Open plan living styles have become all the rage over the last decade or so, as people look to turn their homes into contemporary, fashionable and accessible spaces. Gone are the days where each room is separated by a small door – instead you should expect the living space to be integrated, with a good flow through the entirety of the downstairs of any home.
If you are about to start a home renovation project and need a bit of convincing about open plan living, we have come up with some of the benefits of styling your property this way.
Better for entertaining
The first thing when you think of open plan is integration of the living room and the kitchen, and turning it into one large and stylish living space. Whilst pre-1990’s homes were built to have completely separate kitchens, this is very much now seen as a bit unfashionable and highly inflexible. For those who like to bring friends around and do a bit of entertaining, particularly when it comes to things like dinner parties or casual drinks, an open plan living area means you’ll have the extra space to fit in a nice dining table and chairs which your guests can sit around on whilst you talk to them from the kitchen area of the room.
Family gatherings
Similarly to the point above, an open plan living room-kitchen means that you will be able to be with your family whilst preparing the meals you have together. Some of the most popular designs from interior design specialists allow families to get together in a large open space for example, rather than being crammed into one room. If you have kids you don’t want to lose any precious time you have with them by being in the kitchen whilst they sit in front of the TV. It also means that they can get involved in the preparing of meals and see what goes into it, rather than thinking that the food is just put in front of them by magic!
Increase natural light
If your kitchen is separate from the rest of the house then it’s likely that it only has one window, meaning light is only coming into it from one direction. However, if it’s set out in an open plan space, it will gain far more natural light from various angles of the downstairs living area. This increase in natural light will instantly make it more of a pleasurable room to be in, but it will also increase the likelihood that you’ll be able to see some more interesting and inspiring views whilst you are preparing and cooking the food during meal times.
Keep an eye on the kids
Nobody likes to leave their kids unattended, so if your kitchen is integrated with your living room it means that you can keep an eye on them at the same time as you need to be cooking. Not only will these give you greater peace of mind knowing that they are safe, but you’ll also be able to chat with them and get them to understand what you are doing to prepare their meals, as we mentioned a couple of points above.
