Where homes of the past had rigidly defined kitchens, formal dining rooms, living rooms, and formal living rooms. Homes with open floorplans do away with the walls consist of open spaces anchored by the location of large appliances. Allowing you to get the maximum amount of usable space out of your new Utah home, and potentially creating a more welcoming environment for your guests and loved ones. However, if interior design isn’t part of your skillset, furnishing and decorating an open floorplan can be intimidating. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Define Your Zones
While open floorplans free you from the rigid structures of the past, creating some flexible structure isn’t entirely a bad thing. For example, think about your optimal work environment and compare it to your ideal reading environment. They’re probably not in the exact same spot even if they’re in the same room. This is why it’s a good idea to determine different zones in your open floorplan space. Area rugs, furniture, or decorations can be used to create soft boundaries between a living room zone, a dining zone, and reading nook.
Decorate The Walls
Due to open floorplans essentially being one large room it can feel a little cavernous and sterile at first. Adding pops of visual interest to your home’s walls can help make this space feel more alive. Consider painting one wall an accent color. Either to break up the dining area from the living room are. Or use a bookshelf to give your mind a sense where the living room begins. Another great way to achieve a similar effect is with a photo wall, or posters, or other artwork. This also gives you a great opportunity to express yourself and make your home feel more like your home.
How Does the Space Flow?
What do you do when you first get home from work after a stressful day? Head straight to the kitchen and to take out your frustrations on the ingredients of the evening’s dinner? Kick off your shoes and binge-watch the new must see show? Maybe you crack open a good book. However you unwind, you should set up your open floorplan to make that comfort space easy to access. Consider the way you and your guests will move around the house and use furniture to help create the walkways that you want. Consider using masking tape to help you visualize where everything will go. And how it will affect your day to day life.
You’re Not Getting Graded
You can’t get an “A” in homeownership. This isn’t a class. This is your home. If it’s arranged in a way that makes your household happy that’s the important part. You deserve to feel at comfortable and be yourself here. If there is anything you take from this article, this is what you should take. Do what you can to make yourself at home without fear. And if for some reason you don’t like it, your furniture isn’t bolted down to the floor. You can change it into a way that does make you happy.
Buying a new home should be a happy time in your life. This is the place where you make memories, live life, and retreat to at the end of a long day. We hope that these tips have helped you better understand how you can enjoy your new home. And invite you to share other tips that we might not have thought of in the comments.