The Ups and Downs of Open Floor Plans

Fine Furniture Design Summer Home Bed Bench can be used as a visual space divider.

The open floor plan is a pretty new concept and it is becoming more popular by the day. It would seem like every home improvement show on the planet is going for this floor layout lately. So why is the open floor plan so hot nowadays?

You really can’t blame homeowners and designers from choosing this layout. This is a fad that seems to be going to the classic status. An open floor plan allows more natural light to flow into the space and it even makes small rooms appear bigger. While there seem to be only advantages to this kind of layout, there are, of course, still some disadvantages, too.

Here are the advantages of open floor plans –

Optimized Multi-tasking

Open floor layout is a wonderful idea for parents with small children. It’s because the mom can now prepare food while supervising her kids who are playing right across her. Parents can now safely finish their work deadlines, too, as they are also multi-tasking and checking on their little ones who are not far from them, playing or doing their own homework.

Optimum Lighting

Natural light would also freely flow. With this, the inhabitants will feel a renewed kind of optimism as the room appears brighter and livelier. Open floor plan allows the maximum allowable light to flow freely inside your home.

As soon as the big walls are toppled down, the sunlight can now shine freely into the living room, kitchen, and just about any section that you would want to appear brighter. Say hello to savings on your electric bills.

Bigger-Looking Room

Ask every homeowner – especially the ladies – and what is the most common thing that they can comment with their home? Studies show that most homeowners believe they have a small kitchen.

One convenient way to add space or at the very least, the illusion of space, is to open up the walls and go ahead and embrace an open floor layout. Keep in mind that the most successful open space plans are able to achieve airiness and spaciousness.

Living rooms tend to appear bigger because of vaulted or the two-storey ceilings.

The Uttermost Lamps and Lighting Ordino Modern Nickel Floor Lamp is an awesome accent piece to an open space layout.

A Bigger Entertainment Space

If you’re the homeowner type who loves to socialize and to gather people during the holidays, then an open floor layout is the best layout for you. It’s because the closed layout gives a sense of separation and compactness as opposed to the airiness that the other layout offers.

Just imagine having a bigger entertainment space now that the guests can see your joined dining area and kitchen. And just think of the next Thanksgiving dinner where everyone would no longer have to be cramped in one area.

There is also a downside to an open space layout and here are some of them –

The Possibility of an Unclean Kitchen

Cooking is a messy process since this is a workspace where meals are prepared. In an open space layout, the kitchen fuses with other parts of your home so, as you can see, there won’t be any place to hide. The messes will be seen by everyone and, yes, including your guests. And this is just the look. How about when we begin to discuss the odors that come with cooking?

No Quiet Moments

With very few walls, you can expect that noise will travel uninterrupted. This means, when the rest of the family is watching their favorite show on TV and you want to read, well, you do get the picture. This is also true when you are having separate lively activities on one given day, say, you would want to watch the football but the girls are also having a sleepover.

Tags: McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, open floor plan, open floor planning, open space layout

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2018 at 9:50 am and is filed under Interior Design 101, Interior Design Themes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.