Open Floor Plan Furniture Layout - Ideas and Furnishing Tips
Congratulations on your new home! An open floor plan offers so much to love, from its spacious, airy feel and modern charm to how effortlessly it lends itself to hosting gatherings. However, arranging furniture in such a space can be a bit tricky. To make it easier, we’ve put together expert tips to help you furnish and decorate your open floor plan with confidence.
Ideas for Furnishing Your Open Floor Plan Layout
Choose an Appropriately Sized Dining Table
In our article Finding the Right-Sized Dining Table Proportionate to the Room, we highlight how to find a dining table that is proportionate to the dining room. These rules still apply, even if the “dining room” is loosely defined.
Start by creating "invisible walls" with painter's tape or similar temporary markers to define distinct areas. Spend a few days observing how you naturally move through the space—does your dining room feel too expensive or too confined? Use these insights to adjust the boundaries of your dining area for optimal flow.
Embrace Backless or Transparent Bookcases and Display Cabinets as Dividers
An open floor plan naturally includes "zones" within the layout, and strategically using furniture is a great way to define them. Backless bookcases or display cabinets are excellent choices, serving as dividers while preserving the open, airy feel with their lithe design.
Backless Display Cabinets and Bookcases for an Open Floor Plan
Sofa Tables—The Unsung Hero of Open Floor Plan Furniture
If furnishing open floor plans was a college course, the first thing you’d learn is that couches play a pivotal role in defining the “living room.” However, to elevate this idea from basic to sophisticated, add a sofa table. This versatile piece not only adds utility and purpose but also visually blocks the back of the couch—typically its least visually exciting angle.
Sofa Table for Open Floor Plans
Have a Plan to Hide the Miscellanea Through Smart Storage
While some of us are messier than others, miscellaneous items are an inescapable fact of life. Perhaps it will be the mail you have yet to carry to the home office, a lighter for nearby candles, board games you don’t have a designated place for, or extra coffee coasters for when guests stop by. If left unchecked in an open floor plan layout, the aimless items scattered throughout the space can compound into visual chaos.
The best strategy is to have storage furniture dedicated exclusively to the odds and ends we all accumulate. Perhaps it’s a lift-top coffee table, a buffet with drawers, or a bookcase of medium stature. The most important design element is that any storage be discreetly tucked behind opaque doors rather than glass, so you don’t have to worry about presentation.
Smart Storage Furniture for Open Floor Plans
Kitchen Storage is Critical
Let’s face it—the kitchen is often the messiest room in the house. With an open floor plan, any disorganization will be fully visible beyond the kitchen’s boundaries. That’s why having ample storage is essential; otherwise, even simple items like appliances or snacks on counters will contribute to the overall visual clutter.
Countryside Amish Furniture offers numerous free-standing kitchen cabinets and practical items like trash bin holders to keep waste discreet. Plus, many of our dining tables feature built-in storage compartments. Our tip? Identify the storage your kitchen needs to keep your counters clean and tidy.
Versatile Storage for Kitchens
Don’t Forget About the Entryway
While some homes have a hall that leads into the open floor plan, others have visitors enter straight into the living room. For the latter, it's easy to overlook the need for entryway furniture like benches, coat racks, and shoe storage. However, in an open floor plan, having a set entryway system is essential to maintaining the overall visual tidiness of the space.
Entryway Furniture for Open Floor Plan Layouts
Think About the Natural Flow of Traffic
Imagine you’re carrying groceries from the door to the kitchen—you will want a clear path rather than having to weave around other furniture. Similarly, if you’re bringing food from the kitchen to the dining table, you’ll want a swift walk rather than an unnecessarily convoluted journey. In this spirit, arrange furniture to cater to the “natural flow” that will occur during day-to-day living.
If in doubt, delineate designated areas for furniture using painter's tape and then pantomime different actions you can imagine yourself regularly performing. Does navigating around the imagined furniture feel natural, or do you find yourself stepping into spaces where pieces would be placed? If the latter, you know it’s time to modify the proposed dimensions and furniture placement!
Consider How the Different Spaces May “Bleed” Into One Another
An advantage of open floor plans is that they encourage interactions across different areas of the space, such as between those cooking in the kitchen and those sitting at the dining table. However, this can also be a disadvantage at times. For example, if "the reading nook" is right next to the television, conflict between family members is bound to arise. Therefore, consider various noisy scenarios that could potentially disrupt each space's intended purpose and plan accordingly to minimize distractions.
Additional Tips for Furnishing Your Open Floor Plan
- Leave generous margins between each zone—at no point should they feel crammed together.
- Consider the pieces that will fall within your view from the spots you frequent most. For instance, while prepping food on the kitchen island, a glimpse of live plants on a nearby shelf might spark joy. On the other hand, you might prefer to keep your desk out of sight from the dining table; otherwise, it could make it harder to disconnect from work during meals.
- Consider a TV stand that conceals the television behind the doors, like the Hillsdale Enclosed TV Cabinet or Baden Barn Door Entertainment Center. This way, it’s not always visible from every point in the open floor plan.
- Consider having a centralized focal point for each “zone” of the open floor plan. While this can be a decorative element, it can also be an artistic furniture piece, particularly in minimalist or modern homes. For inspiration, check out our favorite unique dining tables and coffee tables.
Bold Furniture Pieces to Serve as Focal Points
Ideas for Decorating Your Open Floor Plan Layout
Use Rugs to Define Different Sections of Your Open Floor Plan
Rugs are the not-so-secret weapon of open floor plan layouts. While large rugs can be used to gently define different sections, smaller ones can help visually guide people through the space. Additionally, variations in colors and patterns can subtly communicate the zone’s differing aesthetics. For example, a plush rug with a traditional motif can make the “living room” section feel cozy, while a monochromatic flat-weave runner can make the kitchen feel more modern.
Have a Cohesive Color Scheme and Decor Throughout
Cohesive doesn’t mean identical. As touched upon above, the different zones within your open floor plan can embrace different “moods” that suit their specific purposes. However, they should always feel connected to avoid any visual clashes. To achieve this:
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Define the overarching decor theme, whether it be French Country, modern industrial, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern, or one of the other dozens of styles.
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Pick a color scheme that can echo throughout
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Find common elements that you can disperse throughout—live plants, sculptures, baskets, etc.
Vary Lighting So You Can Set the Mood for Individual Spaces
Your preferred lighting often depends on the activity and time of day. In the kitchen, you may desire a brighter atmosphere so you can feel awake and see with full clarity. However, as you snuggle into the couch to watch a post-dinner movie, you’ll naturally want dimmer lighting. Therefore, infuse different lighting options throughout your space rather than relying exclusively on those in the ceiling.
Shop For Furniture For Your Open Floor Plan With Countryside Amish Furniture
Countryside Amish Furniture brings authentic Amish woodworking directly to your home along with a broad assortment of different furniture styles and purposes. Whether you seek a chicly modern bookshelf, a Mid-Century leather couch, or a table reminiscent of Queen Anne decor, our furniture makers can deliver the pieces you need to complete your open floor plan. Moreover, we give you the option to tailor the designs precisely to your space by granting multiple choices of woods, stains, and design features. Shop with us online to bring home the unrivaled quality and craftsmanship of Amish-made furniture.