Best way to zone your home interior

Open plan living is a trend that is set to stay. Creating a flowing space allows you to feel connected with everyone in the home and bring everyone together. In terms of layout, an open plan can help to make the house feel bigger, more spacious and more inviting. The benefit of open plan living is the fact that you can extend life into different areas. However, this can also be a drawback when household items don’t have a specific place, or you lose functionality by not having designated zones.

With an open plan, you can still have the spaciousness and spread that helps people come together. However, with some strategic zoning, you ensure you have the functional spaces and organisation that give your home focal points and feature areas.

Start with flooring

Using the same flooring throughout an interior can help to create a spacious open plan design. Using one flooring design across the whole space can improve the flow. With this, it is crucial to get the floor design right. You’ll need a flooring design that suits the kitchen but also is inviting for the dining room, lounge and seating areas.

A classic design such as herringbone is a versatile but stylish pattern that can work well for an open plan. Herringbone adds interest and intrigue and, with a few minor tweaks, can help to create distinct zones in your home interior.

To create zones with the flooring, you may want to consider using door bars. This helps rooms to flow into each other, but the subtle addition of a door bar gives a distinct zone. Rugs can also work well with herringbone flooring. A long runner can create a natural connection between spaces, while soft, fluffy rugs can create seating zones.

Install half-height units

Storage is essential in the home, but with open plan living, storage is often compromised for the benefit of space. However, half-height storage can be a fantastic compromise as it offers vital storage options, but as it’s half-height, you don’t lose space or close-off areas.

A half-height cabinet, bookshelf or sideboard ensures the space still feels open at eye-level but creates strategic breaks in the floor and can zone spaces. Using half-height storage also ensures you can store all the items you need close to where they’d be used, which is ideal for stress-free, organised spaces.

Use effective lighting

Bright, clear lights are vital for kitchens and food preparation areas; however, softer, atmospheric lights are preferred when it comes to dining. In small spaces, dimmer switches can help create a different ambience for different functionalities. If you have a larger open plan space, this means you can use strategic lighting options to get the right look for various home zones.

Bright overhead lights and undercabinet lighting can be practical for cooking, while pendant lights over a dining table can help to create a distinct dining zone. Uplights can help to create a calming, relaxing space and living area, while strategic floor lamps can create smaller, more intimate spaces, ideal for reading corners, home offices and homework spaces for children.

Add coordinating colour

You can create different zones in an open plan space by using distinct colours in different zones. Across the whole space, choose a complementing colour palette, with each zone having its own main colour. Depending on your taste, you may choose to use a variety of shades of the same colour. If you prefer a bolder look, opt for different colours in each section.

By keeping floors neutral and consistent across the whole open plan space, it means you can play more with colour to create designated zones. This could be through rugs, wall art, furniture, soft furnishings or feature walls.

Consider screens

Folding screens, glass screens, hanging strings, curtains and room dividers can all help to create zones while remaining open plan. Screens are a versatile option that are easy to move whenever you want to switch up the layout of your space or wish to open the area for different functions.

After the pandemic, screens are a growing trend, helping to create work-from-home spaces in an open-plan interior. Screens offer the chance to create zones as and when you need them, but at the end of the day, they’re easy to move to one side to transform the room from work to leisure.

Find the perfect flooring that meets all of your open plan requirements, from being hardwearing enough for busy kitchens to stylish and comfortable for living and dining areas. Find the ideal design for your space with Pro-Tek Engineered Vinyl Flooring.