Open floor plans have been coming increasingly more popular over the last several years which has lead to many requests from homeowners of older homes to knock down walls to allow for there to be a flow between adjoining rooms. The idea behind open floor plans is to join the 3 most popular places in the home into one big space. with no dividing walls or doors in-between, to create one big hub for gathering with family and friends. It creates a much more spacious feel in the home and doesn't close off any of the main rooms to another.
Open floor plans create a clear aesthetic and give a nice flow from room to room. Often we are asked, why do homeowners love them so much? So much so, that they are willing to start knocking down walls in their own home just to have one? To tie into the reasons mentioned above, here are 10 Reasons That Homeowners Love Open Floor Plans.
Improves the Value of Your Home: Open floor plans have been in high demand in the real estate market. In fact, they have been in such high demand that homes that are listed for sale that don't have the feel of an open floor plan, tend to sit on the market longer before receiving an offer, and when they do receive an offer, it is typically for less than the asking price. Home buyers want to move into a home that has a welcoming and open feel, and by definition, an open floor plan does just that. So, when choosing to build a home or remodel your existing home, consider the layout and if there is a wall or two that can be narrowed or eliminated all together to add functional square footage and a clearer line of site.
Creates a Better Flow in the Home: As mentioned earlier, open floor plans create a natural flow throughout the house. It opens up the spaces and gives the main living area a more inviting feel. Having less walls and walled off rooms to navigate also makes it easier for families to keep an eye on their kids without having to sit in the same room as them. Something about having every room walled in with doors at each entry way, create a feel of being closed off and isolation in certain spaces, making it difficult to entertain guests and family. Which leads us to the next reason
It Makes Entertain of Guests Easier and More Enjoyable: Have you ever had a family get together or maybe just some friends over for a fun game night and everyone sort of just gravitates to the same room(typically the kitchen or living room), and when the kitchen or living room is closed off to other parts of the home, it makes those areas becoming significantly more loud and crowded. With an open floor plan, with the same amount of people, you could have all the guests still near by, but they are able to spread out between the living area, dining room, and kitchen, all while being able to still hold a conversation and not feel like they are crowded into one small space.
Creates a Focal Point for the Home: Typically with an open floor plan, when you walk in the front door, you are able to see almost all of the living space with one area of the house being a main focal point of the home, which is usually the kitchen. Again, create an optical appearance of a more welcoming, bright, and open space to gather. With a non-open floor plan, when you walk in the front door, often times it opens into a living room or entry way with hallways and doorways leading you to each room. While there is nothing wrong with this, it tends to make people feel like they are isolated to certain areas of the home which could make them feel excluded from other other conversations or activities that may be happening in neighboring rooms.
Allows for Light to Be Evenly Shared Throughout the Home: In non open floor plan homes, the walls isolate any incoming natural light from the windows in the room to basically start and end there. When the light enters the room it may bleed through the door way, but you are left trying to light up the rest of your home with lamps, light fixtures, or other ambient lights from other windows. Typically creating higher energy costs and darker lit rooms. With an open floor plan, all of the neighboring rooms will share the light without having intrusive walls and doorways blocking the light from brightening up the home. This means, you wont always need to have lights on in all the rooms to keep them well lit, thus, dropping your energy bill. It also means that your home will have a more natural feel to it when you are in it.
Increases the Energy Efficiency: Often times in a closed floor plan home, each room will have one vent for the HVAC, and sometimes not even that. They wont have any! What happens then is the HVAC system in the room when needing to heat or cool the space, will crank air into each room hoping that tempered air is able to bend the corners around the door ways and walls and raise or lower the temperature of your home. With an open floor plan, simply put, there are no walls blocking the air from getting to where it needed to go. If you want your home to be warmer or cooler, when the air flows, it is able to distribute itself evenly throughout the space putting less stress on your HVAC system as well as allowing it to cycle less. Which means more money in your pocket in the long run.
Creates a Modern Feel: Newer, modern homes tend to have open floor plans because they appeal to newer families and homeowners more. The idea of modernizing a home comes from how open the living spaces are and how well connected they are. Usually with open floor plans, the kitchen and living room are connected, which would allow for families to have their kids playing in the living room while dinner is being made in the kitchen, just as an example. To go along with that modern feel, newer homes are now making it more common to attach indoor and outdoor living spaces to each other where a large sliding glass door when opened, would ultimately give your home the ultimate oasis feeling. Which leads us now to number eight.
Connecting to An Outdoor Space: As mentioned in the last point, it is becoming increasingly more common for modern, open floor plan homes, to connect their indoor living space to an outdoor living space. A great example of how this concept is being utilized in homes is with having a large, panoramic or accordion style set of sliding glass doors, which when opened, make it a seamless transition to walk from an outdoor gathering into the kitchen or living room without having to open and close multiple doors or even break conversation with someone outside.
Safer for the Kids: As also mentioned in point number 7, having an open floor plan means a bigger line of site within your home, meaning that when you are tending to things around your home and you have little ones playing in the house, you no longer have to physically be in the same room as them. You can be in the kitchen doing dishes while your child plays with toys in the living room and you can have clear peace of mind as a parent watching your child without having to feel like a helicopter parent while doing so and you can still get other tasks done in the home.
Makes the Home Look and Feel Larger: The last point on our list is probably one of the mor obvious ones but it is still worth mentioning. When you don't have a bunch of walls closing off rooms, you have a common area that appears much larger. Even though areas within the "common area" have their purpose (i.e. kitchen, dining room, living room, etc.), not having the wall there, give the home a feel of being much larger due to being able to see further into the space creating depth. This can make the home feel more relaxed and more welcoming to you, your family, and any guest you may have over.
I hope this list of the 10 Reasons That Homeowners Love Open Floor Plans was helpful to you and if there is someone that you know that has been wondering about taking down a wall to open up their floor plan, share this article with them showing them all the reasons of having a floor plan would be beneficial to them.
If you or someone you know is looking to start taking down that wall they have always hated, or completely rearrange their living space to give their home a more open feel, our team of remodeling experts here at Paramount Craftsman Services, are here to ensure the job goes as smooth and as stress free as possible. We are located in Northern Nevada and we serve Reno, Sparks, Incline Village, and surrounding areas. If you would like more information or want to learn our process on how we can best Bring Your Vision to Life, you can visit our website here to learn more!