How to Lay Out an Open-Plan Studio Apartment
A studio has to be a bedroom, living room, dining room and often an office, all in one space. The trick is not to fit more furniture in. It's to give each activity its own clearly defined zone, so the room reads as several small spaces rather than one cluttered one.
Step 1: Map the fixed elements
Start with what you can't move: the kitchen run, the bathroom door, the entry, windows and heaters. Then mark the main walkway, usually from the entry door to the kitchen and to the bathroom. Keep it 900 mm wide and don't put anything in it.
Step 2: Decide the zones
Most studios need four zones. Place them by how private and how bright each one needs to be:
- Sleeping: furthest from the entry, ideally in a corner and out of direct view of the front door.
- Living: near the window, for the best light and view.
- Dining / work: between the kitchen and living zones. One table can do both jobs.
- Kitchen: fixed, so plan the others around it.
Step 3: Divide without walls
- Sofa backs: a sofa facing away from the bed gives the sleeping zone privacy without blocking light.
- Open shelving: a bookcase about 1.2–1.8 m tall, open on both sides, screens the bed and still lets light through. It doubles as storage.
- Rugs: a rug under the living zone anchors it visually. Use different rugs, or none, in the other zones.
- Lighting: a pendant over the table, a floor lamp in the living zone and wall lights by the bed make each zone feel separate at night.
- Curtains: a ceiling track with a curtain around the bed gives you full privacy when you want it and disappears when you don't.
Example layouts
About 25 m² (e.g. 4 × 6 m)
Kitchen along one short wall. A two-person round table (750–800 mm) near the kitchen doubles as a desk. A loveseat faces a wall-mounted TV in the middle, with its back to a double bed in the far corner. Under-bed drawers replace a chest of drawers.
About 35 m² (e.g. 5 × 7 m)
There's room for a queen bed screened by an open bookcase, a three-seat sofa with a coffee table, and a four-seat dining table. Put the wardrobe on the wall behind the bed, so the bedroom zone holds all the clothes storage.
About 40 m² with an alcove
If the studio has an alcove or L-shape, put the bed in it. It's a ready-made bedroom. Draw the L-shape in the 2D Plan tab so the alcove is to scale.
Furniture that works hard
- Extendable or drop-leaf dining tables.
- Ottomans with storage inside, which double as extra seats.
- Beds with drawers or lift-up storage.
- Nesting side tables.
- Wall-mounted desks that fold flat.
Plan it as a whole floor
Open the Open-Plan Studio sample, which has kitchen and living/sleeping zones laid out in one space. Then adjust it to your floor plan. To redraw the outline from scratch, use the 2D Plan tab: click to place wall corners, close the loop, then switch to 3D to see it extruded at full height. Add floor zones (timber, tile, carpet) from the HousePlan tab to mark the kitchen and living areas.
Try this in 3D: Open the Open-Plan Studio sample