Open-plan living, or open-concept living, is becoming more popular nowadays. The concept is that the interior of the house doesn’t have a divider between the kitchen and the living room.
Moreover, it has a lot of benefits, including better flow of space, easier communication with one another, and increases home value. Since it’s becoming more popular these days, many homeowners also want to incorporate this modern design in their homes when having kitchen renovations.
So if you’re one of those homeowners who love the idea of open-plan living, the next thing you need to know is how to blur the lines between the kitchen and the living room. Below are some ideas you should try!
1. Furniture arrangement
The furniture arrangement is one of the most important things in creating a seamless transition between the kitchen and the living room. You can start with the sofa set. You can group them but don’t place them too far from the kitchen or dining area.
When it comes to the dining area, you can also place them a bit closer to the sofas to create a more inviting space. If you opt for this suggestion, it’s easier to connect with people, even if you have some guests coming over to your house.
As for the entertainment set, you can place the TV where everyone can see it (even if you’re in the kitchen). That way it’s like you’re in one large room.
2. Colour contrast
Do you find it hard to look for the ideal colour contrast for your open-plan living? Even if you’re having a kitchen renovation, it’s hard to decide the right colour for the room.
And since you’re decorating two rooms incorporating them with each other, it’s recommended to have the same colour scheme. However, you can adjust the tint or shade of the paint depending on whether one room is a bit darker than the other.
When you use the same colour scheme it’s easier to create a visual that can’t be interrupted by the colour difference. So when your guests look at the room, they’ll feel relaxed by the soft transition.
3. Lighting effects
Have you noticed how light can transform the mood and functionality of a room? You can use similar lighting between the two rooms, but you can also create a distinction between the two by adding lights with different silhouettes.
It’s a good thing that nowadays you can find lights that can be adjusted depending on the mood, so you won’t have to change them when you decided to have living or kitchen renovations. In addition, once you find the ideal lighting for your space, it can highlight the structure and best features of your house.
Meanwhile, if you want to set a focal point in the area, you can add a chandelier or other decorative light that people may look at when they’re in the room.
4. Huge windows and skylight
Aside from the lighting, you can also install huge windows and a skylight to make the space feel more open and airy. And of course, they allow more light to come into your house, so you can save more on electricity.
Furthermore, since the open-plan living is modern design, adding huge windows enhances the overall aesthetic and visual design. Also, if you have a great outdoors, it’s easier to connect to the environment anytime you want.
In terms of connecting the indoors to the outdoors, you can also add some details related to the outside, like the colour of the window panes.
5. Continuous floor designs
Do you want to unify the space of the kitchen and living area? One of the popular ideas to do that is to install a continuous floor design. The flooring is the best feature that can add a seamless transition from one room to another.
Aside from that, having continuous flooring makes it easier to maintain, offers flexible designs, and enhances the visual appeal.
In terms of maintenance, the use of transition strips is no longer needed, so you can vacuum, sweep, and mop the floor without any interruptions.
For the design, if you opt for plain flooring throughout the room, it’s easier to add some colour and designs using the furniture and other decorations.
Finally, if the floor design is continuous, the overall design may look sleek and expensive. So if you’re aiming for a minimalist style, you can easily achieve it by choosing the right colours and materials.
6. Small details
If you have a limited space given the open-plan living, you can create an illusion where you use decors that can make the room look bigger. One of the most popular elements that create this kind of illusion is the use of oversized rugs.
When choosing the rug, you can opt for the ones with patterns that can also be found inside the room. Aside from the oversized rugs, you can also add a sideboard that connects the two rooms. But don’t be afraid to think of other decors that you can use to make the open-plan living work.
We hope this article helps you decorate your open-plan living area. If you have other tips, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
