Ten Things that will add value to your home

Sixth article of a ten-part series of things that will add value to your home

It has been the movement towards houses and apartments over the last couple of decades for large open spaces. Today’s home buyers like the light, airy and spacious feel. The most popular in today floor plans is the typical great room extension into the kitchen giving a large open space with lots of light. Not many buyers walk into a dark house and say, “I love this.”

Large open floor plans have definite advantages over their closed-off rooms of the Victorian area. It gives you space, light and flexibility. One might immediate think of the open space New York lofts in the mid-20th century. Even now we are finding homeowners remodeling their older homes by knocking down walls to get a bit of this openness and bohemian feel. Open space floor plans are great but it takes caution when it comes time to decorate them.

Here are a few tips for making it all work:

1. Keeping a continuous Flow. Maintaining one type of floor covering for the entire area will go a long way in giving the space the unity you are trying to create. Popular today are wood or simulated wood flooring which adds warmth while creating and elegant and soothing effect. Wall colors are best kept light and bright which will highlight the light and space of the open floor plan rather than sabotaging it. Finally, keep your furniture all within the same scale or tonal range. Go with either all dark woods, or birch and lighter woods. For example, having a modern mid-century living room area and boasting your dining room with all European furniture will not work unless you combine and bring in elements of both periods into both rooms.

2. Creating Subtle Yet Defined Spaces. If your living room, dining room and kitchen area are one, wide area you will still want to create defined areas for each so it clarifies what function each of the areas serve. This is best obtained by creating your furniture groupings. Lining furniture up against a wall would give an incomplete feel like looking down a long Wal-Mart food isle as opposed to floating furniture grouping in the middle of a room giving a totally opposite effect and feel which in turn will encourage conversation. You can also incorporate the use of room dividers to help define spaces such as book shelves, screens, wall panels, sliding doors that can close off an area or disappear to leave a room wide open.

3. Lighting is Crucial and Sets the Mood – Here you can get creative as lighting gives you the opportunity to give your open space more definition. Popular today are recessed lights, pendants, accent lights, track lights – all will aid in setting off one area from another. Do your homework and spend time walking around your favorite store that features home décor and repair. There are lots of classes and books available at these big giant home-builder supply stores that supply the how-to and have great ideas for those of us who just can’t see it or envision the effects in our heads.

4. Simplify – The secret to any open floor plan is simplicity in living and definitely does not have a clutter feel or any redundancies. To do this you must eliminate all unnecessary furniture. By paring down furniture that does not have a viable function in the spirit of an open floor plan, this will prevent your home from looking like a budget furniture showroom.

5. Choosing the right furniture – It stands to reason if you have open room design, some of your furniture most likely will float in the middle, especially like a couch grouping so you want to choose furniture carefully like an architect, artist or sculpture to check out all the angles.

ShirLee McGarry® with Principal Realty Group is a freelance writer in Utah

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