3 Top Ways to Make Your Open Concept Home Work for You!

3 Top Ways to Make Your Open Concept Home Work for You!

I think we all have a love/hate relationship with open concept homes.  After all, do you remember when you first walked into the home, and saw all this space?  Of course, you do!

You thought all this wonderful space to put our “stuff!”  And then it happened, the day came when it was time to move in and you had all your “stuff”, and all this space and were probably just ready to pull your hair out trying to figure out how to make it work, how to make it make sense, and of course, how to make it look like you imagined living in an open concept space that worked more than just in your head.

I actually get asked to stage a lot of open concept homes that went on the market.  I hear there were tons of showings, everyone loved the home but no offers.  The reason is actually pretty simple.  It’s hard for most people (9 out of 10) to visualize how to make a space work.  These are actual facts collected each year through the Real Estate Staging Association with home buyers and sellers throughout the country.  Of course, after the home is stage, it typically sells very quickly because you’ve shown buyers how to make the space work for them.  You’ve addressed and highlighted the focal point in every space and created an open flow to navigate from room to room.

Here are three important tips I’m going to share with you to help you create that open concept space that looks beautiful it in your home and will help you to enjoy how you really thought you wanted to live or the illusion of how you wanted to live!  

• Define each space by strategically laying out furniture.  With open concept spaces, it’s important to “float” the furniture within the space.  This should be pretty easy to figure out since there aren’t that many walls to work with.  Use the longest wall in each space for the largest piece of furniture you have.  After that, float the remaining pieces around that major piece.

• Use continuity of color.  That doesn’t necessarily mean the exact same color throughout, but you definitely want to use different values of the same color.  You can always add an accent wall where your focal point will be in each space.  Keeping the color the same as you view the open concept space, makes it feel more cohesive and it will work together highlighting your furnishings.  If you need to add more color to your space, consider adding color and/or texture to your accessories, art and some accent or smaller pieces of furniture. 

• Use area rugs if you have wood or tile floors.  These rugs will help define the space and the function of each space.  Rugs also add texture and color which will help create a feel of more intimacy in a space that is open and large.  You can use similar colors and/or textures to create cohesiveness within the space.  This will make each space feel more pulled together and manageable. 

I hope that helps to get you started so that your open concept home can work for you and be the home you’ve always wanted creating the look and feel of abundance in space and great design!