What tends to be the central hub of your home when you’re relaxing with family or entertaining guests? Is it the kitchen? The living room? The dining room? Well, you don’t have to choose just one if you opt for an open plan kitchen in your home. Open plan living is an increasingly popular trend, allowing you to have one larger space that consists of the kitchen and dining room, for example, without a wall in between.
The kitchen, living room, and dining room are all popular spaces to open up and merge together. Let’s look at some advantages and design tips to help you decide on your open plan kitchen.
Why choose an open plan kitchen?
There are lots of great benefits an open plan kitchen offers in your home. Here are just a few of them:
- The space feels more open and inviting
- It can afford you more space without walls and doors in between rooms
- The space becomes lighter without walls and doors blocking the light
- It’s a more social environment, allowing people in the kitchen and the living room to keep chatting
- It offers more entertainment options if you can have the TV on in the same space while cooking or cleaning in the kitchen
Design tips for an open plan kitchen
Even though open plan living is about merging the spaces, many designs include some kind of delineation between each room. One way you can achieve this is by having different flooring in the kitchen and living room to mark where each room starts and ends. This can also be more functional because the best flooring for the kitchen might not be best for the living room. Another idea is to have kitchen counters or a bar physically dividing the two rooms.
When it comes to decorating, think about whether you want the open plan space to be one cohesive design or whether you want different design elements in each space. A simple and consistent color palette throughout the entire space can look really stylish and modern, but adding splashes of color can be a fun way to make each “room” its own.
As well as aesthetics, you should also consider the functionality of the space. Even though you’ve opened up the space, you should still think about the workflow in your kitchen. Try to keep key areas like the stove, sink, and worktops close to each other in a logical way, making it easier when preparing food or cleaning the kitchen.
If you want to add an open plan kitchen to your home, The Kitchen Center can help you design and complete the space that you imagine. Get in touch for our custom kitchen design and installation services around Winston Salem, NC.