3 Interior Design Tips to Help You Master an Open Floor Plan

DIY Home Staging in Washington, D.C.Open floor plans have been around for some time, but in recent years they’ve really become one of the top attractions for prospective homeowners and renters alike. The appeal of such an expansive, open design is the opportunity to get creative customizing the look and feel of your most important living spaces to your exact style and needs.

It can be tricky to pull an open floor plan together just right if you don’t plan carefully. Don’t worry though—we’ve gathered our favorite open concept design strategies to help you make the most of your space for you or your buyers!

1) Use area rugs to define spaces.

The caveat to an open floor plan is that all of that seemingly-endless space can be overwhelming and start to feel cold and empty. Creating boundaries that define separate areas within that expansive space will help make it feel more like a functional home and less like a warehouse.

The perfect go-to trick to achieve these defined spaces? Area rugs! A large rug will subtly distinguish between sections and add an extra touch of warmth at the same time.

2) Start with your anchor pieces, then build.

Once you have your spaces defined, you need to assign a clear purpose to each one. The easiest way to do this is with large furniture pieces that traditionally define different rooms—a couch, dining table, kitchen island, work desk, etc.

After you have your anchors in place, fill in the remaining space with supplementary pieces and decorative details that share a cohesive look to unify your different zones. This might be an accent color, pattern, or texture that you carry throughout each area.

3) Guide traffic with furniture and lighting.

Furniture layout is the most effective way to create a path between the smaller, more specific spaces you’ve established within your larger open space. You want your space to be as functional as possible, which means you need to help navigate foot traffic and create a natural flow from zone to zone.

Having all of your living room seating facing each other, for example, will clearly direct traffic either into this conversational area or around to a separate designated space. Different types and sections of lighting are also useful in outlining these borders.

If you’re trying to sell a house or apartment with an open floor plan, it’s important that you don’t leave the work of envisioning those defined, functional living spaces up to your buyers. Fortunately, all it takes is an affordable DIY designer staging package from Stage2Go to fill in the blanks! Our furniture and décor packages will cover everything you need bring your open floor plan to life.

Explore our easy expert staging solutions online or contact us to learn more about what we can do for you and your space!