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Is Open-Concept Space Over-Hyped?

(Photo Source: dreahomedecoration.com)

Open-concept floors are among the most popular trends in home design, but are they worth all the fuss?

Open-concept floor designs have become the standard, especially in family houses. It’s not so much a design, as it’s a lifestyle. While one parent cooks, the kids are watching the TV, and the other parent is cleaning up the dining room. Open-concept is about togetherness, but there are certain obstacles many seem to overlook.

However, open-concept gives you no privacy, which can be rather annoying. It’s also a question of noise tolerance, musical instruments, tolerance for seeing the mess in adjacent rooms. The spaciousness can also bring out some anxieties because it tends to look cold and impersonal. It’s hard to combine textures and furniture pieces, without making a whole space look like it’s one giant hole. And when you do separate the areas into rooms, you still have to consider how to make a natural flow. You have to look at furniture pieces from all sides and angles, and the lighting is one of the biggest tricks.

If you can’t handle the noise, you can at least try to fix the lighting. Each room should have three sources of light, but to make open-concept lit, you’ll have to form symmetrical pools of light throughout the space. Floor outlets combined with natural light and small lamps, as well as at least one statement chandelier, need to look like they belong together. One part of the open-space will always have less natural light, so you need to figure that out while you’re decorating.

And of course, whether you like it or not, you have to think about the mess. Open-concept requires a lot more cleaning and tidying up. Keeping up with children’s toys, your culinary creation, and other daily issues is normal. However, if you want to be the perfect hostess, you’ll have to come up with hidden areas for extra quick cleaning up. And that can turn into a nightmare if you don’t invest in additional storage.

The only reason that open-concept is so popular is that families don’t have enough time to be together. Instead, we are forced to share the space, despite the apparent inconsistencies, from noise to the fundamental human right to privacy. The noise, smells from the kitchen, and kitchen safety, visual clutter, energy efficiency, and extra expenses will make you rethink the whole concept of open spaces.