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8 Tips on Creating a Functional, Sophisticated Open Floor Plan through Design

Make Your Open Floor Plan Functional and Sophisticated—By Design

 

So you’re ready to move into your new home and a most amazing open floor layout. Before you decide on color schemes, interior décor, and furniture, here are a few tips to make the floor plan more polished, appealing, and above all, comfortable. 

 

1.  Minimize the Clutter

Remember to visualize the overall space and sketch a diagram of where you want to position everything. This will create clean and comfortable lines.

Kitchen, dining, and family areas in an open floor plan

In this uncluttered space of a 2-story Country style home with a delightfully laid out open floor/Great Room design, the kitchen-dining-living areas merge seamlessly together for maximum interaction among family members (Plan #126-1287).

 

2.  Toss Out Heavy, Oversize Furniture

The idea is to have free-flowing movement around the Great Room area, where family and friends can walk back and forth with ease. If sofas, chairs, and sectionals are bulky and overstuffed, the traffic pattern can be a bit congested and tight. Choose furniture that gives the social areas a comfortable, homey feel and not a gridlock.

Aerial view of Great Room with fireplace and large windows

Open floor plan looking from the family room to the kitchen and dining area

Take a look at the sofa and chairs in this well-appointed open floor layout of a 2-story, 5-bedroom country home. Made for comfort and relaxation, it is easy to get in and out of the living area (top) and to move to the breakfast-nook-eat-in-kitchen area (bottom) to reach the sunroom (Plan #161-1030).

 

3.  Pay Attention to Arrangement

Speaking of furniture, remember to keep a balance in your floor arrangement to maintain that smooth and easy flow. Do not stack furniture on one side of the space, and try to position pieces some distance from the walls.

Open floor plan with family and dining areas separated by column with railing

This elegant Great Room becomes more attractive through its furniture arrangement – with the couch and chairs positioned away from walls. And check out the area rug that separates the living room from the dining room (Plan #161-1022).

 

4.  Integrate Color Schemes

Remember that this is your space, and you have to live in it! So choose colors that you like – and make sense for the home. Red maybe your favorite, for instance, but it may work better as an accent color than as a color for the walls.

Beige-cream hues can be mixed with light browns for a warm and cozy feel. Use darker tones for the ceiling and built-in cabinets/storage spaces, lighter hues for walls, and perhaps a combination of colors for corners, columns, windows, and doors.

Throw in splashes of color as part of the interior décor – patterned cushions, side and coffee tables, flower arrangements in oranges/yellows/reds, and pillows in bright complementary shades and tones.

Open floor plan showing dark wood cabinets in kitchen

Here’s a color scheme that is clean, warm, and cozy: bluish-gray for the ceiling, beige walls, an orange backsplash, flower arrangement in orange, a glimpse of a painting in orange tones. The cabinets, leather couch, kitchen island-snack bar are in solid dark brown, and patterned cushions give some visual relief (Plan #153-1808).

Contrasting shades and color accents in 2-story, 3-bedroom Farmhouse style home

Check out the contrasting shades and color accents in the open floor plan of this 2-story, 3-bedroom Farmhouse style home: taupe on the ceiling and walls, a hint of pink on the trimwork, a creamy-pink mix on the windows, and a beige sofa made colorful by the red cushions. In the kitchen, note the white and light brown built-in kitchen cabinets (Plan #165-1090).

 

5.  Use That “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…”

Strategically placed mirrors enhance the light filtering into the rooms, open up space more, and make for better ambiance. You can create your signature interior décor with mirrors. With their different shapes and sizes, mirrors are wonderful as wall accents – singly or grouped. Position them above the fireplace mantel, in the foyer area, on dining-living room walls, and in hallways, entryways, staircases, and bathrooms, of course.

Large mirror in family room that reflects abundant light from the windows

Dining room with geometric wall decor

Top: Mirrors can be used to make a statement in a room. The large mirror in the family room at top reflects the abundant light from the windows and calls attention to itself almost like a painting (Plan #106-1189). Bottom: The Art Deco geometric mirror in the room at bottom echoes the wall art on the adjacent wall (Plan #153-1781).

luxury bathroom

Staircase with intricately patterned narrow mirror on narrow wall

Top: A tall, wide mirror adds to the picture-perfect design of the master bath in this elegant ranch house plan. Bottom: Instead of looking at a bare wall when people go down the stairs, they can admire this intricately patterned narrow mirror that adorns the space (Plan #101-1336).

 

6.  Try for windows (and lots of them!)

In addition to high ceilings and mirrors, windows enhance the natural light that streams into the home. Whether the windows in your home are tall, thin, wide, narrow, or small, they allow clear views of the outdoors and increase the indoor-outdoor relationship when positioned correctly. These features of a home can really make a big impact on the look and feel.

Out with heavy drapes for a bright and airy feel. Go for blinds or curtains made of lightweight fabrics like cotton, linen, sheer crepe, or synthetic silk. These are more appealing and attractive options that also provide privacy.

2-story, 4-bedroom shingle-style house

Rear of Shingle style home with windows in all shapes and designst

Front (top) and rear (bottom) views of this 2-story, 4-bedroom shingle-style house showcase windows in all shapes and designs that allow natural sunlight to stream into the home (Plan #161-1038).

2-story-tall Great Room with large multi-pane windows

Here’s an inside view of the beautifully constructed small-pane windows that fill the home (Plan #161-1038)

 

7.  Widen Doorways, Entryways between Rooms

Even with open floor plans, there are instances when homeowners decide to expand entryways to adjoining areas like the breakfast nook/pantry or the kitchen-living room – or other combinations. There is a better flow from one room to the next, not to mention a sunny, breezy atmosphere with wider passageways.

Arched entryway to the breakfast nook-pantry area in 2-story, 4 bedroom French home

With its high ceilings and windows, this 2-story, 4-bedroom French-style home gets an abundance of natural light. The arched entryway to the breakfast nook-pantry area adds to the bright and sunny look (Plan #161-1007)

Dining area and kitchen in 2-story, 4-bedroom Country style home

Imagine the smooth flow of traffic between the dining area and the kitchen with this expansive entrance (Plan #153-1781)

 

8.  Look for Nonstructural Walls That Can Be Removed

So, do you think your home has enough open space? If you want to make it even more open, you will have to take down walls. Make certain that you consult an engineer to help target walls that can be removed and those that bear part of the structural weight of your home – and must remain.

 

Get ready with your sketches and tools as you take on this exciting project to make your home’s open floor design appealing and polished!

 

Footnote: This articles lead image is from a rustic Country style 2-story, 5-bedroom house plan. For more details on Plan #202-1016, click here

 

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