How to design an Open Space? How to make an Open Space feel cozy?
Open Space has became synonymous with “modern home”. I am pretty sure you have heard the words “open space” many times when talking about design and furniture, in showrooms, in tv shows about home renovations, in magazines. It looks like there is no modern house without a big living room with an open space.
The problem is, open spaces are also really difficult to be designed and decorated. It happens very often – the open space you were dreaming of, in the reality transforms into a huge and cold space, or maybe in a confused and not stylish at all big room.
You don’t want this to happen, right?
That’s why I am sharing today some tips to design an open space – and, more than that, to make an open floor space feel cozy and welcoming. For doing this, I am sharing one of our latest projects – a big open space living room design in Venice, Italy.
INTERIOR TIPS
How to design a cosy Open Space
This layout is part of a house in Venice mainland for a family of four – two adults and two teens, designed with the aim to be divided in the future for the two sons. The ground floor was mainly occupied by a wide open space, with big glazed doors opened to the garden – and an entry on the right side. The corner on top right had to be occupied by the kitchen, that my clients’ wanted to be semi-opened to the big living room. The living room also had an open staircase, leading to the first floor – with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a gym+free time open area.
We designed a modern-rustic interior in the tones of neutrals and greens, with lots of wood and some rustic accents – wanted by the adults – together with some more contemporary designs.
The big open space was the most challenging part of this project, since it had to incorporate many different options and, other than being wide, was also very high on the central area, that was with double height. These are the tips we used to solve this space.
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Open Space Design Tip 1
Arrange the Room Around Focal Points
The very first thing to do when designing an open space is to identify some focal points – and work around them. In this way, you will avoid the risk of creating a confused space, nor a space which is “too-open” – so it’s the opposite of a cozy one. Here for example our focus was the kitchen – that we underlined by adding two glazed dividers in industrial style, two new semi-dividers in plasterboard with decorative niches, and the ceiling lamps.
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Open Space Design Tip 2
Create Intimate Seating Areas
To create a cozy and welcoming open space, the key is working in creating corners. For sure, in a living room with open space, the most important corner is the sitting area: in this project, we choose a soft and comfortable sectional sofa together with a Scandinavian stile armchair, and completed the corner with a suspended fireplace. To add a cozier feeling and underline the focal wall, then, we choose a light green wallpaper and a wall art, and added another layer with a low wall to be used as a shel for small decorative objects behind the sofa.
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Open Space Design Tip 3
Define the Open Space With different heights and Rugs
You should never forget that we are working on a 3d space – and never forget to design also considering the height of the room. Creating different heights by adding some false ceilings is another tips to design an open space in order to make it cozy and welcoming. You can use some lower ceilings to incorporate more lights and underweight some areas. Here for example, we created a passage from the entry to the double height area with a lower ceiling, that we underlined with the pastel green wallpaper. We used then the rug to give more evidence to the direction from the entry to the staircase.
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Open Space Design Tip 4
Coordinate colors and materials to Maintain Design Continuity
If from one side it’s ok to work with different corners and focal points, on the other side the tip for designing a welcoming open space area is to coordinate colors and materials. In this way, even if you work on different corners, you will keep a consistent style across all the space – creating a visually pleasant environment, where everything looks well balanced to the eye. Here, we worked with lots of wood to meet the clients’ tastes for a more rustic space, keeping everywhere a similar warm essence of wood but declined in many different ways. To add some character, we added some black details – ceiling details project and lamps.
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Open Space Design Tip 5
Mix in Cozy Accessories
The last – but funnier part of the open space design: decorating! Add plants, wall arts, books, vases, blankets: not too much, but enough to make your open space a lively and cosy space, where you can’t wait to spend your time in!
