Best of the Week: 30 Marvellous Multi-Level Living Areas
Split levels can pose a design and decor challenge, but these 30 multi-level living areas prove they can make a room
Split-level interiors and multi-level rooms can be the bane of many home renovations for designers and owners. But don’t despair if your home has floor-level changes; here are 30 living areas from around the world that prove these features can make – not break – a space.
And remember, you can get more details of a project and see more of a professional’s work by clicking on a photo.
And remember, you can get more details of a project and see more of a professional’s work by clicking on a photo.
2. Location: Sydney, NSW
Designer: Trentini Design
Features: Split levels abound in this home, where a quiet corner has been carved out for a living space that enjoys a floor level of its own.
See the rest of this fun family home, built on a narrow site with multiple floor-level changes
Designer: Trentini Design
Features: Split levels abound in this home, where a quiet corner has been carved out for a living space that enjoys a floor level of its own.
See the rest of this fun family home, built on a narrow site with multiple floor-level changes
3. Location: UK
Designer: Jojo Humes Brown Designs
Features: The deep, broody-blue of this small staircase sets the scene from the entrance of this snug, cosy living room.
Designer: Jojo Humes Brown Designs
Features: The deep, broody-blue of this small staircase sets the scene from the entrance of this snug, cosy living room.
4. Location: Brisbane, Queensland
Designer: Connors & Co.
Features: The conversation pits of yesteryear are making a comeback in a big way with contemporary designs such as this.
Designer: Connors & Co.
Features: The conversation pits of yesteryear are making a comeback in a big way with contemporary designs such as this.
5. Location: Sydney, NSW
Designer: The Designory
Features: Here, a slight level change delineates the living area from the dining ‘room’ and kitchen in a subtle, yet highly effective, way. No more unnecessary foot traffic interrupting the cook in the kitchen.
Designer: The Designory
Features: Here, a slight level change delineates the living area from the dining ‘room’ and kitchen in a subtle, yet highly effective, way. No more unnecessary foot traffic interrupting the cook in the kitchen.
6. Location: London, UK
Designer: Scenario Architecture
Features: A glass balustrade helps show off the internal views in this home and makes an asset of the interior vistas that the level changes provide.
See the rest of this broken-plan home in a converted Victorian terrace
Designer: Scenario Architecture
Features: A glass balustrade helps show off the internal views in this home and makes an asset of the interior vistas that the level changes provide.
See the rest of this broken-plan home in a converted Victorian terrace
7. Location: Philadelphia, USA
Designer: McCoubrey/Overholser
Features: Black-framed stairs and balustrades make a feature of the split levels in this living area, drawing your attention to them rather than letting them recede into the space.
Designer: McCoubrey/Overholser
Features: Black-framed stairs and balustrades make a feature of the split levels in this living area, drawing your attention to them rather than letting them recede into the space.
8. Location: Toronto, Canada
Designer: CF + D Custom Fireplace Design
Features: A sculptural fireplace, meant to be viewed from multiple angles, takes centrestage in this living area in a way that wouldn’t have made such a statement in a single-level space.
Designer: CF + D Custom Fireplace Design
Features: A sculptural fireplace, meant to be viewed from multiple angles, takes centrestage in this living area in a way that wouldn’t have made such a statement in a single-level space.
9. Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Designer: Kennedy Nolan
Features: Note how the snugness of this carved-out living area is conducive to conversation, despite the generous size of the open-plan space.
Designer: Kennedy Nolan
Features: Note how the snugness of this carved-out living area is conducive to conversation, despite the generous size of the open-plan space.
10. Location: New York, USA
Designer: LABLstudio
Features: The concertina window adds a playful touch to this split-level living area by linking the spaces and assisting the natural flow of light.
Designer: LABLstudio
Features: The concertina window adds a playful touch to this split-level living area by linking the spaces and assisting the natural flow of light.
12. Location: Denver, USA
Designer: Ashleigh Weatherill Interior Design
Features: The very act of ascending to this living area gives it a high, airy ambience that a single-level space could not.
Designer: Ashleigh Weatherill Interior Design
Features: The very act of ascending to this living area gives it a high, airy ambience that a single-level space could not.
13. Location: Surrey, UK
Designer: Charlie Kingham | Guildford
Features: A vantage point – slightly removed yet still connected – has been created in this living area, offering a secondary space for quiet relaxation.
Designer: Charlie Kingham | Guildford
Features: A vantage point – slightly removed yet still connected – has been created in this living area, offering a secondary space for quiet relaxation.
14. Location: Surry Hills, NSW
Designer: ASA Architects
Features: This vast floor plan would have risked being overly large and losing its intimacy without the changes in floor levels.
Designer: ASA Architects
Features: This vast floor plan would have risked being overly large and losing its intimacy without the changes in floor levels.
15. Location: Goa, India
Designer: Architecture + Design Ankit Prabhudessai
Features: With the compression of this dark ceiling, extra height was made possible thanks to a lower floor level.
Designer: Architecture + Design Ankit Prabhudessai
Features: With the compression of this dark ceiling, extra height was made possible thanks to a lower floor level.
16. Location: San Francisco, USA
Designer: Dwyer Design
Features: Want to draw the eye away from a split level in your home? Concentrate attention on a breathtaking ceiling to raise people’s gaze.
Designer: Dwyer Design
Features: Want to draw the eye away from a split level in your home? Concentrate attention on a breathtaking ceiling to raise people’s gaze.
17. Location: New York, USA
Designer: Amanda Nisbet
Features: A pair of nib walls frames the split level and separates the two areas in this colourful, eclectic living space, without blocking off light or visual space.
Designer: Amanda Nisbet
Features: A pair of nib walls frames the split level and separates the two areas in this colourful, eclectic living space, without blocking off light or visual space.
18. Location: Vancouver, Canada
Features: No room for a dedicated office? A mezzanine level is much better than nothing.
Features: No room for a dedicated office? A mezzanine level is much better than nothing.
19. Location: Wollongong, NSW
Designer: Benedict Design
Features: While the sunshine-yellow kitchen bench separates the cooking and dining areas, it’s a few subtle stairs that separate the dining and living areas without visually bisecting the space.
See the rest of this home, including before and after images of the cosmetic renovation
Designer: Benedict Design
Features: While the sunshine-yellow kitchen bench separates the cooking and dining areas, it’s a few subtle stairs that separate the dining and living areas without visually bisecting the space.
See the rest of this home, including before and after images of the cosmetic renovation
20. Location: Vancouver, Canada
Designer: Zeitraum
Features: Here, various shades of grey in the building’s materiality and furnishings help the level changes blend into the interior.
Designer: Zeitraum
Features: Here, various shades of grey in the building’s materiality and furnishings help the level changes blend into the interior.
21. Location: Hamburg, Germany
Designer: Open Ruum
Features: Steps that double as seating – we’ll toast to that.
Designer: Open Ruum
Features: Steps that double as seating – we’ll toast to that.
22. Location: Paris, France
Designer: Bismut & Bismut Architectes
Features: Taking the art of conversation to the next level, the heart of this living area has literally been raised on a pedestal.
Designer: Bismut & Bismut Architectes
Features: Taking the art of conversation to the next level, the heart of this living area has literally been raised on a pedestal.
23. Location: Brighton, Victoria
Designer: Studio Ezra
Features: By dropping the floor level in the left-hand side of this living area to create the conversation pit, the view through the trio of glass doors – and the natural light that flows through – is not cut off.
Designer: Studio Ezra
Features: By dropping the floor level in the left-hand side of this living area to create the conversation pit, the view through the trio of glass doors – and the natural light that flows through – is not cut off.
24. Location: Seattle, USA
Designer: Kimberley Bryan
Features: Pebbles at the point of the level change help draw the outdoors into this split-level living area.
Designer: Kimberley Bryan
Features: Pebbles at the point of the level change help draw the outdoors into this split-level living area.
25. Location: London, UK
Designer: EMR Architecture
Features: Here, a sunken conversation pit and a staircase have done what walls can’t – delineate these separate living areas without blocking off light, views and the feeling of spaciousness.
Designer: EMR Architecture
Features: Here, a sunken conversation pit and a staircase have done what walls can’t – delineate these separate living areas without blocking off light, views and the feeling of spaciousness.
26. Location: New York, USA
Designer: Atlas Industries
Features: A dedicated reading area has been clearly marked out by the different wall treatment in this split-level living area.
Designer: Atlas Industries
Features: A dedicated reading area has been clearly marked out by the different wall treatment in this split-level living area.
27. Location: Portland, USA
Designer: Vanillawood
Features: This dining area and living ‘room’ are clearly separate, thanks to the changes in floor level and balustrade, though they borrow space from each other, which helps visually enlarge both.
Designer: Vanillawood
Features: This dining area and living ‘room’ are clearly separate, thanks to the changes in floor level and balustrade, though they borrow space from each other, which helps visually enlarge both.
28. Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Designer: Inbetween Architecture
Features: A nib wall at the point where this floor level splits is enough to communicate the different functions of the circulation space in the background and the quiet office area in the foreground.
See the rest of the contemporary renovation to this 1970s home, which was transformed with space, light and views
Designer: Inbetween Architecture
Features: A nib wall at the point where this floor level splits is enough to communicate the different functions of the circulation space in the background and the quiet office area in the foreground.
See the rest of the contemporary renovation to this 1970s home, which was transformed with space, light and views
29. Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Designer: Moloney Architects
Features: This architect has played up the different levels in this home, deliberately creating opportunities to view other spaces from within the building, courtesy of some clever vantage points.
Designer: Moloney Architects
Features: This architect has played up the different levels in this home, deliberately creating opportunities to view other spaces from within the building, courtesy of some clever vantage points.
30. Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Features: A book nook and play area has been created in this swanky split-level living area. No excuses to avoid picking up a book instead of watching TV!
Tell us
Which of these design features could work in your split-level living area? Tell us in the Comments below and, if you’ve successfully navigated a level change, share your tips. And remember to like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
More
Craving more design inspiration? Feast your hungry eyes on last week’s Best of the Week: Brilliant Clothes Storage Ideas
Features: A book nook and play area has been created in this swanky split-level living area. No excuses to avoid picking up a book instead of watching TV!
Tell us
Which of these design features could work in your split-level living area? Tell us in the Comments below and, if you’ve successfully navigated a level change, share your tips. And remember to like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
More
Craving more design inspiration? Feast your hungry eyes on last week’s Best of the Week: Brilliant Clothes Storage Ideas
Designer: Volantes Decorating Service
Features: Natural materials shine in this home and where this split level demarcates the different zones of each space, the transparency of the glazing on these internal doors helps link the areas together.