How to Be Your Own Interior Designer – Open Plan Living Ideas

Open up your favourite interior magazine and I’m sure you’ll see pages and pages full of open plan kitchens. Beautiful kitchen islands separating the cooking space from the dining area. Huge, clean homes fill your head with ideas and inspiration for creating your own open plan living space. And although these images look incredible, it’s likely they’ve been styled within an inch of their life by a professional interior designer.

 

 
If you want to create your dream open plan kitchen in your own home, all you need is a bit of willpower, planning and a head full of ideas. Here are a few tips on how to get started…
 

Interior Designer: Open Plan Kitchens

Place Furniture in the Middle of the Room

When it comes to creating an open plan area of your home, it’s really important to think about the layout. We want to avoid any clear walkways from one end of the room to another. Although it may feel natural to place your furniture around the edges of your room, mix things up and place a table in the middle! This will make you walk around the furniture. By simply placing furniture in the middle of a walkway you tie the room together and make a larger space feel cosy and filled.
 

Kitchens work so well as open plan living spaces, due to the furniture naturally found in a kitchen. Kitchen islands, tables and dining benches are great pieces to use to separate the dining from the cooking.

 

Top Tip: Glass Dining Tables are a great option for open plan living space. The clear table will allow more light to fill your space, keeping your home light and airy. 

 

Create Zones

Although you want the kitchen and dining areas to be in the one room, it’s important to zone your home. Placing furniture in the middle of the room will help with the flow of the space, but by using subtle colour treatments and lighting, you can create clear zones to really separate the space.
Think about these tips when zoning your open plan kitchen:

• A kitchen Island will help bring the cooking area to the dining area.

• Choosing a different colour/wallpaper in each area will help create a feeling of different rooms. Be sure to choose a simple colour palette to keep things harmonious. Avoid painting the kitchen green and the dining space purple as this will be too much contrast and create an unharmonious feel.

 

Zen and Santo Dining Set with the Teora Bar Stools

 

Top Tip: Interhouse Design has created this amazing, light and open space by sticking to a clean colour palette and gloss finishes. A U-shaped kitchen featuring breakfast bar will help zone your open plan kitchen 

 

• Add pendant lights over a table or island to create a ‘wall’. This height will help break up your space all the while marrying the two areas together.

• Use the same style throughout the space. If you have Velvet Barstools, choose Velvet Dining Seating too. Sticking to a scheme will help make the room feel tied together.

 

 

• Think about height. Floor lamps or tall shelving units will help add height and a point of difference in your home. Using furniture which is all one level will make your home feel flat and uninspiring. Adding height adds interest.

 

Open Plan Living Areas

It’s not just kitchens which work well as open plan living areas. You can create an open plan kitchen/living area, or maybe a home office combined with a living room. No matter what you use your space for, by following the above tips you can easily create any open plan living space.
 

 
If you’re feeling super adventurous, why not have a fully open plan kitchen, dining, living area? This may take a little more thought and planning, but by spacing your furniture well and sticking to a cohesive colour scheme, you can create a truly beautiful home and become your own interior designer.

If you’d like to go back to basics, take a look at how to become your own interior designer. Where we walk you step by step through the basics of decorating your home without forking out for a professional interior designer.
 

Show us your Style!

Have you recently re-designed your home? Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram and Facebook using #mydanetti. To view all the pieces listed in this post and more, head over to our website.

 

Published Date: January 2019