How to design an open concept living room and dining room?
Sources
20 Open Concept Living Room Ideas to Inspire You - The Spruce
www.thespruce.com
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1
15 Ways to Make an Open-Concept Living Room Feel Cohesive
www.bhg.com
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2
Before & After: Open-Plan Living Room and Kitchen - Decorilla
www.decorilla.com
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3
100 Open Living Dining Room Design Ideas & Pictures - Modsy
www.modsy.com
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4
Answer
To design an open concept living room and dining room effectively, consider the following key strategies:
Create visual flow and cohesion:
Use a consistent color palette and complementary design elements throughout the space to unify the living and dining areas12. This could involve choosing furniture pieces with similar finishes or repeating accent colors across both zones. Define separate functional areas:
While maintaining an open feel, use furniture placement to delineate the living and dining spaces12. Position the sofa to create a natural division between the two areas without completely closing them off. A large area rug can also help define the living room zone. Optimize furniture layout:
Arrange seating in the living area to facilitate conversation and TV viewing if desired. For the dining space, ensure there's enough room for comfortable seating and traffic flow around the table4. Consider using a mix of seating options like a built-in banquette paired with chairs to maximize space efficiency1. Incorporate smart storage solutions:
Use multifunctional furniture pieces and built-ins to keep the open space organized and clutter-free3. This could include a sideboard in the dining area that doubles as storage and a serving surface, or built-in shelving in the living room for display and storage. Balance scale and proportion:
Choose furniture that fits the scale of your space. In larger rooms, substantial pieces can help fill the area, while in smaller spaces, opt for more streamlined furniture to maintain an airy feel14. Utilize lighting strategically:
Incorporate a mix of ambient, task, and accent lighting to create atmosphere and define different zones12. Consider using pendant lights over the dining table and floor or table lamps in the living area to create distinct lighting schemes for each space. Add visual interest with focal points:
Create focal points in each area to draw the eye and add character. This could be a statement chandelier over the dining table or a fireplace or large piece of artwork in the living room13. Maintain sight lines:
Keep furniture arrangements and decor choices that allow for clear sight lines throughout the space, enhancing the open feel and facilitating easy movement and interaction between areas14. By implementing these design strategies, you can create a cohesive, functional, and visually appealing open concept living and dining space that maximizes the benefits of an open floor plan while still defining distinct areas for different activities.
Use a consistent color palette and complementary design elements throughout the space to unify the living and dining areas12. This could involve choosing furniture pieces with similar finishes or repeating accent colors across both zones. Define separate functional areas:
While maintaining an open feel, use furniture placement to delineate the living and dining spaces12. Position the sofa to create a natural division between the two areas without completely closing them off. A large area rug can also help define the living room zone. Optimize furniture layout:
Arrange seating in the living area to facilitate conversation and TV viewing if desired. For the dining space, ensure there's enough room for comfortable seating and traffic flow around the table4. Consider using a mix of seating options like a built-in banquette paired with chairs to maximize space efficiency1. Incorporate smart storage solutions:
Use multifunctional furniture pieces and built-ins to keep the open space organized and clutter-free3. This could include a sideboard in the dining area that doubles as storage and a serving surface, or built-in shelving in the living room for display and storage. Balance scale and proportion:
Choose furniture that fits the scale of your space. In larger rooms, substantial pieces can help fill the area, while in smaller spaces, opt for more streamlined furniture to maintain an airy feel14. Utilize lighting strategically:
Incorporate a mix of ambient, task, and accent lighting to create atmosphere and define different zones12. Consider using pendant lights over the dining table and floor or table lamps in the living area to create distinct lighting schemes for each space. Add visual interest with focal points:
Create focal points in each area to draw the eye and add character. This could be a statement chandelier over the dining table or a fireplace or large piece of artwork in the living room13. Maintain sight lines:
Keep furniture arrangements and decor choices that allow for clear sight lines throughout the space, enhancing the open feel and facilitating easy movement and interaction between areas14. By implementing these design strategies, you can create a cohesive, functional, and visually appealing open concept living and dining space that maximizes the benefits of an open floor plan while still defining distinct areas for different activities.
References
1. 20 Open Concept Living Room Ideas to Inspire You - The Spruce2. 15 Ways to Make an Open-Concept Living Room Feel Cohesive3. Before & After: Open-Plan Living Room and Kitchen - Decorilla4. 100 Open Living Dining Room Design Ideas & Pictures - Modsy5. 75 Open Concept Living Room Ideas You'll Love - July, 2024 | Houzz
Author: Julie Khuu
Key insights
- The benefit to an open concept space is that you get to see the entire home at a glance and more light filters through, reaching all parts of your space.
- Open concept layouts should include smaller, more intimate spaces for conversation and specific isolated functions, like a reading corner or a small desk area for me time.
- ️ Create smaller, more intimate gathering spaces for conversation to avoid yelling across the room during family gatherings.
- Using a single flooring type to connect all rooms creates a cohesive look and makes the space appear larger.
- ️ Mixing and matching furniture in an open concept floor plan is one of the easiest ways to personalize your space and make it feel more dynamic and unique.
- Good lighting adds a sense of drama and gives a room a moodier feel even if it's an open concept plan.
- Layered lighting in a small space can create a unique and dynamic atmosphere, allowing your eyes to travel through the space and make it feel larger than it is.
- When you get an open plan design right, you'll have more space, cut down on having to weave from room to room, and increase the natural light which only adds to the appeal.
Video Full Text
- Hello everyone welcome back to the awkward space solution series. I'm julie and you are joining me on the very last episode of this first round up. I saved the best for last and we are talking about open concept floor plans if you have an open concept plan that you find awkward and you just can't figure out. This video is for you. Your comments came pouring through when it came to designing your open concept floor plan. You found it awkward to place furniture to pick furniture to get the flow just right to figure out the wall colors. The color palette the lighting the finishes for some reason. An open floor plan paralyzes you in a way that sectioned off interior rooms don't in today's video. I'll be sharing my top interior design tips on how to effectively design an open concept floor plan. So you maximize space and fit. In all of your furniture needs. We all want more space in our homes. The benefit to an open concept space is that you get to see the entire home at a glance more light filters through it can reach all parts of your space. It's really great for families and entertaining. I'm attracted to open concept floor plans because it really suits my lifestyle and needs. I love how spacious open layouts feel but I understand that designing an open concept home can be tricky especially without any walls to help you define where all your furniture goes you're often afraid of getting the layout wrong and some of you feel like you're not maximizing space when it comes to the layout whether you have a small studio or a large expansive home follow my step-by-step guide on how to help you plan and design your awkward open plan layout with ease here are my eight key rules for designing open concept floor plans step one determine the function. This first step to interior design is an absolute constant and I also find it the most difficult to discern in a space. It's difficult because it forces you to sit down and list everything you wish to do in a space. But once you figure this out. I promise the rest comes super easy once you've determined the function of the space.Read More
- It's time to define the zones you might love the open space but you still want smaller more intimate spaces for conversation and specific isolated functions. It's great to keep certain areas open for larger gatherings in the living room but also think about creating little nooks like a reading corner or a small desk area for that much needed me time. Now an open plan does not mean one plan clearly you need different zones to define the different functions that you need for that space think soft upholstery in the lounge area and sturdier easier to clean performance fabric materials in the kitchen and dining area if you have one giant area that might be too much space for you to deal with consider doubling up on dining areas one space for the adults and another for the kids or even layout multiple living plus lounge areas for different family members and their key functions. It's a great idea if you have kids of different ages that don't necessarily want to hang out with each other and share space. Sofas should typically be relegated to the living area but if you're short on space in the dining room consider anchoring one wall with a settee a bench or a longer sofa. It's great for long narrow open plan concepts where you don't have enough room to arrange chairs all around the table speaking of pushing sofas right against the walls. I really only recommend this for small spaces that leads me to my next step float furniture in space. A common mistake that most people make in open concept floor plans is thinking that they need to push all of their large pieces of furniture against the walls to make the space seem larger. It might be true for the main sofa but you want to float the furniture like accent chairs a console a sideboard or even a low daybed in space to help define your different zones. I know it's been a minute but we all remember what it was like to have those family gatherings in our home. Nobody wants to yell across the room to hear another person speak so make sure that you define the zones float the furniture and create smaller more intimate gathering spaces for conversation. These large parties always break into smaller conversations anyways so keep seating arrangements close and more conducive to little groups. Step 4 consider the flow of traffic one of the biggest mistakes that you can make when designing your. Open concept floor plan is not considering the traffic flow between each area. This basically means how you move from one space to the next you hear me talking about clearances for passageways aisles and walkways.Read More
- All of the time. It's usually a minimum 3 feet 36 inches. It could also go up to 42 inches depending on the amount of egress you need in that space. How do you account for the flow of traffic determine. Typical walkways between each space first then lay out furniture so you don't disrupt or block the flow how do you do. This dining chairs need to be able to scoot out from the table 36 inches or three feet without hitting a wall or other furniture. If there's a walkway behind that 36 inches give the path an additional 36 inches so people can walk back and forth without disrupting the diner living areas are a little bit different because the furniture is stationary. You don't imagine moving a big old sofa or a sectional so the furniture never moves but the people that move around it need to flow back and forth easily. In this case you want enough space to walk around the furniture with ease taking into consideration. The doors the passages and the hallways behind the furniture. I get an insane amount of comments when it comes to helping you design your living room space. You have all of these passages. All of these doorways. All of these walkways and you don't know how to figure out your furniture layout. It's really simple all you need to do is subtract a minimum three feet so people can walk back and forth then the space you have left over is the furthest your furniture can go make sure you leave enough floor space to move freely. So your daily activities and the hustle and bustle of life is not disrupted. Step five is to keep the flooring consistent not being consistent with your flooring is a huge mistake when it comes to designing your open concept floor plan. When the flooring changes from space to space. It feels fragmented disjointed and cuts the room off if there are natural breaks from kitchen to great room with built-in cabinets or a ceiling soffit or even furred out. Walls like these transitioning to another type of flooring can make sense but for areas with no architectural details to support it. It's best to specify a material that you can maintain from space to space for a cohesive look and feel specify a single flooring type to connect all of the rooms. This also expands the visual surface of the space and makes it appear even larger area. Roads can then be used to clearly define each zone.Read More
- You can have one under the living room furniture one under the dining space and maybe even another to anchor the entry area choose something bold to contrast with the flooring and furnishings or something in the same tonal colors for just a hint of difference step six is to avoid matchy matchy furniture. An open concept space does not need to be this matchy-matchy experience where the living room furniture looks the same as the dining room which looks the same as the bar stools in the kitchen yeah. You want to add as much variety as possible so each space feels like its own zone. This includes furniture with different shapes. Different heights different arm styles and different frame materials and upholstery fabrics. The space should feel like you collected it over time instead of purchasing everything in one fell swoop from a page of your favorite home. Catalog mix up the fabrics and texture of your furniture try open back dining chairs mixed in with fully upholstered bar stools. You can have two of the same sofas or love seats in the living space but think about breaking up the monotony with a pair of accent chairs in a completely different shape and vibe. That's how you create a dynamic open concept floor plan that doesn't feel so one note one color all white. I mean you get the idea unless that's your design intent of course mixing and matching furniture in your open concept floor plan is one of the easiest ways to personalize your space and make it feel more dynamic and unique even though you can see from the living dining and kitchen you want to create the illusion of different zones. The best way is to use contrasting colors and textures that aren't too similar to one another and all serve a different yet very specific purpose.Read More
- Step 7 is to layer your lighting lighting is essential to the success of every room in your home. Layers of light refers to light sources hitting different surface areas from top to bottom. Lighting helps to define zones within an open space so pay attention to what bad lighting looks like here are examples of rooms with not enough lighting which could feel like a void in certain areas and rooms with too much lighting which to me is a little overkill because you don't know what to focus on. These rooms. Get it just right let's talk about lighting in those rooms with high ceilings versus low ceilings. If you have high ceilings you can start by anchoring the entry with a pendant installing wall sconces up the stairwell and anchoring the living room with a chandelier some table lamps a floor lamp maybe a pendant over the dining table and single light fixtures over the island. Here's an example of another space with high ceilings and just the right amount of lighting instead of a chandelier in the living room think about recessed light fixtures instead of one central fixture over the dining table think about spanning the layers of light with two identical pendants. If you have low ceilings in your open concept home you can layer the light with one pendant fixture over the dining table or the living area and layer the space with floor lamps. Instead this will help minimize the amount of visual clutter that you see in the space be strategic with your lighting a single or cluster pendant over a dining table or kitchen island frees up floor space and it's great for down lighting. The food underneath use a chandelier to anchor the living room. So it adds warmth and ambiance.Read More
- You can then layer with overhead recessed task lights for general lighting floor lamps to light a reading nook and table lamps to add more lighting to the middle than open concept space. A successful lighting design allows your eyes to travel all around the room and land on different surfaces. Good lighting adds a sense of drama and gives a room a moodier feel even if it's an open concept plan and your room flows from one space to the next and finally step eight is to coordinate all of your window treatments now does this mean that the window treatments have to match or be exactly the same no coordinating just simply means to keep it in the same tonal colors to keep it in the same color palette or simply coordinate to the specified zone that you're addressing listen. In today's case studies. I'll be dissecting these individual rooms and talk about the things that I like and I don't like about it. There are some aspects that I find very successful and some aspects I would probably switch up just as a personal preference. Let's talk about this open plan studio space. This open plan studio space is typical in what you would find in an apartment. You enter the space and you're greeted by the kitchen a small dining area and an open living space.Read More
- What I love is that even in this small space you see the success of layers of lighting there's two unique pendants over the island. One single pendant over the dining table and the living room is anchored with this beautiful floor lamp on the far end. This will allow your eyes to travel through the space and all the way to the back of the room. I love that there are grand bold gestures of color and pattern. In the small space. It makes it feel unique and dynamic. You can see the variety of textures colors and pattern used where orange is a predominant color in the dining space and it's echoed through the pillows in the living room. Since the living room furniture is bone and saturated. The area rug helps to ground the living space but it's in the same tonal colors as the flooring. So it makes the space feel even larger than it is moving on to this open plan home in this open concept home. You'll see that the living room is clearly defined in the sunken area of the space. It's anchored with these symmetrical sofas that are bold in color and the color carries up through the walls and onto the fireplace. You don't see a ton of overhead lighting in this space. But I love how these minimum wall sconces play up the architecture of the ceiling and beams. I love how the dining area is defined by a difference in wall paneling when everything else is predominantly white. The single dining area is clad in wood paneling. The space feels open bright airy yet still warm and inviting let's talk about the key aspects in the open concept. Plan of this lakeside home. I love that the living room makes great use of space. You see that the main sofa is faced directly across from the focal point and the love seat and accent chairs float in space to help ground the room. Notice how the seating was specified in a variety of different colors upholstery fabrics and framing you have a leggy love seat over here. A fully skirted sofa in the middle and low profile accent chairs so you don't disrupt the view. The overhead lighting on the dining table is minimal yet still very unique and different for this space. The kitchen is the wow factor you'll see that the backsplash is textured and runs all the way from the countertops to the ceiling. This helps draw your eye back into the space and up towards the beams of the lofty ceiling.Read More
- You can see that this is a lakeside home but there's no need to let your environment dictate the mood and vibe of your space. If you have a beachy property that doesn't mean you have to decorate in all whites and blues and greens unless that's a vibe that you're going for just do what you love lastly let's dissect. These studio apartment floor plans so I can help you determine the size of living room furniture and dining tables that you can fit in the space listen. The appeal of an open concept floor plan is that it's a large and area room. It's a place where the entire family can still go about their individual business but feel connected and together when you get an open plant design right you'll have more space cut down on having a weave from room to room and increase the natural light which only adds to the appeal but when you get it wrong you risk having a disordered and cluttered space that's far from warm comfortable or inviting before you start to design your awkward open concept floor plan do some research get some inspiration and think about your overall goals for the space if you need more tips and inspiration on how to design your open concept floor plan definitely check out my how to create your dream space series. I help you design parts of your home either room by room or if you're starting from scratch. That's it for this video if you like this type of content and you're enjoying the awkward space. Solution series give this video a thumbs up comment below and let me know if there are any other awkward spaces that you would like for me to help you resolve. We will be back with more awkward space solutions and this time I want to hear from you. This new portion of the awkward space solution series is really meant for my longtime viewers and subscribers so make sure you're subscribing to my channel if you haven't already and hit that little notification bell to be notified of new videos that we drop every tuesday thank you so much for following along the awkward space solution series. I will see you next week.Read More