, customers are often asked to hide boxes.
In sliding wardrobes it is worth considering the upper space. Here the best option - retractable mesh shelves or pantograph for hangers. It is important to think about the depth in the cabinets, because you can hang clothes in a longitudinal row only with a width of 60 cm.
In the kitchen set, lifts in the upper cabinets and drawers in the lower ones are recognized to be more convenient. The use of high cargo, carousels in corner cabinets, pencil cases with built-in appliances will greatly simplify the housewife’s kitchen activities.
In beds and sofas it is best to provide niches for linen in order to be able to hide additional sets of bedding, rugs and bedspreads, so that later you do not have to look for a place for them in the closet.
The main stages of design: calculation of the necessary materials
After the style of future furniture is selected, the internal space is determined, you need to decide on the materials. As a rule, this is the first question that interests the customer, but in fact furniture in the same style can be made from materials of different price categories.
So, in order to save budget plastic can be replaced with facades from even cheaper chipboard. Instead of natural wood, you can use veneer, MDF frame or the latest Italian patented Cleaf, which imitates natural materials as much as possible. In addition to the high-gloss Spanish Alvik facades, you can choose the identical Turkish AGT tile material. Glass can be replaced with acrylic facades.
Frames are the reliability of the entire structure, so the creation of furniture from reliable materials will guarantee its durability. Recognized leaders and reliable suppliers of laminate for furniture are Egger, Kronopol (and its concerns).
The main stages of design: the choice of fittings
The item of expenses on fittings is the second by the share of funds in the price of the entire furniture set after the facades. The use of reliable opening and extension elements will allow the furniture to serve for a long time and make life comfortable.
Finishing hinges are recommended for MDF facades with any front coating, since this material is relatively heavy, and a constant knock on the frames can lead to loosening of the cabinet element, skewed hinges and quick wear of the furniture.
The method of opening the drawers also determines the design design. Making furniture with extension systems would be preferable to using simple rails, as the former are capable of supporting more weight.
And although this statement is mainly relevant for kitchen furniture, according to the latest trends, living rooms often include wide drawers, for which it is more advisable to install a pull-out system rather than guides.
Features of the design of kitchen furniture
The main thing that you should pay attention to when creating a kitchen project is the competent location of the working area. Sink, hob, extractor hood, refrigerator, dishwasher, built-in appliances - the design of kitchen furniture should provide for their most comfortable location. In this case, you need to maintain a comfortable work surface and leave enough space for storing household utensils.
Actually, taking all this into account is not an easy task, but for a professional designer this problem can be solved, since the answer to many questions is found experimentally.
When creating a sketch of the future kitchen, it is better to adhere to such a plan:
- Mark the location of the door, window, partitions and niches, if any;
- Make a list of household appliances that need to be built in or provide for a placement (refrigerator, sink, dishwasher, hob, built-in or freestanding microwave oven, oven, freezer, washing machine and other devices);
- In order to correctly place everything, it is worth considering various options for planning the kitchen: direct, angular, island, U-shaped.
- Work through all the items described for all cabinet furniture.
- Consider lighting, since one lamp in the center at any angle creates a shadow on the working surface from the silhouette of a person, which creates inconvenience, therefore it is better to provide a suspended structure from drywall or a stretch ceiling with spotlights, or LED strip light at the design stage.