Studio apartments are notoriously difficult to decorate - especially within smaller layouts . The simplest approach is to create a coordinated style that extends throughout the entire home, but that option can restrict the creativity and expressive potential of the occupants. The other option is to create a different theme within each functional area, but this requires careful planning and a unifying design layer to make sure the home doesn’t clash or feel too eclectic. The five studio apartments profiled in this post demonstrate a variety of techniques and styles, proving that creative constraints can lead to inspiring solutions.
Designer:YØ DEZEEN
This first studio apartment from YØ DEZEEN uses a modern monochromatic theme paired with smooth plywood wall paneling. The compact living room arrangement sets the standard for the smart space-saving solutions found throughout the home.
Division between living spaces is created with a combination of themed decor and built-in dividers. Here, a striped rug helps define the media area.
The rug’s slightly off-center placement prevents the sofa area from feeling too rigid, allowing for greater communication with the rest of the room.
A freestanding divider creates an implied boundary between the kitchen and living space. It also offers a convenient mounting point for the television, making the media center feel like part of the room.
Another partial divider in the dining room is mirrored to capitalize on the full-length windows.
The workspace features plenty of extra storage to minimize the need for a larger desk. The shelves also double as a display for decorative items to make the living space feel more homey and lived-in.
Distinctive green chairs give the dining area its own unique attitude – a splash of bright color within a uniform interior design. A wooden pendant light by Seppo Koho helps center the space.
The kitchen is exceptionally minimalistic. Matte black paneling on the left allows the neutral cabinetry to stand out.
While originally a true studio layout, the designers gave the bedroom its own annex of sorts. A sliding glass door allows for ample sunlight and the storage wall delivers just enough privacy.
Low-profile horizontal tiles make the bathroom feel wider, and their uniform arrangement draws attention to the height of the ceiling – a smart choice for a bathroom as narrow as this one.
Matte black cladding lends the bathroom an especially luxurious appeal.
Sliding glass panels reveal a compact walk-in wardrobe decorated in matte black and cream.
Smart organization makes the closet feel much more spacious than it really is – niches for shoes, shirts, and hanging clothing covers all the bases.
Architect:Lugerin Architects
Near the entrance, more sliding mirrors hide a convenient coat closet with everything the occupant needs to head out the door in style. Indirect lighting makes it possible to find any item even in a space as dark as this one.
This next home, by Lugerin Architects, makes fantastic use of highly textured surfaces to breathe life into a relatively small 56-square-meter studio floor plan. Wood, exposed brick, concrete, and textiles come together to create a modern apartment with huge personality and an eclectic vibe.
Weight vases by Decha Archjananun help to unify the concrete ceiling and black metal accents with the natural elements found throughout.
Wood panels slide together to hide the television and expose the bedroom and kitchen – an inspirational project for anyone who wants to physically divide rooms within a studio apartment layout. Such excellent execution!
The bedroom, although quite small, features an abundance of storage built into the dividing wall. Bookshelves offer plenty of material for reading in the morning or before bed, and light wood cabinetry allows convenient storage for clothing. Pull-out baskets organize the lower spaces where drawers and cabinets wouldn’t fit.
Don’t you just love how the wardrobe seems to float in a sea of books?
The kitchen boasts a few clever storage features of its own. Large glass jars in the cabinets provide a safe place to store dry goods while minimizing clutter. They also add a nice variety of attractive colors within an otherwise neutral decor theme. The geometric floor tiles are a cool touch too!
Visualizer:Henrique Kobylko
A striped rug in natural colors helps the bathroom stand out from the rest of the home.
Visualizer:Henrique Kobylko
This gorgeous studio offers a more colorful aesthetic than the previous homes. Its interior decor is more or less uniform throughout the apartment – without dividers or interior walls to break up the spaces, pulling off a cohesive theme turned out to be a practical and beautiful choice.
The dining chairs are from the La Central collection by Brazilian designer Guilherme Wentz. The Acapulco-style woven chairs and transparent acrylic table are light-looking and perfectly suited to a small space like this one.
Burgundy, gold, and bright cerulean accents offer an updated and refined approach to the classic primary color theme.
Designer:Roșca Vadim
Traditional sensibilities meet modern design influences in this fantastic studio apartment by Roșca Vadim. A large wood-clad dividing unit occupies the center of the home, providing extra storage and decorative shelving, along with a bench row that could serve as seating or a sideboard table depending on needs.
A stylish white bedroom resides inside the central divider. Such a smart use of space!
The dining area features modern elements like a textural black wall, but also incorporates traditional elements like a folk-patterned rug in black and white. The bent plywood dining chairs offer a combination of modern and traditional elements.
Designer:STUDIO .O.
Taking a completely different approach from the previous studio apartment, this space boasts highly modernistic materials and striking geometric themes. Strong contrasts play an important role in the design – reflective surfaces complement soft textural materials, stripes and polygons compete for dominance, and metallics pop out from a backdrop of neutral colors.
The bedroom is defined by a high gloss floor in white. Note how the bed platform and headboard are combined into the same piece of furniture, with a little extra storage tucked into the side.
A sliding glass wall with a mirrored surface offers some privacy for sleeping residents. The brass-color effect adds a touch of luxury within an already sophisticated interior.
Designing a home for a family with young children requires creativity and balance. Stylish parents and growing children may have different requirements, but it’s totally possible to create a family-friendly interior that looks stylish and meets the needs of kids and adults alike. This pair of two-bedroom homes from Lugerin Architects proves it – both enjoy efficient compact layouts, clean styling, and innovative features practical for family life. And look no further if you’re searching for classy kid’s bedroom ideas because these photos are sure to offer up some useful inspiration.
Architect:Lugerin Architects
This first family-friendly apartment features comfortable open living spaces punctuated by a substantial volume that hides bright bedrooms and private spaces. Simple materials, clean lines, and straightforward arrangements allow for a minimalistic and flexible aesthetic that can adapt to the family’s changing requirements over time.
A bright blue sofa adds a playful splash of color to the living room and brings out the bluish hues blended into the gray cabinetry in the background.
Simple midcentury-style Danish chairs embody the sleek Scandinavian sensibilities found throughout. It’s hard to go wrong with this classic style.
The designers were able to save a few feet by modifying the sofa to include a soft bench on the back side, providing comfortable seating at the dining table. This helped leave some sunny open space around the balcony – and leaves more room for daydreaming while sitting on the small interior step leading to the sliding glass door.
Rather than just sticking to one pattern, a variety of wood gives each surface a distinct personality. The entire home echoes this trend.
A thick mirrored dividing wall looks almost weightless suspended from the ceiling. Its reflective surface helps make the hallway feel more spacious and a little more private at the same time.
Another large mirror makes an immediate impression at the entrance of the child’s bedroom, with a view perfectly framed to create a sense of infinite continuity.
And what a bright and wonderful bedroom it is! Bright blue walls boost the energy of the space, creating a powerful contrast with the comfortable red beanbag chair.
Topped with overhead storage, the cantilever desk seems like a great place to study and play.
Bright red makes a statement in the adult bedroom too. This restful respite keeps things simple with recessed ceiling spotlights, a small reading lamp, and a headboard with indirect lighting for ambiance.
It’s hard to go wrong with furniture themed around a single designer, especially one as iconic as Arne Jacobsen – the Egg chair provides a cozy reading spot while the ottoman provides coordinated seating at the reading desk. The desk is similarly outfitted with the AJ table lamp.
A glass partition wall keeps the shower water from splashing outside the slightly recessed basin, a nice alternative to a full shower enclosure. The recessed basin also helps to catch excess water after a bath in the spacious slipper-style soak tub.
The lighted niche in the shower is quite a stylish way to store soap.
Edison bulb pendants over the sink offer classic appeal. Paired with indirect lighting from above, this close-walled alcove turned out to be quite bright and welcoming.
Architect:Lugerin Architects
But what if you don’t have an apartment as spacious as the first home? This second example demonstrates family-friendly design within a smaller and more compact layout. Despite the fact that the apartment began as a single-bedroom design, Lugerin Architects found an innovative way to split the room so parent and child can have independent spaces.
The dining table and breakfast stool combination maintains a low profile to allow for maximum penetration of light.
Love the peg wine rack tucked between the cabinets and shelves!
Sabrina Fossi’s matte black FreakishCLOCK serves as a sleek and minimalistic reminder to live in the present moment. Also note how the wood-clad walls behind the television slide open to reveal the apartment’s two bedrooms.
The transition to the kitchen is marked by a switch from wood floors to black tile. The bathroom, featured later, follows the same technique.
This elongated bench makes the entryway infinitely more usable, and the expansive mirror maximizes the amount of light the space receives.
The festive deer print is the first thing anyone sees as they enter the apartment thanks to its central placement. Straight ahead, a sliding wood door reveals the cozy bathroom.
This kid’s room is absolutely adorable! Decorated in bright cerulean and outfitted with corner windows, it certainly seems like a fun place to dream and play. The abundance of integrated storage is another plus – the platform beneath the bed hides drawers and makes for an easy step up to the sofa/bed combination.
The adult bedroom has a similar platform with drawers. Because the two bedrooms are split from a single room, this half didn’t get the benefit of windows so the designers created the divider wall out of transparent glass blocks to let in some natural sunlight.
Tiles and stone give the bathroom quite a different theme compared to the rest of the home. Caged pendant lights offer a touch of vintage appeal.
While warm-toned indirect lighting currently holds as the most prominent lighting trend recently, these cooler LEDs create a clean and refreshing atmosphere - a great choice for a bathroom where warmer lights might make pristine white surfaces appear yellowed or dingy.
Dark isn’t the first theme that comes to mind when designing a kitchen. Stereotypical assumptions are of white and bright kitchens matched by light wood—something like the color of breakfast pancakes. Have you ever thought otherwise? Perhaps something like a modern dark kitchen?
We’ve got a collection of stunning spaces sure to switch up your vision. This black kitchen design inspiration is the sexiest interior design can muster. All divulging in shades of black, navy, or dark brown, they add what white kitchens cannot—a seductive allure that says sleekness and sophistication at the same time. Take a peek at some brilliant interiors on the darker side to see if a modern luxury black kitchen could be for you.
Modern Dark Kitchen Design Ideas to Inspire Your Next Renovation
1. Make it an All Black Kitchen
Visualizer:Design At Sketch
Almost completely covered in black, a few minor elements shine in chrome and wood in this kitchen interior. We love how the textures do the talking, especially through the matte table under black wood-panelled walls. But having an open approach like this means that every one of your accessories on display—including knives, wine glasses, mugs, cutting boards, teapots, cookie jars, etc.—need to be on point.
2. Add Wooden Elements
Visualizer:Bogdan Tovstyy
This black beauty edges towards wooden elements. We see a speckled floor, a white wall, and a central bench. Rounded black lamps hover over the island, providing functionality and style. If you’re wondering how visual intrigue is added to this modern black kitchen… a huge credit goes to the abstract art!
3. Complement the Black Kitchen with Orange
Source:Vancouver House
A bit of curve rounds out the hard edges—adding some much-needed warmth. This wave-design bench leads up to an orange-hued enclave in this black-and-silver interior. The burnt orange sure makes a design statement (apart from the unique central island).
4. Keep Your Dark Modern Kitchen Simple
Visualizer:Panda Fox Studios
A simplistic look makes this black kitchen a winner. We see the basics: a light floor, a black minimalist island, and sleek cabinetry. But the contrast between light and dark keeps the ambiance interesting, while the large window welcomes plenty of natural light.
5. Make it Dark… Or Not?
Visualizer:Who Cares Design
If you’re eyeing a dark kitchen aesthetic but are hesitant to make the change, this is it. Introducing more light, this black kitchen is hardly dark at all. Black benches, cabinetry, fixtures and stools are intersected by large-panel windows, a white shelving stand and light flooring.
6. Make Use of Asymmetry in the Black Modern Kitchen
Visualizer:Visual Method
This modern black kitchen takes another angle on this kaleidoscopic space, breaking all spatial boundaries. Black and glass alternate in this chic kitchen as the interesting ceiling design keeps the space unconventional. We’ve also got to appreciate the cherry blossoms, doubling as decor even within the interior.
7. Factor in Some Warmth
Source:Modulnova
This warmer-looking kitchen makes a move to brown. It strategically achieves the purpose with the use of wood. This not only introduces natural textures but also makes the ambiance inviting. Talk about a modern style that’s equal parts welcoming!
8. Place a White Island in a Black Modern Kitchen
Visualizer:Jean Regauer
An instant way to brighten up a dark kitchen (we mean, get the best of both worlds)? This kitchen space shows us how by using a white island on a black floor. The backsplash further enhances this dark-and-light effect, while the cowhide rug adds just the right amount of coziness.
9. Make Marble Your Best Friend
Architect:Chamberlain Javens Architects
If you’re looking to create a modern luxury black kitchen, you know what you’ve got to do: Go big on marble! This natural stone adds the luxe factor to any space, especially as a large, central island, as seen in the kitchen above. You can also add it through the backsplash.
10. Make it Mysterious
Visualizer:Tomek Michalski
You can double the visual intrigue in your all black kitchen by adding some mystery. In this kitchen, mood-lighting sets the scene in black and grey, while a marbled bench acts as the hero. The back inlet and flooring create contrast and depth. Taken together, these elements make the space an interesting one.
11. Layer Gray and Gold
Visualizer:Mitaka Dimov
Black kitchens are cool, but what if we layer in gray and add accents of gold? This stunning kitchen space uses gray flooring to add diversity to the otherwise black palette. The thick gold panel is one way that makes the space look incredibly high-end.
12. Add French Style to Black Kitchen Design
Visualizer:Aeroslon
Make your kitchen both modern and French with traditional black cabinetry. In this space, standing armoires act as sinks, and all other displayed items remain black. The stark white clock can surely act as the focal point of the space!
13. Consider Soft Elements
Visualizer:Julia Sultanova
Rough, light wood and low-hanging white lights set this kitchen interior a world apart. You can also notice a layer of light gray cabinetry, adding variation to the otherwise dark color palette. These elements factor in softness to the black kitchen design.
14. Let the Accessories Do the Talking
Photographer:Mikko Ryhänen
In this black-and-wood creation, the accessories take center stage in adorning the interior. We love the houseplant, but the crockery deserves a special mention for doubling as decor. The light oakwood backdrop further warms the space up.
15. Consider a Matte All Black Kitchen
Visualizer:HDR Designer
Neat square panels perfectly line up to emphasize the stark black minimalism that is at play here. We love how the cabinetry is matte black with no hardware, adding a sense of simplicity. The herb planters are a healthy green addition to bring the otherwise simple space.
16. Add Some Stencilling to Black Kitchens
Visualizer:Julia Sultanova
Fine lines and stencilling set this monochromatic space apart. Lined by black magnetic lights, black stencils and glossy white facades, it makes its mark on a light wooden floor.
17. Build a Shape Out of Black
Visualizer:Huso
18. Create a Modern Dark Kitchen with Gradients
Visualizer:Mario Nogueira
If you’re wondering how the intrigue in this space is working… It’s the gradients from black, to charcoal, to light grey. White surrounds in the walls and a monochromatic hanging light. This clever design technique makes sure the space is anything but boring, even if it’s using mere neutrals (minus the stunning orange dining chairs, of course).
19. Leverage Black Textures
Visualizer:Nefeli Kallianou
One instant way to add interest to a black kitchen is with textures, as seen in this metallic matte kitchen. This accounts for decorative presence in the light and bright space, providing character to an otherwise simple room.
20. Work on the Functionality of the Modern Dark Kitchen
Visualizer:İbrahim Ethem KISACIK
This dark modern kitchen makes sure it’s as functional as is stylish. The central island is paired with a black dining table, while all necessary appliances are fixed into the cabinetry. We also see pendant lights and lighting under the hood providing just the right illumination.
21. Create a Modern Classic All Black Kitchen
Visualizer:A&L Interior Design
Folks seeking an inviting all black kitchen can look towards this modern classic space. It merges contemporary elements (through sleek black cabinetry) with traditional ones (as seen in the wooden backsplash) to bring together the best of both worlds.
22. Put Essentials on Display in Your Modern Black Kitchen Interior
Visualizer:Polygon
Yet another kitchen that uses black and wooden elements to create a dark-themed interior. What sets this one apart is the hanging pans. They do offer easy access as the residents cook, but they also double as decor! (Note how the pans also use black and wooden elements to stay coherent with the theme).
23. Add the Industrial Style to the All Black Kitchen
Via:Emotion School
Industrial style lovers, rejoice! This is THE inspiration to set up your favorite interior design style, the dark way. This kitchen uses rustic wood and exposed elements for the ceiling to create an industrial black kitchen interior.
24. Make a Statement with Black Chunky Lamps
Via:HomePicture.in
All eyes on the two chunky lamps hanging in this monochromatic setting. They do add focus but also allow the contrasting white inset to shine. Not to forget the central island, providing plenty of storage space.
25. Make Room for Keepsakes
Visualizer:Maxim Goryachev
There’s nothing like personalizing your space to who YOU are. This kitchen serves the purpose by adding keepsakes and heirlooms. Also, black leaves room for details, so it’s one of the best colors to use if you’re hoping to display knick-knacks.
26. Use Black to Add Intimacy
Visualizer:Helen Bank
Who says dark colors make small spaces feel smaller? We only see black adding luxury to this compact space (with some credit to the white flooring adding brightness). This kitchen—with black marble backsplash—speaks opulence, and for all the right reasons!
27. Enhance Black Kitchen Design with Patterns
Visualizer:Ksenia Lenski
This black kitchen interior makes a design statement with the patterned marble island. Its sleek metallic legs lift it off the floor, creating an illusion of space. Simultaneously, the textured inset makes sure visual interest is added.
28. Don’t Forget a Black and White Rug
Visualizer:Nada Aboelrous
If you’re not in for a complete kitchen renovation, simply painting your cabinets black and adding a black-and-white patterned rug will achieve the purpose! We love how this kitchen keeps sets the base with white and tops it with black.
29. Let the Lighting Make a Statement in the All Black Kitchen
Architect:Artpartner Architects
When everything else is understated, letting the lighting create a statement is a good idea. This matte black kitchen interior uses rod lighting to do the talking. It sticks to the all black kitchen color scheme, though!
30. Tone it Down
Visualizer:Valeria Mosolova
This open floor plan uses dark gray throughout, showing us that black can work in more spaces than the kitchen 😉 It sure makes a design statement for those cooking and dining—or lounging!
31. Consider a Black and Wooden Bar
Visualizer:Amir Emami
This is the ultimate modern luxury black kitchen! After all, what’s better than displaying your favorite collection of beer right behind the black kitchen island? The low-hanging pendant lights also add to the black kitchen design.
32. Add the Gothic Vibe
Visualizer:Sebastian Lorio
This dark-gray kitchen is super simple with its sleek, hardware-less cabinetry. Well, except the far left end. Here, we see a statement piece of art and intriguing layered lighting created a focal point.
33. Stick to the Minimalist Style for Black Kitchens
Visualizer:Miguel A. Ramos
This compact kitchen space follows the simple rule: white walls paired with black cabinetry and an island. Even in this nook, the space is able to make a style statement while providing optimal functionality. The window here gives a contrasting element of light to the otherwise dark modern kitchen.
34. Layer Lighting in the All Black Kitchen
Visualizer:Tatiana Durnescu
We see shades of gray and black coming together to bring this modern dark kitchen to life. What we especially love is the multiple types of lighting, all layered together to bring visual interest to the space.
35. Set the Backdrop For Your Living Space
Visualizer:Sasha Zolotukhin
