Open plan living has become one of the most popular design choices for all homes. With the ability to work with almost all design styles, the spaciousness and flexibitily it offers makes it so desirable.
In this post, we'll go over ? essential elements for you to optimize your open plan living space, no matter the shape or size of your home:
The Layout
The most important part of an open planned space is the overall layout of your furniture. Planning ahead to maximise the free space you have while maintaining functionality is a must to allow all of the other elements to come together.
When planning, ensuring that you are capable of moving freely wherever you are in the space without having to worry about bashing into anything is the first key point. Creating a sesne of connection will be super easy when doing this.
An optimised layout also creates ventilation throughout the space, and gives you more options when it comes to letting in natural light.
Lighting
Lighting is one of the core elements of any type of space, however with open plan living, it's importance is boosted by the increased amount of spae to fill. There are a few different way you can light your space, depenidng on the purpose.
For general lighitng, nothing is better than filling a space with natural light. Keeping window clear will make things easier when it comes to finding additional light sources. Task lighting will be the perfect choice for areas such as the kitchen and dining room, where specific tasks need that little extra light.
When it comes to your living room and bedrooms, ambient lighting can create a warm, comforting space to sink into. If you have specific pieces of decor you want to put on show without disrupting the flow of the space, try some accent lighting.
Furniture
The choice of furniture is of course essential in an open plan living space. Making sure to select pieces that flow together creating a cohesive space should be at the top of your list when choosing.
Proportions are super important in an open space, as the furniture needs to complement the overall size of the room ensuring that it feels a lot more spacious. Choosing more simple designed pieces of furniture can also help with this, especially if you're going for bolder colours.
Colour Scheme
The colour scheme is another essential element in an open space. The colours that you select can have a pretty durastic effect on the overall tone of your space, meaning you have to consider every corner of the space carefully.
Due to the natural openness you will have, opting for a neautral primary colour scheme will feed into the openness. This can include whites, beiges and greys, along with some black for focal points. For more tips on how to use neutral colours in your space, check out this POST.
Whilst using a neutral colour palette for most of your space, open spacesgive you the freedom of using bold colours for accents and highlights. Choosing a bold colour for things like your sofas can add both character and depth to your space. Wall decor is another perfect way to do this.
Flooring
In an open-planned space, you'll be looking at the floor much more than usual. This makes it so mcuh mor eof an important element, as it can help determine the overall feel of the space. It's one of the key ways to create cohesion.
Hardwood floors tend to be the go-to chocie for open spaces, and for good reason. They are much easier to maintain than other types of flooring, and can add subtle warmth and texture in a space that can be restricted in doing so in other areas.
If you want to really focus on the minimalism, tiles and concrete can be a great alternative.
Storage
Effective storage solutions are essential in any space, but more so in an open-planned layout. The best way to keep your space organised and clutter free, a well planned storage system can help with the functionality and cohesion whilst holding all the everyday items you need.
the best way you can do this in any area of your space is through either built in cabinetry or shelving that corresponds with the rest of the spaces design. This will make it almost invisible, whilst being able to hide away all the clutter.
However, by having it built in, it naturally creates more space therefore you can experiment with contrasting colours as it won't feel as cramped.
Privacy
Whilst the elements of open plan living create a light, airy, free space, it's important to make sure that you still maintain some sense of privacy with different areas (of course only if you deem it necessary).
Effective ways you can do this without disrupting the openness can be through sliding doors, room dividers or curtains. These will make it easy to designate areas of your space to specific zones whilst keeping it all connected.
Acoustics
Something that isn't always considered when designing an open-planned space is the potential for porr acoustics. Due to having a lot less items and walls in the space for sound to bounce off of, it can create a lot of unwanted echoing.
Incorporating sound-obsorbing materials wherever possible without disrupting the flow of the space can really help out with this. Looking into curtains, rugs and carpets are some good options for this.
Greenery
Perhaps the most minimal way to add some colour and texture to your space is through incorporating plants. They can be a great addition to your open space as they're perfect for creating a calm, relaxing atmosphere.
There are a few different types of plants to use, including hanging plants, potted plants, staning plants and even an entire feature wall can be great ways to add greenery to your open plan living space.
Overall, designing your space around the open plan living concept can give you the peaceful, light, flowing home that you've always been thinking about.
Taking into account the tips in this post can help you to maximise the effectiveness of your space when you're deciding on what's best for you.