About open floor plans
Creating An Open Space
Design & Build
is an open floor plan right for you?
The big trend in home remodeling nowadays is an “open concept” floor plan where walls separating some rooms are eliminated. The result is one large entertaining space with unobstructed sight lines. This idea is most commonly seen with the grouping of the kitchen, dining room, and living room; removing their walls combines them all into what is known as a “great room.” Some homeowners are so bold as to open the walls between their master bedroom and bathroom! But how do you know if an open-concept floor plan is really for you?
Here are some items to consider:
As mentioned above, remodeling your kitchen, dining room, and living room into a great room creates an open space where you can continue to hold a conversation no matter where you are in the room. If you enjoy having people over to watch sports games or movies, knocking down the living room walls opens up more space for seating so more people can sit comfortably instead of crowding together like sardines on the floor. Eliminating the walls around a smaller dining room affords homeowners more space to have the extended family over for holiday meals.
An open concept keeps them in view even while you’re cooking meals or paying bills at the dining table. That means fewer “boo-boos” and broken things as a result of the kids’ rough housing (we’re speaking from experience!). However, you might prefer to have walls between you and the living room when the noise of the TV would be distracting as you focused on a difficult task or were enjoying a peaceful conversation. Again, an open-concept floor plan is not for everyone, so we encourage you to consider your situation before making the big change.
Removing a wall might allow those interior spaces to enjoy the natural sunlight as well. If your kitchen is feeling a little cramped, taking out a kitchen wall might give you more options for cabinet configurations and layouts, or you could just open up the space for the sake of comfort. A lot of times, room for a peninsula or island with seating can be opened up by removing a kitchen wall. If you have a smaller home in general, opening up the walls on the main floor will make the space feel much larger and give you more design options.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT CONTRACTOR
Everyone has experienced or heard remodeling horror stories that typically involve poor communication, shoddy workmanship, missed project completion dates, and an endless list of broken promises. Don’t make these same mistakes! Download our Buyers Guide to learn how to find the right contractor for you, best matched to your needs, wants and expectations!
