Making Open-Plan Living Areas Cosy

Open-plan living is increasingly popular in homes in Ireland with all-in-one design attractive for both renovations and new home builds. Getting open-plan living spaces right, from kitchen and dining through to living and leisure, requires thoughtful furniture placement to maximise flow, functionality, light and airiness. Here are our top tips for making open-plan rooms inviting, relaxing and liveable in every single season.

Work From The Floor Plan To Create Zones

The first step is reviewing the natural layout of your living area without furniture. With a thorough appraisal of your floor plan you can begin to assess exactly how you’ll establish different micro-areas. Most open-plan living involves a mix of entryway-living-kitchen-dining or at least a dining-living combo so knowing the layout plays a major role in defining spaces for cosiness and multi-purpose use while minimising the awkwardness of an oddly-shaped or cavernous space. Rooms truly do come in all shapes and sizes however open-plan living typically will have lush sofa and armchair seating, a welcoming dining area with a statement table, and accenting foundation furniture like benches, bookshelves and dining islands.

We recommend that you look to anchoring pieces that will define each area as:

• Dining
• Entertaining & gathering
• Solo or small group nook

Once you know what your essential zones are, you can hone in on exactly what style of feature furniture suits your interior taste and day-to-day life.

Choose Practical Furniture That Helps With Segmenting Zones

Eliminating the rigidity of walls is a plus for most people although you do lose some of the natural frameworks that help with delineating each home zone. This is where furniture choices play a key role in building out the living zones identified from your floor plan.

To avoid the extremes of yawning emptiness and suffocating clutter, choose practical yet cosy furniture and core side pieces that are shaped for demarcating each zone:

Dining Tables & Seating

In many cases, the dining zone is a thoroughfare between the relaxation zone and entryway or kitchen. To maximise space while cultivating an area for sharing meals, the shape of the table and seating are both important details. In general, a square or rectangle table suits longer areas so you can easily move between zones. The Trento Oak Rectangle Table in either large or small is a stunning addition to any home and when styled with its coordinating dining bench, you can welcome a crowd without sacrificing floorspace. For a wider open-plan living space, round and oval tables help overcome any ‘boxlike’ feeling. The Lounge Round Dining Table has a modern edgy design that works with a range of interiors and its oak upper can be accessorised with sleek Sibilla Black and Cognac Dining Chairs.

Console Tables & Bookshelves

These pieces prove to be  the real heroes of open-plan living spaces especially for nuanced cohesion for transitioning between each zone. Although you’ll use sofas and dining tables to frame areas, console tables and bookshelves help add interest to the room as well as compensate for seeing the back of furniture (like in an entertaining area). There are so many options for using console tables in open-plan living whether it’s a slimline style alongside a sofa  or even creating your own bar area! The Indus Rustic Oak & Peppercorn Console Table is the ideal sturdy and streamlined choice for placing behind a sofa, along a wall or even to add detail in an entertaining area. When using a bookcase for segmenting a living space, we always start with a minimalist open front and back style that won’t disrupt visual airiness. The Calia Tall Wide Oak Bookcase is a standout piece in every home that provides ample, breezy storage. Lastly, don’t be afraid to pick pieces that can be rearranged or reworked so you don’t feel stuck with your layout. The Canterbury Small Oak Bookcase is solid enough to use as both a console table and for displaying your books, mementos or even board games in a leisure nook away from the main TV area.

Rugs

Rugs of all sizes have a starring role in every open-plan homes. Not only do they give a visual cue to the size and scope of a zone, they will help to softly and neatly segment between the zones. In any room, a rug unites all the pieces that sit on top and large rugs like the Braid Ivory Grey Hand Made Rug and the Kelim Ornament Orange Rug will effectively and stylishly bolster the main living and dining zones. Equally, you’ll use a smaller-sized rug if you’re only looking to indicate and contain a narrow zone such as under a console table, in the kitchen, the entryway or for a reading nook. Try the Genoa Pink Jacquard Rug for luxurious depth and texture. Rugs absorb sound, too, so you can even consider layering styles and sizes to dial down echoes and  amp up the cosiness and serenity.

Leverage Scale & Proportions To Your Advantage With Visual Dimensions

One aspect of open-plan living that can get forgotten is the vertical proportions. Having the right mix of height variations will help bring cosy balance to the full space particularly if you have high ceilings, as many older homes do, or the living space is centred around the lower levels of the stairs to a second floor. To solve this problem, start with the Sonoma Display Cabinet that perfectly incorporates open shelving, chic storage and vertical impact to deliver fullness without crowding. Playing with height also helps with defining each zone so do tie this in with practical solutions. We always recommend using dining stools at a kitchen island so you’re creating another gathering area while the elevation will delineate between the main dining and living zones. The Bayo Saffron Plastic Bar Stool is our must-have pick for modern everyday use. A final hack for achieving dimension in open-plan areas is mirrors in all shapes and sizes. Mirrors are a fantastic tool for keeping rooms feeling spacious and avoiding the traps of overfilling or understyling. Make sure to use a range of different shapes, sizes and styles throughout the room to have the illusion of space rather than an unbroken wall of reflection. The Ombra Soft Black Mirror is a large rounded shape perfect for hanging or leaning and the Chevron Weathered Ash Black Framed Mirror is slick and polished enough to display as usable industrial art.

Enhance Cosiness With Light & Finishes

House & Garden says that, "So much of what we define as cosiness comes from a sense of being enveloped by the space." This makes amplifying the homely embrace of the entire room the final step in the 'cosifying' process. Lighting is a must for delineating between areas and setting the mood so we recommend bringing in specific styles for each zone. The Jupiter Antique Bronze Wall Lamp works in a quiet area, over a TV console, or try a pair to flank a mantlepiece. Don’t forget the impact of lighting from a height either. A tall Imbert Wood and Black Floor Lamp that you can effortlessly move between zones as needed and then an eye-catching Solid Beech Black Pendant Light over the dining area are equally gorgeous. You should also ensure that all upholstery feels inviting as fabric uppers work wonders to add cosiness. Beyond the sofa, a Milan Ruby Leather Armchair has an irresistible finish that people will fight to enjoy in a reading area and in the central entertaining zone. No matter what, ensure to always have bountiful cushions and throws on-hand for people to cuddle up with. You can have throws like the Anoki Ocher Grey Plaid on dining benches for guests on chilly evenings and then layer up cushions across sofas and armchairs. The Rimago Brick Red White Pillow is an adorable textured accessory for every sofa. With a thoughtfully curated collection of furniture that is styleable across the entire open-plan space, you’ll maintain the visual, inviting design while still having micro-interiors in each zone