10 Reasons to Love Open Floor Plans
Anyone who has stepped foot in a new home will have noticed that open floor plans have become almost mandatory in modern design — and for good reason.
At Regional Home Builders, we’re passionate about providing the best floor plans to suit your situation. Whether you’re a growing family who needs to upsize or you’re an empty nester looking to downsize, there’s sure to be a home that’s the right size and shape for you.
Today, we’ll be counting the 10 reasons to invest in an open floor plan — although we could have easily made it to 20!
If you need more motivation to open that floor plan, get in touch with the RHB team and we’ll set your home up for success.
Natural Light
With fewer walls, natural light can flow freely throughout the space, brightening up the entire area. By lighting your home naturally, you reduce the need to turn on artificial lights, saving money on electricity bills.
Welcoming natural light into your home is also great for indoor plants which have been shown to improve air quality, mental health, and – for many – your home’s aesthetic.
Natural light can be included in a home design using larger window space, more mirrors and reflective objects, lighter paint, and less bulky curtains.
Family Bonding
Open floor plans encourage social interaction among family members and guests, making it easier to connect and communicate. These kinds of designs can connect the kitchen with the living room or a kid’s playroom, for example. In this way, you could easily keep an eye on the kids while cooking dinner.
On the other hand, including larger rooms in your home allows occupants to use the same space for different purposes without feeling cramped or forced to interact. One person could work in a study nook while the other makes lunch and neither would be distracted despite being nearby.
Spaciousness
Speaking of feeling cramped, an open floor plan helps to create a sense of spaciousness, making a home feel larger and more inviting. We spend so much time in our homes – especially in winter – so we should enjoy our surroundings as much as possible. If this will be improved by a more spacious living area, then RHB is happy to provide it.
No one wants to feel like they’re always bumping into furniture or bending to let someone pass in the kitchen. With this mindset, it’s an easy decision to remove some inconvenience from your home life with an open floor plan.
Better Air Circulation
The lack of walls in an open floor plan facilitates improved air circulation, contributing to better indoor air quality. When half of your house is technically one room, it’s hard for it to ever get stuffy or uncomfortable. Increase your airflow with a split-system air conditioner or openable windows and you’ll scarcely suffer through a stuffy house again.
There are many other benefits to improving your home’s air circulation, such as removing the risk of mould or condensation. The build-up of these things can be detrimental to your family’s health and the condition of your home. If mould gets into the air, it can affect your respiratory and immune systems, while condensation can deteriorate things like wooden furniture, floorboards, and within walls.
Design Cohesion
It’s easier to create a cohesive interior design when spaces flow seamlessly into each other without walls breaking them up. Rather than seeing your kitchen, living and dining rooms as separate spaces to be designed independently, you can view them as one.
Not only can cohesive design reduce the time and money spent on designing the space — as you can buy matching decorations in bulk — but it better establishes the atmosphere of the entire home. As you enter each space in a home, you subconsciously assess the atmosphere and align your mood accordingly — mess creates stress, for example. If each room is consistent and predictable, you remove the need to recalibrate each time you move about. This can be greatly satisfying for many people.
Versatility
The absence of walls allows for more flexible furniture arrangements, making it easier to adapt the space for different purposes. Short of turning your kitchen into a bedroom, you can reassign the function of each space to suit your needs. You could even use furniture to divide single spaces to become multipurpose. The opportunities are endless with an open floor plan!
Increased Resale Value
As you should now be aware, open floor plans are popular among homebuyers, therefore increasing their value. If you know you’ll only be in your home for a few years, with the potential to upsize soon, you’ll want to know that you’ll be earning a profit on this investment.
Resale value can be improved by many things including curbside appeal, amenities, and an open floor plan — so long as the latter is emphasised in a well-presented open day!
Contemporary Design
Open floor plans are a hallmark of modern design, giving a home a trendy and sophisticated look. Some of the features of a contemporary home include natural light, large windows, and — you guessed it — an open floor plan. You may notice that these first two features are enabled by an open floor plan, making it the perfect doorway to contemporary design.
Accessibility
Open floor plans provide better accessibility for people with mobility challenges, as there are fewer barriers to navigate. Their large living spaces allow you to separate furniture to make room for wheelchairs while having fewer rooms makes things easier for vision-impaired residents.
Easy Maintenance
Cleaning and maintaining an open floor plan can be more straightforward, with fewer walls and corners to dust and vacuum — not to mention the lack of mould and condensation as mentioned earlier.
Some homeowners do find that open floor plans make it hard to “hide your clutter” in a spare room or cupboard, but there are plenty of simple solutions to this claim. Open floor plans provide more space for storage options like a sideboard, cabinet, or toy box.
Consult Regional Home Builders
Our team takes over 20 years of experience and delivers modern homes that make your life as comfortable and convenient as possible. If an open floor plan sounds like the kind of life you want to live, get in touch and browse our home designs today!
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