Making Open Plan Living Work for Your Home

In the past, many people have considered open plan living to come alongside a loft or garage conversion, however today the open plan style is becoming more and more popular in the everyday home. Open plan living enabled you to quite literally open up your living spaces and combine areas of your home together, creating a beautiful space that works really well. There are specific elements to consider however, when it comes to an open plan design, but once figured out, the style will give your home the modern edge and keep it fresh for many years to come.

Space is the first thing to consider when designing your open plan living space, as it’s all about how you want to use the room and what you wish to get out of it. There are multiple different ways for designing an open plan space, and dependant on the rooms that your combining together, you can really create a bold yet stylish space. You often find that people stick to zones with their layouts, as this enables you to separate the areas into different sections that will work best for you. For example, if you have opened up your kitchen and dining room, you may choose to have a clear divide between the two, whilst still having that open feel that you can appreciate when using the rooms together. Having your spaces open will create an aesthetical appeal and create a really positive, fresh atmosphere.

Not every home is suited to complete open plan living 24/7, and there are still ways in which you can create the ideal open plan space, with a choice in how and when you use it. Introducing Sliding Doors to your home is the perfect way of enabling you to completely open your rooms up together, or keep them separated if preferred. The sliding doors will run on a neat sliding door track that you won’t be able to see, and therefore your rooms will still look neat and tidy even when the doors are open. Having this feature in your home will simply enable you to go with what works best, for example, you may want the whole area opened up for a dinner party, and then decide that the children want to retire to the living area to watch a film whilst the adults have a good chat over a glass of wine. This is where the sliding doors are great, as you can close off the section adding privacy and even just creating a new space to relax!

One obvious thing to consider that is often forgotten with open plan living is the way you choose to decorate. As your spaces are open and combined, it’s important to keep a simple flow running between the two spaces. You don’t want to create a messy contrast in colours that creates a negative atmosphere and results in the room feeling loud and in your face. The idea of open plan living is to create a space that works well for your home, adding a relaxing touch and sticking to a minimalist, modern style. Colours such as neutrals and pastels will work really well, as they are easier to combine together and often complement each other well. If you’re a bold person who loves a bit of colour, you can always look to introducing a statement wall, as not only will this add character and style to the room, but also differentiate the two rooms clearly.

Your open plan living space will instantly create a fresh, bright feel to your home, and as a result of this, it’s important to look at ways in which you can keep the room glowing and bright even when the sun goes down. Natural lighting is the ideal source of light when it comes to the daytime, as natural light will travel throughout the open space and create a homely, fresh feel. When it comes to the evening time, or even those darker days where the sun isn’t anywhere to be seen, you can introduce all kinds of different lighting features to help maintain the beautiful feel that your open plan living area holds. Introducing spotlights to your space will create a well distributed arrangement of light that can often be controlled by adding a specific switch, this way you can determine whether your lighting is bright, gentle or dimmed and this will add to the atmosphere perfectly. You could then look to introducing smaller lighting features such as lamps, stand alone or smaller table lamps, as these will be ideal for the evenings when you want to create a cosy atmosphere.

The final thing to consider when designing an open plan living space is how you will keep the character and personality of your home clear. From the moment someone steps into your home, they are greeted with a style and feel that your home holds, and this is a reflection of your personality and style. Therefore, it’s important to keep this flowing throughout your home, even when introducing new features such as open plan living. To keep the character and style your home embodies, it’s really easy, just add some artwork, family photographs and even ornaments or flowers, and your personal style will shine through. This will also enable the rooms to feel homely and relaxing and will be the perfect space for you and your family to enjoy.