Open concept living - how to decorate

My current open concept living room about to be made over!

I never wanted to live in an open concept home and over the past 5 years I have struggled with how to decorate our open concept living room! Truthfully I have come to love many elements of having an open concept living & dining room that is also open to the entryway and bedroom level.  This is due in no small part to how much it aids communication with our deaf son and makes him more visually aware of who is in his surroundings.  Yet I still wanted a space that was cozy, functional, not cluttered and where we could both work and play!  From the initial viewing before we bought the house I knew I wanted some sort of a visual divider between the living and dining rooms and have considered many options over the years from stained glass architectural arches to pocket doors.

Open concept spaces have so many positives to recommend them, they tend to be brighter and feel airier due to the lack of internal walls allowing  light to flow through the space.  You also can end up feeling like you have more square footage as removing internal walls frees up floor space. Also, and I think this can be a huge plus for all families and ADHD families in particular, you have flexibility!  As kids grow and families evolve our needs from our homes change as well.  Open concept spaces allow us to more easily re-allocate the use of areas and divide up square footage in the ways that the family needs at any given time.  To that end we have re-arranged our living & dining spaces many times.  At one time we actually had 3 ‘rooms’; a playroom, library/homework zone & a living room.

Our previous library 'room',, essentially the middle 10 feet, created by the bookcase 'walls'

Despite the many positives of open concept living it does come with its own set of challenges.  There is an inherent lack of privacy and issues around noise/sound control.  Less walls nearly always equals less storage or opportunity for storage.  Clutter is more apparent because you are visually seeing so many areas as once.  Gone are the days of tidy the living room, shut the door and hang out in a clutter free area!  Now you likely need to tidy your entire ground floor to achieve that same zen, relaxing feeling. There can also be real challenges in knowing how to layout and decorate open concept living spaces.  You want to feel a visual connection between the spaces and a certain cohesion but still maintain separate functions. Furniture layouts need to both delineate the spaces but also clearly show how traffic should move through the ‘rooms’.  If you happen to have 4 boys who move through life at a run this is also a safety concern! Also there can be some serious issues of scale at play in open spaces, for instance my space seems really large given the 30 foot length but in actuality the 11/12 foot width dictates many of the layout options and if ignored causes an uncomfortable bowling alley feeling. 

Using the turquoise cabinet to 'audition' a wall of built ins. Rejected because it made the room feel extra narrow!

There are so many different approaches to decorating your home and I will always champion storage, functionality and ease of use but I don’t think that you should start there.  Hear me out!  So often when we encounter a large open space that needs to serve many functions we get overwhelmed.  Immediately we start to think about where do we put the sofa?  Where does the tv go?  I guess I have to put the dinning table under the light! Not to mention the nearly immediate desire to buy the biggest sectional possible!  Nope, stop, I say that with love and kindness!  This is your home and your family and you get to make the choices so let’s look at a different approach. All to say I have tried many things over the years and here are my go to 10 steps.

Decorating How to; Open Concept Living

How to decorate an open concept Living Dining room in 10 steps

1. How do you want to use this space?  Is it for small family moments, gathering lots of friends and family, doing homework, building pillow forts, snuggling and reading?

2. Once you know the function then think about how you want to feel. Find design elements, colors, textures, and light levels will help you to achieve that.

3. Gather lots and lots of inspiration!  Look through design magazines and the design section of the bookstore (take pics with your phone) then look online.  I always love to start with in person first and then look online because otherwise we can get pigeonholed in one design direction by the algorithm.

4. Zone your spaces, measure out your space and use an online tool. Once you know how you want to use your space, who will use it and how you want to feel then you can decide how to divide everything up.  You do NOT have to follow the previous owner or developers ideas.  Just because a light is in a certain place does not mean you have to put your dining room table directly underneath or have a dining room at all!

5. Storage, where do you need it and where can it go?  Built ins on either side of a fireplace are wonderful, if it works for you!  If I did that in my living room it would have narrowed a narrow room even more.  Be honest about what you need to store and access and allow for more, that is simply life with kids!  If there is a homework zone then you need the flat space to work and a space to store all the needed pens, pencils, markers, printer, paper etc.  Think vertically with storage, there aren’t many walls so use what is there if possible. Also think about flexibility, if you have a growing family then needs will change, furniture with drawers can be great and serve many purposes.

6. Think about hallways.  Just because the walls are gone doesn’t mean that the hallways or passageways are.  Think about how people will move through the spaces.  Think about driving into a well laid out parking lot, everyone knows where to go, the indications are clear.  Good furniture layout will have a flow to it that feels good and functions well.  

7. Try it out, if you already have furniture then use what you have first before committing to buying new.  I know the desire for a big sectional is strong and it might be right for you but audition it first by arranging what you have in the same configuration.  It might look silly to have your sofa as part of an L-shape with the remainder made from dining chairs but do the dimensions actually work?  Does the flow feel right for your family?  You can use boxes, painters tape, anything you have to accomplish this. Moving from step 4 zoning online to this in person step can save you from layouts and flow that look great on a screen but don’t work for your family.

8. Fall in love with your colors.  Find a carpet, painting, fabric, anything that has the feel you found in step 2 and use it to determine the color story for the spaces.  You can choose to focus on different groups of colours in different spaces but it will feel cohesive if all tied back to this initial color inspiration and the feel you established in step 2.

9. Flooring, in open concept rooms carpets & rugs can be a lifesaver!  Always, always measure your space first and make sure that at least the front legs of all your furniture can fit on the rug.  We almost always need to buy larger than we think.  There are lots of resources to get good rugs at a lower price point so definitely look around. If noise control is an issue then carpets and curtains can be a great help in  absorbing sound.

10. Think about physical dividers.  I’m not saying you have to do anything permanent to separate your spaces but in some cases curtains, furniture, bookcases work well to separate zones and give some visual privacy.

Lastly, have fun!  Be whimsical, adventurous, think outside the box or whatever feelings & adjectives are core to your family.  Open concept living is meant to free us from the tradition of using spaces in a predetermined way.  You get to choose what is right for your family at the moment and change is as needed.  Color and decorative decisions should make you feel wonderful in your home, whether or not it happens to be the trend of the moment.  Our homes are our biggest investment because it is where we shelter, love and help our children to grow.  It’s not about how well it will sell, it’s about how well your family lives in it now.

Here’s my plan to decorate our living room and yes after many years of thinking and planing I am installing a permanent feature - narrow bookshelves. I’ve auditioned the idea and it works - it solves storage and traffic flow issues in one and takes advantage of the high ceilings! Plus it’s the whimsical, fun vibe I love for our family and all the second hand furniture is great with the boys!

Fearless Family Room Update; Mid Century meets Art Nouveau