Designing for Open Floor Plans

For the past few decades, residential home builders like Homes by Taber have been altering their new home layouts and embracing open floor plans. Without restricting walls around the kitchen, living room and dining room, homes have one large communal living area, often called a great room or open living space. Open floor plans minimize wasted space taken up by hallways and walls, creates the illusion of more square footage and encourages togetherness for families and friends within the great room. Taber homeowners often express how they love being in the kitchen preparing meals while still being included in the activity going on in the living room, which is a benefit from their open floor plan.

While the masses are commanding an open floor plan, some homeowners might be wary of an open floor plan—especially if they’re used to living in older homes with more closed-off kitchens, living and dining room spaces. Homes by Taber, Oklahoma’s favorite builder, has over twenty years of experience building homes that are trendy, yet timeless, while incorporating square footage in areas where people spend the most of their time. We know the benefits of having an open floor plan, and have detailed out a few tips that can help you make the most of this design concept. 

Find a focal point  

When working with such a large space, it’s important to choose a focal point. Focal points draw our attention, help guide the design and establish a flow for the area—you’ll learn more on flow later in the blog. Popular focal points include large artwork, televisions, fireplaces, kitchen islands or even substantial furniture pieces. 

Homes by Taber aims to make selecting your focal point a simple process by providing a two-in-one option in the living space. We include hardwired cable and electrical above the living room fireplace in every one of our homes, making it the perfect place to mount your television—which means you won’t have to choose between the two to center your layout around. Although a television isn’t the only option for this, it’s a very practical one in a 21st century home and since the cable and electrical hookups are included above Homes by Taber interior fireplace, it’s an easy option for homeowners to execute.   

Create visual separation  

Having an open floor plan doesn't mean you can’t have designated areas for specific purposes—how you lay out your furniture and choose decor can help create “zones” using visual separation. While the kitchen is pretty well-defined during the construction phase, you can get as traditional or as creative as you want when it comes to creating zones for the living room, dining room and maybe even an office or virtual learning space. 

One of the simplest ways to create visual separation is with area rugs. Area rugs help identify a specific space, and offer up an easy blueprint for arranging furniture—they also add elements of texture, color, pattern and coziness to your bright and airy space. 

If you don’t want to use multiple area rugs, there are other ways to achieve similar results. Smart positioning of furniture can produce a natural barrier in open spaces, creating the illusion of separate rooms without actual walls. Instead of positioning your couch up against the wall, place it in the middle of your room and face it towards a chosen focal point to create a defined living room. Use open bookshelves or shelving units to form a divide and showcase family photos, favorite books, or accent pieces that tie in with your decor. Impressive light fixtures make for great eye-catchers over a grand dining table or kitchen island. 

Use cohesive colors and materials

When working with the professional designers at Homes by Taber during your color selection meeting, they can help you develop a cohesive color palette that’s easy to carry throughout the room and into each zone. Too much color in an open floor plan can be overwhelming, so experts suggest sticking with three to five colors to use for your entire space. Starting with a neutral base makes it easy to infuse your personality and style with colorful accent pieces, patterns and textures. Even if you choose to keep most of the walls neutral, strategic accent walls can go a step further in designating separate zones throughout your living space. 

For example, paint one wall with a bold accent color in your dining area. Then, use that same color when selecting a fabric for your new sofa or pillows in the living area or backsplash tile in your kitchen. By keeping colors consistent but using them in unique ways, your large, open floor plan will have plenty of personality without looking overdone. 

Homes by Taber also suggests using the same flooring throughout a space like this to help tie everything together. To help homeowners seamlessly pull this off, Homes by Taber started including wood look tile throughout the living space and kitchen to create the perfect flow. 

Establish an easy flow

Envisioning how your family and visitors will actually move throughout this space can also guide you through creating an ideal layout. Consider how people will get from one part of the room to another, as well as to doors and other points of interest in your home. By creating a clear and open path of travel that isn’t obstructed by furniture, you’re establishing a flow that will make the most of your large, open floor plan.  Too much furniture in a space can’t defeat the purpose of having an open floor plan so minimizing the pieces can help you accentuate the open flow.

Get exactly what you’re looking for

If you’ve never lived in an open floor plan before it can be exciting to start decorating. With the combined years of experience and industry knowledge on best practices in the home building and interior design industries, the expert staff at Homes by Taber is confident you’ll love the inviting, open space this particular type of floor plan embodies. 

If you’re in the market for a new home in Oklahoma, look no further than the area’s most trusted builder with award-winning floor plans. We know the difference is in the details, so we’ll go above and beyond when designing and constructing your open-floor plan home to make sure it’s livable, functional, and a Proudly Overbuilt space that you’re proud of. Contact us today by filling out an information request or giving us a call at (405) 984-1185. We can’t wait to help you get started on the process.