Square
The average area of one-room apartments offered to buyers as part of economy- and comfort-class residential complexes in the near Moscow region is 35 square meters. meters. The studio area is smaller - 28 square meters. meters. “The indicators are average, that is, of course, you can find larger studios and smaller one-room apartments. But in general, the whole point of building studios was initially that they would be a more compact, and therefore cheaper, product,” explains Dmitry Panteleimonov.
What is a studio apartment: photo
There is practically no single design solution for a studio apartment. How your home will look depends on your designer, but most of all on your personality, desires and preferences. The uniqueness of your home is greatly influenced by the room itself, its size, shape, and natural lighting.
In the design of modern premises, there are several styles, where the most popular are:
- Minimalism;
- Loft;
- High tech.
Minimalism
Decorating a studio apartment in a minimalist style involves creating a light and relaxed atmosphere. This style seduces people who are not impressed by the accumulation of a huge number of different attributes, accessories, and little things in a room.
Apartments decorated in a minimalist style already imply high comfort, where every piece of furniture is located in a convenient place. Minimalism is light colors, the absence of unnecessary objects, and high comfort.
Price
“It is generally accepted that studios are more budget-friendly - and indeed, the total cost of such an apartment is usually lower than the cost of a classic one-room apartment. But the price of a meter often turns out to be higher in the end: this is the pricing policy of developers (as well as the majority of all sellers in any field): the less you buy, the more expensive one unit of goods is, the expert notes. — At the same time, it is necessary that the total price of the studio still remains lower. Therefore, in some cases, one-room apartments and studios are sold at the same price per square meter. meters".
What is a studio apartment: layout
The layout of the studio apartment does not have clear boundaries; the zones smoothly transition into one another. The interior of the apartments is never the same, thanks to individual design solutions. Zoning of the premises goes in four directions: kitchen area, dining room, rest area and workplace.
Location of zones in a studio apartment
How to geometrically approach the studio layout depends on the client. Designers offer several options: rectangular, square. When dividing the area squarely, the emphasis is on a specific area. The placement of the furniture also depends on you, namely on which area of your apartment you want to focus attention on.
Minimalism in the interior design of a studio apartment is always given preference. After all, if we want to get more free space and light, we should not clutter the room with furniture.
Furniture should be functional, but not bulky. To expand the space and create an atmosphere of lightness, it is advisable to furnish the room with white or light-colored furniture.
You should start designing an apartment with a furniture layout plan. Having such a plan, you will easily navigate the arrangement of furniture, zoning of the apartment and its functionality.
How to arrange furniture in an apartment depends on your imagination and the creativity of the designer. You can place furniture along the walls, taking into account that it will not clutter up the entire space. A great solution is to use transformable furniture.
Utility and tax payments
“Both utility bills and property taxes for owners of one-room apartments are usually higher. The cost of utilities is calculated, among other things, based on the area of housing: one-room apartments are larger, and accordingly, the utility bill is higher. It’s the same story with real estate taxes: the more spacious the apartment, the higher its cadastral value, which means that the annual payments to the tax authorities will be higher. Unfortunately, only a few buyers pay attention to this fact when choosing a property. The difference is small, but it still exists,” emphasizes Dmitry Panteleimonov.
What does a studio apartment look like? Reviews. Advantages and disadvantages
Studio apartment layout scheme
Currently, the demand for housing in the form of studios has increased. Therefore, the largest developers in Moscow and the Moscow region have actively begun to design and build houses with a large number of studios per floor. Houses with studio apartments, for example, are actively being built by the PIK company in their residential complexes Butovo Park 2 and Vostochnoe Butovo. Let's try to consider the pros and cons of studio apartments.
Studio apartments are economy class housing. Despite the small dimensions, among the studios you can find comfortable and cozy apartments that can easily accommodate a family of three. The comfort of an apartment depends on the characteristics of a particular room. The parameters of residential complexes built according to standard designs are mostly irrelevant. The exception is business-category residential complexes, where the partitions between apartments are made of dense frames that do not allow noise to pass through.
Studio apartment area
The area of studios is almost always smaller than the average area of one-room apartments. If the average area of one-room apartments is 35 m2, then the average area of studios is about 28 m2. There are also studios whose footage is comparable to large two-room apartments and even three-room apartments. They are distinguished by higher ceilings. But a classic studio resembles a hotel room with a single isolated room - a combined bathroom. With this layout, there is no hall or corridor, and the space is divided using furniture, finishing materials and lighting.
Cost per square meter
It is known that the cheapest square meter is in multi-room apartments, and the smaller the total area, the more expensive its cost will be. However, the total cost of an economy class studio is always less than the cost of a one-room apartment. But considering that most apartments are purchased with a mortgage, the savings turn out to be quite significant. Many buyers prefer not to wait and save, but buy the living space they have enough money for. The studio is good for young people as a first property.
Utility and tax payments
When calculating utility bills and taxes, they look at the “general” and “residential” areas. Therefore, there will be benefits in payments. Today, the tax is calculated based on the cadastral value of the property. These figures are comparable, and sometimes completely equivalent to market ones, which means that the payment is gradually moving from symbolic to very expensive. In this regard, extra “squares” become a potential risk.
Another advantage of the studio is the initially lower cadastral value of this type of housing. This means that annual tax payments will be less. As promised, the transition to high property taxes will be gradual but inevitable. Thus, today's studio buyers may be in for a definite gain tomorrow.
Investing in a studio. Buy to let.
Studios are not yet common within the city - the cost per square meter here is too high, and it is easier and more profitable for buyers to add a certain amount to immediately buy a full-fledged living space.
Most studios are being built in the Moscow region, where prices are significantly lower than in the capital. The most common disappointment among buyers of such studios is the lack of interest in them from potential tenants. If compact premises are quite suitable for guests of large cities and successfully compete with hotel rooms, then at a distance from the center the situation becomes reversed.
The suburbs are preferred for rental by families who are willing to sacrifice transport accessibility for additional space or extra rooms. On the other hand, rooms within the city are becoming an alternative to studios - here the cramped space is justified by the existing infrastructure and proximity to work.
What will be better as an investment - a studio apartment or a one-room apartment? When planning such a purchase, you will have to take into account not only the price factor. The location of the property, the quality of the development, as well as the long-term prospects of the selected area will be of great importance.
The statistics of recent years also speak to this - if when they first appeared on the market, studios aroused serious interest, and their price tag was steadily growing, but now the situation is the opposite. This is especially noticeable in areas where the market is oversaturated with such offers. Under these conditions, there is no need to be tempted by low prices, and there is no point in investing in several cheap properties at once in densely populated areas with the expectation of immediate benefits. In the conditions of the resulting surplus, the risk in the near future of ending up in the company of the same unfortunate investors trying to urgently get rid of recklessly purchased square meters is too great. It is not worth seriously considering purchasing it for a long-term stay, or when planning a family. Savings on finishing will not outweigh the annoyance of not being able to retire in an isolated room.
What to take into account when choosing a studio?
You can buy a studio-type apartment without making a mistake if you take into account a number of criteria:
• Location on the floor. It is better to buy a studio, which is located in the corner section of the house or next to the entrance exits. This means that there will be a maximum of one wall with neighbors. Soundproofing one partition is cheaper than reconstructing the entire apartment. • Balcony and loggia. A studio with a loggia looks like a priority. This simplifies glazing and insulation. The area can be turned into a useful living space, where a work office or a separate room can be organized. • The density of the partition between the main room and the bathrooms. Not every apartment requires the installation of wall cabinets and other structures on such a wall. This is taken into account in advance when planning the kitchen, so as not to spend money on strengthening and eliminating defects. • Room layout. The classic version of the studio is a rectangular elongated room. Among others, you can find U-shaped and semicircular ones. A rectangular room is easier to zone. But if the room has two window frames, this is a plus.
Modern studio apartment design
What does a studio apartment look like?
Photos of studio apartments
How to choose an apartment in a new building. Top 10 Buyer Mistakes
Main advantages
The attractiveness of a studio apartment lies not only in the moderate initial investment in the purchase, but also in the further arrangement of the interior.
Due to the absence of ceilings, the renovation, together with building materials, will cost significantly less than the renovation of an ordinary one-room apartment.
The advantages include the possibility of zoning space using furniture and decorative items. The final design solution depends entirely on the owner’s imagination.
