Open space concept homes — where one room flows into the next — seem to be favored by homeowners now. There is an ease and lightness to those spaces that reflect our more casual life styles, especially here in the Bay Area. Whether you’re looking at choosing a new home, or would like to make your current home more look and feel more spacious, there are several easy ways that you can help create an open-space feeling wherever you live. Here are a few ideas:
- Use the best, leave the rest. The less you have in a room, the bigger it looks. So give your home the appearance of more space by clearing out the clutter. If you have collections of things, think about showing one piece and putting away the rest. Can’t decide which goes, which stays? Give each of your pieces some time to shine — just one at a time.
- Go spare. Go a step farther than clutter-clearing by getting one room down to the bare essentials. (It’s kind of reverse decorating: think of what you’ll take out the room instead of what you’ll put in it.) When you’ve gotten one room as simple as it can be, go on to the next.
- Get focused. Create the illusion of more space by giving each room a single significant focal point: An unusual piece of furniture. A well-framed picture. Even some bright pillows. Drawing attention to one specific place turns the rest of the room into background.
- Create color continuity. Make one space blend seamlessly into another by using the same colors, or closely related colors, throughout the house. If you choose to use an accent color, repeat it throughout the house. (But only in one place in each room.) Repetition creates relationship — and more visual flow.
- Get another point of view. There may be something creating a visual block in your space, but because it’s so familiar, you don’t even notice it. Ask a friend to share with you what they notice as they go through your home. You may be surprised at what gets their attention! For an open-space feeling, try to create a flow through your rooms with as little visual interruption as possible.
Have a question about creating more open space in your home — or need some help doing it? Call me!
