When you’re considering a remodel of your home’s interior it is exceptionally important to design the area with your family’s day-to-day in mind. Do you want an open flow from your kitchen to your dining room and living room? Do you want a more traditional look with the kitchen separate from the other areas of your first floor? The first step of your remodel is to figure out what works and doesn’t work with your home. What is your current layout, and do you need a drastic change? Here’s a breakdown of why you might lean towards one or the other.
● Aesthetics: Open concepts are considered a more modern design. It’s one large area that usually includes the kitchen, living room, and dining area. The design flows throughout the entire space, including the interior decorating. Traditional layouts have that separation using a door or archway, but each room will have its own space. Also, by breaking up your rooms, you can have a different design aesthetic in each area.
● Space: Open floor plans offer a tremendous amount of space. This is wonderful for socializing and accessibility. It also gives you more freedom to redesign parts of the room without too much fuss. While traditional plans are more closed in, it gives you a cozier feel and eliminates the need for extra decorations and clutter.
● Safety: One advantage of open floor plans is that you are able to see the entire room, no matter your angle. This is great for parents keeping an eye on their kids or even caregivers looking after their patients.
● Privacy: In this category, traditional layouts have the upper hand. Whether you’re cooking a surprise meal or need a quiet space to work, an open layout will not give you the privacy that you need.
● Smells: This may be an odd consideration, but smells travel throughout the house, especially if you’re using spices or foods like cabbage. Traditional layouts help keep the smells contained in the kitchen.
● Cleanliness: Clutter can accumulate whether we want it to or not. We try to keep the house clean, but life gets in the way and things can pile up. How that clutter may look can depend on the layout of the rooms. With traditional layouts, you’re working with small spaces. Clutter can build up quickly overwhelming a smaller room like the living room or the kitchen. That same clutter could feel more manageable with an open concept. You may find that it’s easier to add more storage into the room without it feeling overwhelming.
