In 2016, Liu Shuo, a young man from Chongqing, returned to his hometown from Beijing.
The old villa that has been abandoned for a long time in the 90s,
Transformed into a livable new home,
And take the initiative to invite parents and grandmothers to live with,
And moved the studio to the house,
Spend as much time as possible with your family.
New home 450 square meters, 4 floors,
From design to layout, Liu Shuo all do it himself,
Cover the aesthetics of young people to all details:
Create a separate bedroom for parents,
Encourage parents to sleep in separate beds;
For a father who likes to plant plants,
Create a greenhouse with 2 floors above and below;
Gave my mother a yoga space where she could see the Yangtze River...
Mother who used to be addicted to "European-style mansion style",
Also completely changed their own aesthetic taste,
Took the initiative to wear black and white gray.
Liu Shuo said: "Most young people are reluctant to live with their parents.
My parents and I are more like three separate individuals.
Give each other enough freedom to get along calmly. ”
Written by Xiao Yu
Chongqing brother Liu Shuo, from kindergarten to live with grandparents, junior high school with their parents after a few years, 17 years old went to the United Kingdom to study, study architecture, every year only a few months of summer vacation can come back to get along with their parents.
After returning from studying abroad, Liu Shuo found that his busy parents had both retired, so he thought that it would be better to use what he had learned to build a house where the family could live together and spend more time with his parents.
Pre-retrofit vs post-retrofit
At the end of the 90s, Liu Shuo and his family lived here for 7 years, and then moved to another place to live, and the old house was always empty.
Bedroom remodel before vs remodeled post
Kitchen modification before vs after renovation
Rose Villa is only about 200 meters away from the Yangtze River in a straight line, with a wide view, overlooking the Yangtze River Bridge and the entire Yuzhong Peninsula opposite. Although the community is quite old, and the green plants grow savagely, the gray walls of Liu Shuo's water-brushed stone are particularly conspicuous in a group of dilapidated houses. Three years ago, Liu Shuo decided to take matters into his own hands and transform the home with his own hands.
Before, after eating everyone fled back to the bedroom,
Now we drink tea and chat in the living room
The renovated house has a total of 4 floors and an area of 450 square meters. The first floor and the negative first floor are public spaces, the second floor is the parents' two bedrooms, and the top floor is Liu Shuo's studio and his own bedroom.
From the narrow entrance into the interior of the house, the view gradually opened, through the 60 square meters of open space can see a whole row of floor-to-ceiling windows, unconsciously go forward, standing by the window, you can see the Yangtze River Bridge, Caiyuanba Bridge outside the window.
The kitchen and dining room on the first floor have all been moved to this side of the river, and the river view can be enjoyed from any angle in the public space.
From the first floor to the negative first floor, the entire public space does not have a partition wall, and the corner of the kitchen can be seen from the living room. Liu Shuo likes this feeling of being able to see his family at a glance at home: "Everyone does not disturb each other in all corners, doing their own things, and it is also a kind of silent companionship." ”
The original old house was dark and damp, and each room was enclosed. The indoor temperature in Chongqing in summer can reach about 50 degrees, and even if the air conditioner is turned on, there is no way to cool down. Therefore, Liu Shuo changed the brick-concrete structure to a frame structure with beams and columns bearing loads.
"Before, when I came home, everyone fled back to their bedroom after eating, and no one wanted to stay in the public space. Now our whole family likes to chat and drink tea here, and a better environment means that we can attract everyone to communicate here. ”
Liu Shuo and his mother
The son helps his parents achieve their wish of "sleeping in separate beds"
At the time of the renovation, Liu Shuo's mother told her that there must be two bedrooms on the second floor. Father sleep has the habit of snoring, affecting the quality of mother's sleep, Liu Shuo specially made a small bedroom, the father came back late, or when the rest is not good, the two people sleep separately.
Father's bedroom
In his mother's bedroom, Liu Shuo specially made a direct drinking water source and a separate sink. In the morning the mother could make tea, coffee and a little simple breakfast in the room by herself, saving herself the trouble of going downstairs. Because the bedroom is more private than the living room, she will also invite one or two particularly good friends to the bedroom to chat and drink afternoon tea.
Mother's bedroom
The interior of the master bedroom made a 20 square meter cloakroom for my mother, which was filled with her clothes, bags, accessories... She can dress herself up inside.
Liu Shuo's father especially likes to raise plants, has been carefully studied for 6 or 7 years, the northwest side of the house made a two-story greenhouse, which put more than 20 kinds of plants of all sizes, which not only solves the problem of too close to the distance between the building and the building, but also satisfies the father's interests and hobbies. When the weather is relatively clear, the shadows of plants in the greenhouse can also be projected into the entire public space.
Because his father has a long-term reading habit, coupled with Liu Shuo's professional books, there are many books in the family. Liu Shuo did not want to have an isolated guest room as a study, but designed a large bookshelf, from the first floor to the first floor throughout the entire space, everyone can take the book they want to read in any corner of the public space, go to the place they want to go.
When doing the greenhouse, Liu Shuo also consulted with his father on many professional issues and integrated the experience he had summed up into the plant room. The direction and size of the windows are carefully calculated, so that these plants can have good ventilation and sunlight.
The greenhouse is also equipped with a reservoir and sprinkler irrigation system, even if the parents travel abroad for a few days, these plants can "live on their own" and get careful care.
Liu Shuo's studio at home
Successfully change the aesthetic taste of parents
Throughout the transformation process, Liu Shuo's mother was the most difficult person to accept at the beginning, and also the person who changed the most.
Liu Shuo said: "My mother began to do her own interior design at home before the Rose Villa. At that time, the color of the home, my mother used quite bold, such as some pink green, pink, purple red this particularly bright color, wallpaper, sofa to choose a particularly decorative, even the lamps must have carvings and crystals. ”
After moving in, he could clearly feel his mother's initial loss. In the first year, his mother came to him every once in a while and asked him some questions, "Why is this house so empty?" Why are the walls all white? Why is it so simple to do, not a little fancy? ”
After living for more than a year, my mother began to slowly accept this new way of living.
Liu Shuo feels that his mother's biggest change is her dressing style. "The style of her previous clothes is very bold, the color is bright, and she likes the kind of interior style is particularly similar, after living in, she put away the original bright clothes, and slowly began to accept some new ideas, thinking that gorgeous is not necessarily the best, dressing style is more plain, but feel simple and comfortable."
Mother is now very concerned about physical health, because the bedroom has a large open window facing the Yangtze River, she will do yoga next to the window, or read a book next to the sofa for a while.
She used to like to play mahjong, but after moving in, she slowly became less fond of playing mahjong, and now the mahjong room on the first floor has become a place where her father often reads and writes.
After the greenhouse was built, in order to meet his son's requirements for space, he deliberately chose green leafy plants that meet the aesthetics of young people, and Liu's father had to stay in it for half an hour every day, loosening the soil and watering, which became his most beloved space.
Working from home,
The father is also enthusiastically involved in his son's work
Now liu shuo's family has moved in for almost three years. Because of the relationship between the floors, the parents' living area is on the second floor, and Liu Shuo usually works in the office on the top floor, maintaining an appropriate distance from each other.
Liu Shuo's bedroom
From Monday to Friday, colleagues from Liu Shuo's studio would come to work together at home, and several friends would stay at home almost all day.
After the day's work, the studio friends and the family eat downstairs. Dad Liu used to have his own company, so he occasionally participated in studio meetings to talk about his experience and give some guidance to young people.
Liu Shuo and his friends are on the roof of their home
Liu Shuo feels that most young people are reluctant to live with their parents, perhaps because of many differences in concepts between the two generations, which will produce many contradictions and differences, and everyone will be very tired when getting along. In fact, as long as you are patient and communicate more, the situation will be better.
When Liu Shuo was a child, his parents would have a stronger personality, and now that his parents have retired, the three of them are more like three independent individuals. Because of the completion of the house, Liu Shuo will also have a lot of new topics with his parents, and everyone will discuss some of the designs at that time in the space from time to time, triggering views on many things. Parents also have a new understanding of Liu Shuo's ability to work and live.
"I'm lucky that my parents may be two people who are more open-minded, they are very willing to accept the ideas of young people, willing to experience some of the things we have proposed, everyone lives together without interfering and controlling each other, and everyone feels comfortable and comfortable." 」
In most of the cases interviewed in the past, most of the young people after the 80s and 90s are unwilling to live with their parents, one is that the lifestyle is different, and the other is that there will be a huge gap in aesthetics. With such a question, we talked with Liu Shuo and his parents about how young people get along with their parents:
Q: How did you explain your design to your parents?
Liu Shuo: From the concept to the plan to the construction drawings at the beginning, I really treated my parents as party A to close the case. They already knew what the house would look like before it was repaired. But the first time my mother walked into the remodeled house, she was still greatly affected. After we lived for three years, some of my mother's concepts and aesthetic orientations began to change slowly.
I learned from my mother that the traditional aesthetics of their generation are deeply rooted, beyond our imagination, and it is difficult for you to make them accept it at once, and it needs to be slowly changed and persuaded. Now my parents' vacation house in Hainan has also been entrusted to me to design, indicating that they have adapted to this new way of life.
Q: What changes have been made to the lifestyles of Daddy Liu and Mom Liu?
Dad Liu: I feel like I live in Liu Shuo's works. The furniture and the color of the wall were all re-selected by him, the old furniture was basically lost, and the dishes, tableware, and kitchenware were also re-purchased by Liu Shuo. Everything we don't use is stored in time, and we will pay more attention to the cleanliness of the countertop, so that the home can maintain a sense of beauty. Compared with the messy home before, the aesthetics have indeed improved a lot.
Mama Liu: At first, it was definitely uncomfortable. My circle is full of decorations and styles from our time, and when I first moved in, many people would ask me, "Oh, is your house still unfinished?" Wouldn't it be very dark without chandeliers... Later, those who did not understand my son's works, I did not ask them to come and see it, only those who could understand the beauty of this room, I would invite them to the house.
In the past, I liked to wear some big brands and luxury goods, and then after living in, I felt that the past clothes were somewhat exaggerated, or simple, simple clothes were more comfortable, and slowly the dressing style changed, and even a few of my girlfriends were also influenced by me and dressed more elegantly.
Q: What is the secret to getting along with mom and dad? What advice can I give to young people?
Liu Shuo: Although I rarely lived with my parents since I was a child, and went to the Uk at the age of 17, my relationship with each other has always been very good. My parents are the kind of parents who will have fun for themselves and will not focus on their children. Usually they often go out to play, my mother goes to the gym every week, asks my sisters for tea, and my father will find opportunities to travel to Europe with friends.
On the other hand, the structure of this house also helps us a lot. The house itself has 4 floors, the living area is relatively independent, and everyone is active in their own space, so it is also harmonious and relaxed to get along, and there is no problem. Maintaining an appropriate distance and giving the other person full respect and understanding is the advice I would like to give to you.
Some of the image sources: Folk Square Photography, Stone Page Studio