Podium in interior design - variations of the use of multi-level floors

The podium in modern apartments is becoming more and more common. This is a real find for designers, allowing you to transform the space and increase the useful area of the living space. Raising the floor by a few centimeters, you can solve multiple issues on the arrangement of the apartment, from aesthetic to functional. You will learn how to use multi-level floors in the interior right now.

Application # 1 - zoning agent

Most often, the podium is used to divide the room into zones. This is a traditional technique used in studio apartments, where several areas with different functional tasks are equipped in one room. In order to highlight the boundaries of each of them, low podiums are usually used. For example, in a studio apartment, the kitchen area raised to the podium will visually look isolated from the living room.

The dining area of the kitchen is raised on the podium, so it is perceived as a separate part of the room

In a one-room apartment, where a family lives with a child, a small podium will become an opportunity to equip a play area and provide the kid with his own space. There is an opinion that the podium cannot be mounted in a room with low ceilings, however, when arranging a corner for a small child, it does not matter.

On a small podium you can place toys and bookshelves

The use of different contrasting with each other in the material of manufacture and color of flooring will help to emphasize the differences in functional areas. For example, the kitchen area on the podium can be tiled, and in the living room area lay carpet or linoleum.

The thematic interior is based on a wooden podium towering above stone walkways

High podiums, as a rule, do not need floor coverings contrasting with the rest of the surface. In this case, the height of the podium serves as a kind of partition and perfectly emphasizes the boundaries of the zones. So in a large bedroom, a high podium with a bed placed on it divides the room into the bedroom itself and the sitting area.

Part of the bedroom on the high podium looks like a separate room

Application # 2 - storage of things

A podium used for zoning a room can simultaneously serve as a storage for household items, including furniture. If your child does not have his own room and is forced to live in yours, then thanks to the catwalk, you can arrange a fully functional children's corner. At the same time, the podium can be made hollow inside and the bed can be pushed there while the child is awake. A similar design is quite high, so it is additionally equipped with stairs or a ladder.

In the free space of the podium, you can equip niches and install drawers there. Then in your apartment there will be an additional closet where you can put bedding, clothes and various little things. Moreover, this closet will not occupy usable space, which is very convenient in cramped rooms. Sometimes, in the presence of high ceilings, the podium is raised to a height of about a meter. In this case, under the podium, you can equip a kind of pantry where everything that is needed on the farm can fit, but does not fit into the surrounding interior.

In this podium, two children's beds are hidden on the sides, and the stairs are transformed into several convenient drawers for clothes and linen

An interesting note in the design of a room can be made by a podium, the inner space of which at the end acts as a bookshelf, where you can put your favorite books or a collection of figurines.

You can get any of these evening reading books without getting out of bed!

You can get any of these books for evening reading without getting out of bed!

Application # 3 - couch, sofa or bed

The podium in the bedroom may well replace the bed if you put a mattress and other bedding on it. Moreover, the mattress can be of the same size as the surface of the podium, or smaller than it. The latter option is more advantageous, since the free area on the podium can be used as a bedside table.

Multifunctional podium used as a bed, bedside table, bedside table and bookshelf

Very often, in rooms with an oriental interior, the podium serves as a sofa or a couch. It is covered with a soft substrate, decorated with a cloth and laid on top of the pillows. Although this is not necessary, you can also turn an ordinary solid podium into a stove bench, if you put a soft mattress on it.

The eastern corner is created on a traditional podium, thanks to a large number of bright pillow pillows

Application # 4 - a way to hide communications

Sometimes the interior of a room is spoiled by numerous wires or pipes, which are part of utilities. A podium is a good way to hide it all.

If in the bathroom the bath is reinstalled to another place, then, naturally, the drain pipe is also transferred, which must be located at an angle to the sewer. To ensure the necessary tilt, the bath is raised above the floor surface. This can be done using the podium, which additionally will hide all the unsightly pipes, if you "drown" the bath in it. An exclusive bath, which serves not only for bathing, but also for beauty, is best installed on the surface of the podium.

The podium creates a small shelf around the perimeter of the bathtub, where you can place everything you need for swimming

A low podium in the TV zone, where there is a TV or an entire home theater, will hide the numerous wires that spoil the interiors of our rooms.

The podium under the TV can be completely invisible, but it is guaranteed to hide all unsightly wires and cables

Application # 5 - adjusting room proportions

The podium with its ability to divide the space is able to visually correct the failed geometry of the room. For example, if you install a high podium at one end of a room that is too elongated, then it will seem more harmonious: an elevation will visually divide one room into two! A small corner podium in the corner of a square room will make it more interesting, diverse.

A long room expands visually using a podium along a short wall

In the evening, the floor lighting of the podium creates a mysterious romantic atmosphere in the room.

Unsuccessful compositional solutions can also be hidden with the help of lighting. The podium makes it possible to create additional floor lighting from luminaires mounted in the end. Thanks to such lighting, you can highlight the advantages of the situation, hiding in the shadows of flaws.

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ivanov843
6 years ago

Absolutely unnecessary excess in the house. Podium :) You will only stumble over it, and God forbid - get hurt. And if the ceilings are low? What is the podium?
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Tanya
6 years ago

A very interesting and stylish solution that can be applied in different rooms, and in different ways. At my place, too, there is a podium, though they were a little lost with the place of its installation. We made it in the nursery, thus creating a recreation area for children. The whole problem is that our children are still small and they often forget that there is a rise and there were falls, it saved that a soft carpet was laid there. So who wants to make a podium in the nursery - consider this fact. I think if the children are older, there will be no problems with these. Although it must be said that it looks very beautiful and original, in addition, the game zone stands out beautifully.
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Inna
6 years ago

We made a podium in the bedroom. Since we have a small apartment, I would like to zonize it as much as possible, so we allocated the sleeping area from the working area using the podium (at the other end of the room my husband has a “working room”). As a result, it turned out very romantic. Plus, we chose a round bed in the form of a podium (something similar to the title photo of this article), the bed was decorated with a canopy - it turned out very beautifully. Friends who first see this innovation are simply thrilled.
The only negative - while we got used to it - often stumbled on this very podium, and then we couldn’t even remember how we lived without it before.
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Fima
6 years ago

The podium idea is very relevant and interesting for small rooms that need to be slightly enlarged externally. So with the help of the podium, we coolly visually enlarged the bedroom. Every time before you get on the bed, you need to overcome the threshold and this is a kind of warm-up. We have a bed on the podium and it’s as if separated from the common part of the room.
In the nursery, we want to make a podium only so that it can store toys, but the child is still against and says that he does not need it. If the daughter agrees, we will make the podium and cover it with carpet. Then there will be no need to be afraid of sharp corners and possible abrasions due to a hard surface. I am grateful to the site for having opened many eyes to the fact that everything can be improved much more simply and that no extraordinary solutions are needed to create a unique interior in the apartment. But I had a question about the podium with a niche. From what material is it better to build it so that the bed standing on it does not break anything and everything remains in its place?
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Angelina
6 years ago

Great idea, what I need. In application No. 5, the first photo pushed me to the fact that she finally found the answer to her question: “How to combine everything in one small room: a table, beds and a wardrobe, so that there is still room to feel a large space. And why haven't I seen this site before ?!
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