4 Mistakes To Avoid When Decorating With An Open Floor Plan

Posted on: 22 December 2015

Nowadays, open floor plans are popular in residential design. They offer a spaciousness that's perfect for hosting social gatherings, and for this reason many homeowners prefer them. 

However, there are many severe decorating blunders that are commonly seen in the living room areas of homes with open floor plans. Being aware of the following four frequently-seen mistakes will help you to successfully pull off the perfect living area design in your home:

Throwing clashing decor accessories together

One of the most important things to consider at all times as you lay out your decorating scheme is that everything in the room will be visible at the same time. Because of this, it's easy to end up with an open living room design where one part of the room clashes with another.

It's important to decorate so that various areas of your living area combine to create a unified whole. Keep the colors you're using in mind and avoid glaring clashes. Also, avoid mixing furniture styles indiscriminately throughout the room so that every furniture piece looks like it belongs. 

Leaving a feeling of emptiness

When you choose an open floor plan, spaciousness is one of the advantages you'll enjoy. However, it's important to capitalize on this spaciousness while preventing feelings of emptiness in your room.

With an open floor design, it's easy to leave too much negative space that results in a lonely, forlorn-looking interior. You can fill up your room with furniture pieces to prevent your living area from looking too empty. Also, you can use area rugs and other floor coverings to fill things in a bit. 

Not allowing for adequate lighting

Usually, an open floor plan is combined with large scale windows along the walls that flood the interior with light. However, this creates a lighting quandary in the evening and at night time when this natural light is no longer available. 

Open floor plans can cause a dreary darkness if lighting concerns are neglected. As you lay out your decorating scheme, make sure your living room interior features enough lighting fixtures to make the space bright and inviting both during the day and at nighttime. 

Making a room difficult to tidy up quickly

A huge advantage of the open floor plan is the availability of space for social gatherings. However, these social gatherings will become a headache if the openness of the room makes it difficult to get things looking organized quickly for last minute get-togethers.

The openness of the space will mean that a mess in any part of the room will give the entire living room a sloppy feel. You can facilitate organization through your decorating scheme if you build adequate storage furniture and accessories into your room.

Have at least a few cabinets or shelving units along the walls. Also, you might want to consider a sofa or coffee table that opens up with an interior compartment to allow for the hurried storage of clutter. 

For more information and tips, consider talking with an interior design firm.

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