How to Add Coziness to an Open Floor Plan
Open floor plans are popular because they tend to make even a small home appear larger. Decorating an open area should be planned with flow and functionality as a priority. You need to create living areas that flow into one another without the area looking like a big warehouse. You will want your open areas to encourage togetherness, yet have separate areas for different activities that require solitude. Fortunately, there are many ways to add coziness to these types of home designs. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Decide on a theme that will work in your home. Make sure it is not something you will tire of easily. If your family enjoys spending time at the lake, beach or outdoors, attempt to achieve a feeling of bringing the outdoors inside. You may want to have boat anchors and paddles for wall decor in your game room. Carry the theme into the den by incorporating scenes of sailboats in pictures. Add some lighthouse salt and pepper shakers or a themed cookie jar for the kitchen. Add some decorative boat or duck figurines in the dining room area to further incorporate the look and flow.
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Paint your walls in the entire area in one color scheme. Choose three or more shades of this color to allow your home to flow. You can use a medium or dark shade in the largest living area and paler shades in the adjoining rooms. Just make sure they coordinate very closely. You should barely be able to distinguish that the rooms are two separate colors. You can add further interest by choosing different wall borders or chair rails for each room.
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Coordinate fabrics for each room. You want the colors to be so versatile that you could actually alternate furnishings to create a new look in each room. If your dining room tablecloth or chairs have a small checked print in a sage green, use a bolder plaid in the game room and perhaps some fabric with flowers or outdoor scenes for the family room. Use solids for the media room with splashy throw pillows in a coordinating color.
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Choose furniture that looks good from all angles. Couches that are shoved up against a wall in an open area tend to give the room the feel of a business or public library. Use small groupings of furniture instead. If your living area is quite spacious, you may want to group a love seat, end table, lamp, rug and rocking chair near the fireplace and have another grouping of furniture near the TV or bookshelves. Set up cozy areas for reading, playing games, studying, and conversation.
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Incorporate the same flooring throughout the open floor plan. If you use hardwood floors or linoleum, these are easy to accessorize with large rugs or scatter rugs to create different sections of your living area.
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