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Open Plan Living Room Design Tips

In Blog by Ron NathanLeave a Comment

When you want to design a new living room, there are a few open floor plan tips that you might like to try. There are some tips listed here that you might like to try, and you can even mix these ideas if you are not sure what you are looking for. In some cases, you might find an open floor plan idea that you enjoy, but you may need to tweak it by adding elements from another tip on the list. Do not be afraid to get creative, transform your living room, and live in a sophisticated space.

Load Up The Room

 
As you put together your living room, you should consider all the things that you want to add. You might have a lot of big ideas that you want to squeeze into the room, and you should feel free to fit all these elements into one room.

There is nothing wrong with trying to make the room look as big as possible, but you should make sure that everything fits, allows people room to pass through, and allows you to add a TV or entertainment unit. If your design is too crowded, it will not feel welcoming. In some cases, you might want to pack the room with large pillows, bag chairs, sectionals that you can break up, and artwork that you can hang on the wall. The room will not feel busy because everything has a purpose.

Use Zones To Design The Space

 
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When you want to build a living space that everyone will love, you might consider breaking up the room into zones. Consider how much space you have in the house, all the things you can use the living room for, and how you can incorporate those ideas into the room.

Move the meeting to one side because they will face the TV. Make a home office space with a desk that faces a window, or create a library in one corner with built-in bookshelves. You might even add a special reading area that does not face the TV, and you can even add a curio cabinet for your collectibles that sits far away from everything else. You can take up every bit of the room, but the room serves several functions.

Spread Out A Contemporary Design

 
If you want to use a contemporary design, you might want to consider spreading out that design as much as possible. When you do this, you can use more of the room without adding extra furniture. Your family can relax comfortably around the TV, but you do not feel like you have crowded into the room.

You can bring more seating into the room for big gatherings, or you can take some of the floor space with ottomans, bag chairs, or side tables. A rug can sit at the center of the room, and you can enjoy the room without buying extra furniture. At the same time, the room looks contemporary. You can stick to the style you like, but the room does not look empty.

Use The Same Color In Different Ways

 
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If you love a certain color, you should try to use it in as many ways as possible. You might enjoy blue, and you can have a blue couch made from corduroy fabric, a blue curio cabinet in the corner, and a blue chair that is made from a completely different material. You could paint your metal coffee table blue, and you might even bring in an oriental rug that uses blue as its focal color.

You can change shades throughout the room, and you can even paint the walls blue. Paint one accent wall a different shade of blue, and allow blue to dominate the room without making it feel like a one-note room. If you attack your visitors with just one color, they will not enjoy the room at all. Plus, using just one color in the room will make it difficult to concentrate. Even if you designed the room yourself, you will be distracted by the singular blue shade you chose.

Use Different Levels To Make The Room More Functional

 
You can create different levels around the room that make it much more functional. This is not possible in some rooms, but an open floor plan typically gives you very high ceilings to work with. Your living room might have a loft section, and you can add a ladder that reaches up there. You can put books, games, or something up there that is otherwise out of the way.

You could add a long credenza along one wall that allows you to store drinking glasses and extra pillows out of site. You can set up all your collectibles on shelves that are eye level, and the lights can hang very high in the room. Each level of the room creates a different perspective, and you can use that perspective to make the room more interesting. Everyone who enters the room will see it differently, and that makes your home almost mysterious.

A Rug Can Bring The Room To Life

 
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If you add a large rug to the center of the room, you have taken up quite a lot of space without buying extra furniture. A rug is a beautiful piece of art that you can add to the room, and the rug speaks for itself. Your guests will accept that you want to display the rug, and they will carefully walk around it as they sit on your furniture.

You can use a bright rug to bring color back to the room, and you do not need to use too much color because your rug provides you with everything you need. The rug that you have bought should be used as a focal point of the room when you are using a traditional design or do not want to add too much furniture to the room.

Let Your Sofa Divide The Room

 
You can use a sofa to divide your room. When the sofa divides the room, you can repurpose both sides of the room. One side of the room is facing the TV, but you can put a reading table or side table behind the couch. The other side of the room could be completely open, or you might put your bookshelves or collectible shelves on the other side of the room.

When the sofa divides the room, it might also use the sofa to divide the room by colors. The sofa could be the focal point of the room on that side, and you can change colors on the backside of the couch.

Make The Room Feel More “Outdoorsy”

 
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When you want to use up as much space as possible in an open living room, you might consider making the room feel like it is outside. You could use beams on the ceiling, and you can use sunlight to make the room feel much more open. You can create a room that looks like it came from a log cabin.

A room that looks like it is outdoors might have a wet bar, and you can use wooden chairs to make the room feel a bit more open. You can even add light fixtures that look like patio umbrellas. The room will feel much more rustic, but you will use the space wisely.

Some homeowners will even go so far as distressing the walls to make the room look like it has been outside for some time. You can add high windows to the exterior walls, and you will truly enjoy the room when it rains. At the same time, you may also want to add a skylight that lets even more light into the room.

Let Art Define The Room

 
When you are designing a room, you can use art as your focal point. Hang a gorgeous piece of art over the mantle, or use art to choose the colors for the room. You can match everything to your art, or you could theme the room. If you have collectible art that has a particular theme, you can choose furniture that fits that theme.

Most people who come over will notice immediately that you have matched the decor to the art in the room, and you can choose paint colors for the walls that will complement the art. You can line the walls with art, or you can hang one big art piece that dominates the room.

Conclusion

 
Creating a beautiful living room with an open floor plan is much easier than you think. You can use any of the design ideas above to ensure that the room looks beautiful, and you can easily transform the room to make it look like it suits your personality or fits in with the rest of the house. You may also consider setting up a living room that will stand out from the rest of the house. This room might be the largest in the house, and you should let it feel like a massive wonderland where everyone can relax, work, or play.

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