Design Tips for Opening Up (Or Closing Off) a Space

As we begin our trek into the year 2024, do you dream about having an open floor plan in your compartmentalized home? Or pine for a little more privacy in your wide-open living room? You aren't alone! Many home owners find themselves in a home that they otherwise love, but with a layout that doesn't suit them. You might think that your only option is to remove/add walls, but this process is often prohibitively expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. Luckily, by implementing the proper design changes, you can create the illusion of opening up or closing off a space without actually changing the home's layout!

How to Make Cramped Spaces Feel Open

1. Let the Light In

Providing more light and using a lighter color palette will help give a feeling of openness to even the most cramped space. The simplest way to do this is with a fresh coat of paint, which is one of the cheapest and most underestimated ways to change the tone of any room. Select white or off-white hues and be sure to match the color as much as possible along the walls, trim, and ceiling. Mirrors are another effective and inexpensive way to open up a room. Hanging them on walls will help reflect light throughout the space, as well as break up the visual lines of the surrounding walls.

Of course, you can add new sources of actual light by installing a new window or skylight. Although this will generally set you back several thousand dollars, its dramatic effectiveness sometimes makes it worth the cost!

2. Remove Doors and Cabinetry

Another great way to open up a space is to remove the built-in objects that disrupt your sight lines. Removing a door and its jamb from the room's entryway will provide a huge boost to its openness without changing the actual floor plan. Similarly, taking down any cabinets or shelves that may be occupying air space on walls will reduce feelings of claustrophobia in a small space.

3. Create Flow Between Rooms

Two adjacent rooms can be made to feel more like one space by utilizing the same colors, materials, and furniture to create a sense of flow between them. For instance, by giving two separate rooms the same wall color and flooring, they will begin to feel like one shared space.

How to Make Large Spaces Feel Cozy

1. Dim the Lights

A large space will feel much cozier if it is lit with dimmer, warmer light sources. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this feeling of pervasive ambiance is with recessed lighting along the room's ceiling, which will provide an even, pleasant glow.

2. Build In a Feature

Adding in a bookcase, column, or island along the border area of the spaces that you wish to separate will go a long way toward demarcating them from each other without having to actually box them off with solid walls. If you're looking to spend a little more, adding a fireplace can create a dramatic focal point to the area!

3. Design Distinct Areas

Positioning furniture into distinct groupings can help break up a large room into what feels like separate areas, particularly if each area has its own distinct style. You can magnify the effect by placing each grouping on a different area rug. Of course, you will want to make sure that the different styles don't clash, but rather provide distinct feels.

Hopefully these tips have shown you that changing your home's layout doesn't require moving walls! Simple design changes can be shockingly simple and effective!