Open floor plans are all the rage right now, and have been for nearly a decade. In contrast to traditional floor plans, which prioritize neatly compartmentalized spaces and privacy, open-concept plans prefer airy and unobstructed spaces.
What should homeowners know about this trendy approach to home design? What are the pros and cons of opening up your home? And how does one go about creating an open-concept plan in an existing house? This article acts as your all-purpose guide to open floor plans.
The Pros and Cons of an Open Floor Plan
While trendy, open floor plans may not work for every home – or every homeowner. Before you break out your sledgehammer, it pays to weigh the pros and cons of your decision. The pros of an open floor plan include:
- Improved sightlines and increased natural light
- Better traffic within your space
- Potential accessibility improvements for aging people or people with disabilities
- Enhanced social interaction for family time or entertaining guests
- Modern aesthetics
- The creation of multi-purpose flex spaces
- And a potential increase in property value, which is especially important for owners planning to sell their homes
Meanwhile, some cons include:
- A lack of privacy and personal space for residents
- A hard time creating efficient temperature zones
- Limited wall space for storage
- And inconsistency with the character of your home, especially in the case of heritage homes or traditional home styles.
If you’re scratching your head for answers, consider contacting an interior design specialist. They can consult on a suitable course of action for your particular home. Likewise, if you’re upgrading a home with an open plan before selling, hire a real estate agent who intimately understands local buyer preferences and trends to determine whether open-concept is the right idea.
How to Create an Open-Concept Floor Plan in an Existing Home
For argument’s sake, let’s say you’ve assessed the benefits and drawbacks and decided to run with the open-concept idea. Here are a few common ways homeowners transform existing traditional plans into open floor plans:
- Knock down interior walls, especially those in the kitchen, dining room, and living room that unnecessarily segregate common spaces. (Leave those bedroom and bathroom walls alone!)
- Zone your space with visually separating elements like furniture, area rugs and accent walls.
- At the same time, consider creating continuity in the space with similar flooring, paint, colour palettes, materials, finishes, and design aesthetics.
- Adequately ventilate the space with ample functional windows and doors to allow cross-ventilation.
- Consider moveable partitions like panelled room dividers if you want to give the option of privacy.
- Last but most importantly, leave the structural work to professionals. Knocking down load-bearing walls is a messy and highly costly error; it’s best to leave reconfigurations to licensed contractors.
If you’re open to the concept of open-concept, hopefully this article arms you with enough know-how to make the correct decisions for your home. Weigh your pros and cons, devise a game plan, and loop in professionals like design experts, licensed contractors and real estate agents before you start working.
