professional interior designer

Open floor plans are all the rage these days and it’s hard to imagine them going out of style. They are wonderful for unifying family spaces – allowing sight lines between the kitchen, dining and living areas – and they are also ideal for those who like to entertain because they facilitate the flow of people during social functions.

Even so, there are open floor plans that flop, so you want to take advantage of the open floor plan concept and work with all it has to offer your home design.

Tips For Enhancing Your Open Floor Plan

The following tips will help you to see your open floor plan as a “big picture,” so that each space retains its own unique personality, while still remaining part of a cohesive and well-decorated whole.

Think in terms of zones. With an open floor plan, the boundaries between rooms can be blurred to nonexistent so start thinking in terms of zones. You may even include a zone within a zone – like in the case of a children’s play area on one side of your family room space. Zones are often created using a combination of area rugs, which anchor particular zone and furnishings. Furniture is also used, for example your couch may create the horizontal boundary between living and dining areas. A row of potted plants on a pony wall might have a similar effect. Zones prevent your open plan from seeming cavernous and empty.

Capitalize on light. A lack of walls and physical dividers isn’t the only thing that makes an open floor plan feel more spacious. The free flow of light does this as well – as long as it’s allowed. Take advantage of natural light sources, via windows, skylights and solar tubes. With the right placement, natural light sources can also enhance certain areas of the home at certain times of day – like a brightly lit family room or a dining area that glows softly in response to well-placed windows or skylights that optimize the sunset.

Optimize your kitchen island. Kitchen islands are one of the most universal dividers in an open floor plan, used to separate the kitchen from the living, dining and/or family room space. Don’t waste an opportunity here. There are so many roles your kitchen island can play and your interior designer can help you along with this.

For example, think about how you spend the most time in your kitchen. If it’s prepping or washing up, you may want to put your sink in the island so you spend more time keep an eye on – or communing with – your family than you do looking at a wall or small window. If it’s cooking, you may want to put the stovetop and oven there. If you have small children, the backside of the island can be great for using chalkboard paint and adding a few shelves for books and toys so they can entertain themselves. These are all easily covered up and re-purposed when they get older.

Don’t forget color continuity. Have your ever worked with a color wheel before? Your open floor plan will give you plenty of practice. While you don’t want everything to be matchy-matchy from zone to zone, you do want there to be some amount of color continuity throughout the spaces since one room leads visually to another.

Get familiar with complementary, contrasting and analogous colors so you can begin to play with what accents look best where. Also, don’t forget about the importance of texture. Repeating textures throughout the home is another way to create a sense of continuity.

The terms interior designer and interior decorator are sometimes used interchangeably, and yet they are not the same thing at all. The advent of HGTV and the rise of interior design programs in popular culture has helped to mend this gap but I still see them bandied about as if they’re one and the same.

While there are definite similarities between the two occupations – both are focused on creating stylish and attractive living spaces – how they go about it this task slightly different.

Interior Designer or Interior Decorator: Answer These Questions to See if You Know the Difference

Who analyzes your family’s lifestyle when designing a space?

An interior designer. According to the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), an interior designer is someone who, “…is professionally trained to create a functional and quality interior environment. Qualified through education, experience and examination, a professional designer can identify, research and creatively resolve issues and provide a healthy, safe and comfortable physical environment.”

Who comes into your home’s existing structure to coordinate interior furnishings?

This is a trick question because both interior designers and interior decorators can do this. However, this type of work is right up an interior decorator’s alley. Interior decorators work solely in the realm of paint, fabric, furnishings and textiles. They come into finished spaces and can either dress them up or completely alter their surface finishes.

Some interior decorators also work with their clients to help out with seasonal changes, dressing your home for fall or the holiday season. They might even help you with temporary decor changes before your household hosts a large party or special gathering. Changing out certain textiles, adding seasonal decorations or even rearranging your furnishings to make things more comfortable for a large social event are all in their repertoire.

Do interior decorators work with architects and construction professionals?

No, they don’t. This is actually one of the main differences between an interior designer and an interior decorator. Interior decorators are only qualified to work with a finished space and do not have the training and expertise to advise you on structural changes. Interior designers, on the other hand, can be a wealth of information and expertise throughout a new home construction build-out or from the very beginning of a remodel or renovation.

In fact, most clients find that hiring an interior designer is the best “first step” when beginning a home design or renovation – even preempting the hiring of your architect or contractor. The interior designer will assist you in analyzing your lifestyle and the unique personalities in your home and then suggest design features that will best reflect those so your home is functional, promotes a high quality of life and is attractive.

Which profession requires official licensing and certifications?

Interior designers. Those who work as licensed interior designers typically have a four-year degree and have passed, or are working on passing, the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) exam. They are well versed on art history, architecture, furniture design and can prepare CAD drawings for the bidding process. Interior designers also complete a certain number of Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) each year per state licensing and/or organizational membership requirements.

In contrast, many interior decorators have no formal training and no certification or licensure. Their expertise comes from a naturally artistic eye and a passion for what they do, but they lack a certain level of technical expertise.

Sometimes, a space is challenging to work with. Perhaps the window placement and/or entryways make it difficult to arrange furniture the way you’re used to. Furniture may block entrances or traffic flow is such that it interrupts the conversational paths. Or, perhaps you have tiny nooks or other architectural details that feel like more of a hindrance than a help.

There are design solutions for every floor plan. It may be that a single consultation with an interior designer is will provide just enough brainstorming power to get you started on your own. Here are some of the things she might suggest.

Pull furniture away from the wall

Traditional home design typically places couches and other large furniture up against the wall so it doesn’t take up usable space. This doesn’t always work with awkward spaces. With awkward spaces, we often pull things away from the wall. You can use the wall space for shelving or decorative furniture pieces to display houseplants, artwork or curios. Then, create conversational and focal areas by grouping furniture together in their own zones, anchored by area rugs and end tables.

Re-think your furniture

Sometimes, it’s not the room that’s the issue – it’s the furniture. Room size and layout should play a big part in the number and size of the pieces you own. In tricky layouts, it often makes sense to have love seats and wing back chairs, creating versatile arrangement options, than it does to have a big sectional couch and recliners. Another bonus of smaller pieces is that they can be rearranged and mixed and matched easier than large pieces, allowing you to play with your design without having to make any large or big-budget modifications.

Prioritize the swivel

If you are going furniture shopping, prioritize chairs that swivel. They are extremely handy in open floor plans because while they may take up residence in a reading nook or conversational grouping, they can be easily oriented to watch TV, join a conversation on the opposite side, or to continue chatting with the busy host and hostess in the kitchen. Similarly, in a family setting, they can be swiveled away from busy or noisy areas to enjoy a bit of serenity or reading time.

Make the nook a focal point

There are nooks (yay!), and then there are nooks (grrrr). The nooks we love are the ones that grant us that perfect space for two chairs and a table between them, or a chaise lounge with a lovely view out the window. Then, there are the nooks that complicate things. These nooks are often created to hide awkwardly placed interior wall stuff – like plumbing or structural supports. Your job is to take that nook (grrr) and make it awesome.

If it’s in your budget, this might be an opportunity to connect with an interior designer who provides custom furniture design, taking advantage of her connections with local furniture builders and artisans. If not, the nook can be an ideal place to install bookshelves, build a wet bar, create a gallery wall from your art collection or use houseplants to mimic a mini greenhouse effect.

Think in the round

Round tables are much less awkward in tricky spaces than their square or rectangular counterparts. If you’re having a hard time figuring out how to place your rectangular kitchen table in your new breakfast nook, or your square end tables just don’t seem to work in the living room, it might mean it’s time to shop for circles. Circles work to soften angular spaces, and you can get them right up against the wall, placing two or three chairs around them rather than four.

Could you swap spaces?

I was once called in to remodel a home that had beautiful, separate living and dining room spaces. The problem was that the living room was laden with lots of windows and inconvenient entryways that made it tricky to place furniture in a way that honored the fireplace as well as a TV area. All of a sudden, I realized that the dining room would make a very cozy family room and TV area, while the living room would work perfectly as a formal dining room with a comfortable sitting area at the other end of the table. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to start completely from scratch and re-think your rooms and furnishings to come up with whole new solutions.

Style, color, and patterns are all instrumental in creating a cohesive interior design. Even if you adhere closely to all three of these, however, your design will fall a bit flat if you don’t also pay attention to texture.

Texture Makes an Interior More Interesting

Texture can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the look you are going for. Here are some of the most common ways texture is used to make interior design more lively and interesting.

• Monochromatic Interiors. In a monochromatic interior, one where the same color is used throughout – with very little variation, texture adds depth and dimension. Without it, the room or space would feel flat and lifeless.
• Modern Interiors. Modern interiors tend to have a “hard” look because they focus on clean and streamlined aesthetics. This is where a nice textured window treatment, shag rug, or funky accent pillows can go a long way in softening the overall appearance.
• Wood-Wood, Leather-Leather. Is there a room in your house that tends to have an abundance of one particular texture or finish? This is a sign you should consciously add a different texture or two so things aren’t too repetitive.
• To Feel Good. Textures can also be added simply because they feel good. Think about that favorite chenille throw blanket or a luxurious towel set in the bathroom. What about a velvet armchair? In addition to looks, certain textures feel better than others, so you’ll want to incorporate softer, more luxurious textures in rooms that have an abundance of less-comfortable finishes.

Tips For Adding Texture to Your Home’s Interior

There are all kinds of ways to add texture to your interior design. Take a look from room to room and see where you could use a little “texture update” to improve the overall look and feel.

Just add houseplants. If you feel like you got the textile thing down, try adding a houseplant or two. In addition to a whole new texture, as well as depth and dimension, you will also improve your home’s interior air quality. Houseplants are a great addition to empty corners or tabletops.

Look for throw pillow covers. Invest in high-quality throw pillows in standard sizes and then be on the lookout for colorful, patterned, and/or textured covers that you can switch out as the mood strikes you.

Use area rugs. There are plenty of reasons to love area rugs. They save wear-and-tear on flooring in high-traffic areas, they help to define a particular area of a room, and they can also anchor furniture or seating areas in large rooms and open floor plans. Also, area rugs add texture. From sleek low-pile rugs to woven rugs and shag versions, they can make a big impact. A patterned rug can also give the illusion of texture, even if the surface isn’t all that high or chunky.

Pattern layering. I mentioned that patterned area rugs provide texture, and that is because certain patterns create an optical illusion of sorts, creating depth where there is none. This optical illusion can also give the appearance of varied textures. Think about paisley or geometric patterns, which can look 3-D or will appear as if different materials were used – even if patterns are printed on a uniform surface. Layering patterns will enhance that effect, even if your textiles or finishes are all the same.