For decades, the open floor plan has been a popular design. It’s no wonder. There are many advantages to this layout. With an open concept, your home feels larger–no walls to separate rooms. Your family feels united, with everyone occupying the same space. But, there is one small obstacle. Decorating. We’ve got secrets to making your open floor plan look and function the way it’s meant to–as one cohesive space.
Creative Spaces
First, allow your family life to dictate how you design your home. The open floor plan is meant to be open, but it’s also meant to be functional. It helps to designate spaces within, and be creative. Use area rugs to define small useful areas; maybe an office, reading nook or small play area. You get the idea.The right amount of separation is one secret.
Wide Open
Moreover, when furnishing your open floor plan, create a design that allows foot traffic to flow easily. Too much stuff will make your space feel cluttered and small. Allow your space to feel wide open by choosing furniture that works well with an open concept home, decorators agree, low profile furniture is best.
Strong Foundation
Next, when building any space, it’s best to set a strong foundation first. Choose your color palette and flooring before anything else. Now that you have the basic elements decided and there’s a unified look, add accent pieces that tell your story. By keeping foundational elements the same, your home will seem larger and look orderly even when it’s not.
Get in the Lighting Zone
Above all, who doesn’t love a light and bright home, right? But sometimes, life calls for something a bit more subtle. When it’s time to settle down, managing light is important especially in an open floor plan. By creating zones, you can customize and be purposeful with your lighting. Extra light can be just what you need in certain areas of the home. Consider accent lighting instead of overhead, it’s more flexible and can add to the look of your space. We love stylish sconces, floor lamps or even a chandelier for a dramatic affect.
Window Treatments Enhance the OFP
At Aero Drapery & Blinds, we get this question all of the time. An open concept home means lots of windows and doors occupying the same space. And, if that isn’t worrisome enough, each window and door has different functional needs. One secret is to avoid matching window treatments, and instead, use coordinating. We have many window covering choices that blend texture, pattern and fabric together with function in a way that creates a cohesive and fashion forward look.
Add Energy Efficiency
Above all, personal comfort is challenging in any large space. It can be warm one minute and drafty the next. With an open concept home, there are no doors to close off to remedy these situations. Cooler months bring a chill and summer months bring oppressive heat-let’s control that. By selecting energy efficient treatments, you’ll control the comfort level, protect your furnishings from damaging UV rays and add privacy. We can show you how.
At the end of the day, our dream is to make every home as comfortable as it can be, your open floor plan is no different. Together, we can design your dream space by implementing a few of these secrets. Let’s set a foundation together, create functional spaces and use lighting and window treatments to provide comfort and function. Get in touch with our experts right now for your FREE in-home consultation, or let’s meet at one of our Minneapolis area showrooms where you can see our solutions up close and personal.