Focal points

Four Crucial Steps for Designing an Open Concept Space /  by Margaret Chambers

This project has an open concept space where the dining room, kitchen, morning room, and living room are all connected.

This project has an open concept space where the dining room, kitchen, morning room, and living room are all connected.

There’s a reason why open floor plans have become so ubiquitous in Dallas homes over the last few decades. Open concept interior design promotes a feeling of togetherness, which is especially attractive to young families with busy schedules.

However, people who are furnishing an open concept home for the first time may be intimidated by all the extra room. How do you make sure that your home feels warm and inviting instead of empty and cold? How do you balance the lighting and ensure that you’re getting the most use out of the space? For answers to these questions and more, read on.

Step 1: Choosing Flooring and Paint Colors

If you’re building a new home or having one remodeled, you should try to use the same flooring material throughout your open concept space. For paint colors, we as designers suggest choosing a neutral color for the walls. Some open concept homes feature an accent wall painted in a different color. Even in this case, I would recommend painting the trim all in the same color (or even the same color as the walls) for a feeling of continuity in the room.

If you have a high ceiling, you might also consider painting the ceiling a darker shade, which helps the room feel cozy and cave-like. Regardless of what paint colors you choose, don’t leave your walls bare: make sure to fill all that open wall space with art and mirrors.

Large windows filter light into this open concept kitchen during the day, while chandeliers illuminate it at night.

Large windows filter light into this open concept kitchen during the day, while chandeliers illuminate it at night.

Step 2: Plan Your Lighting Ahead of Time

It’s very important that your open concept space be well-lit at all times of the day. An open floor plan that is shadowy in spots feels unbalanced and unwelcoming. The easiest way to create an even coverage is by installing overhead lights and scattering lamps across the space. When I design an open concept space, I make sure to plan the positions of the furniture and floor outlets ahead of time. That way, we can plug the lamps in the floor outlets without running the cords across the floor.

Step 3: Furniture Shopping

If you have an especially large open floor, you’ll want to “anchor” it with appropriately sized furniture, such as a large dining table and large sofas. You can then pair your bulky pieces with slender furniture. Whenever you can, include multifunctional pieces. Putting a writing desk in your den area makes that space also function as a home office.

This Dallas living area features the same rust, beige, green, and cream colors that we used in the open concept kitchen.

This Dallas living area features the same rust, beige, green, and cream colors that we used in the open concept kitchen.

It’s generally not advised to push your furniture up against the walls, so keep in mind that your furniture will be seen from all sides. Make sure to buy pieces that you think look great at any angle.

Step 4: Use Furniture and Rugs to Divide the Space

Once you have your color scheme, furnishings, and lighting fixtures ready to go, the next step is to use them to divide the floor into functional spaces. A good place to start is by identifying a focal point in your room and then organizing a seating area around it. Examples of focal points in an open concept space include gallery walls, large windows, and fireplaces.

Seen here is an open concept morning room. The swivel chairs can be turned towards the fireplace or the kitchen.

Seen here is an open concept morning room. The swivel chairs can be turned towards the fireplace or the kitchen.

Rugs are one of your best tools for visually breaking up a large space and marking off seating areas. By having the legs of your furniture touching a single area rug, it helps bring them together. You can also create separate areas in your space by using shelving units, decorative screens, sectionals, or console tables.

To prevent each of these areas from clashing too much, coordinate them by using similar colors and materials in each zone. It’s not necessary to use the same colors and patterns throughout your whole house, but in the open concept space, everything within eyesight needs to harmonize.

Learning how to decorate an open concept space is an important skill even if you’re not currently living in one. After all, most newly built homes these days have a floor that connects the family room and kitchen area, so it’s likely that your next home will be open concept.

By planning the space thoughtfully, or working with an interior designer who is experienced with open concept design, you can create a space that feels spacious but also comforting. If you're interested in working with Chambers Interiors for your upcoming project, call our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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Bring Order to Your Rooms with the Right Focal Points /  by Margaret Chambers

This double range and custom vent hood, both made out of steel and brass, form a focal point for the kitchen we designed in a Dallas home.

This double range and custom vent hood, both made out of steel and brass, form a focal point for the kitchen we designed in a Dallas home.

If you’re worried that one of your rooms has too much going on, it might be because you don’t have a focal point. The term ‘focal point’ will be familiar to our artistic readers: in a photograph, the focal point is the part of the picture where the lens is focused. In a painting, it’s the point where the viewer’s eye is drawn. Interior designers use the term focal point to indicate the place where your eyes first land when you enter a room. For those new to this concept, here is a set of guidelines for using the things you already own to create new focal points.

The beams of this vaulted ceiling act as one focal point while also leading the eye to another: the round wall art.

The beams of this vaulted ceiling act as one focal point while also leading the eye to another: the round wall art.

One way to start identifying potential focal points is to make note of any architectural features you have. Fireplaces, built-in bookcases, vaulted ceilings, mantles, free-standing bathtubs, oven hoods, and large windows will usually be the focal points for their respective rooms.

When you don’t have an architectural focal point in the room, you’ll need to create one with your decorating choices. Statement furniture, paintings, coffee tables, rugs, backsplashes, collections, or lighting fixtures can all be focal points. Whatever you choose, it needs to be in the line of sight for any visitor stepping into the room.

Coffered ceilings, such as this one, make an excellent focal point for entryways, dining rooms, or formal living rooms.

Coffered ceilings, such as this one, make an excellent focal point for entryways, dining rooms, or formal living rooms.

Ideally, a focal point should contrast with its surroundings and command attention, rather than blend in. Different focal points require different approaches:

  • If your windows are the focal point, don’t crowd them with heavy drapes. Another thing to consider is that unless you’re looking out at a brightly lit city skyline, your windows won’t be visually interesting after the sun goes down. If your room is large enough, add another focal point (such as a piece of art) to keep things interesting at all times of the day.

  • To ensure your mantle will be a strong focal point, decorate it with plenty of eye-catching accessories.

  • In an entryway, the door is typically the focal point. Paint it a contrasting color from the rest of the walls to emphasize it.

  • Possible focal points for the bedroom can be the bedding, the headboard, or the wall behind the bed.

  • In open-concept layouts, you can give each area its own focal point. You may want to add another focal point between the individual seating areas to bring everything together.

  • For dining rooms, a light fixture or a showy table setting can be focal points.

  • Draw attention to your ceiling with a paint or stain color that isn’t seen anywhere else in the room.

Adding accessories to the mantle of your fireplace will help to make sure that it becomes a focal point for your room.

Adding accessories to the mantle of your fireplace will help to make sure that it becomes a focal point for your room.

A large room can accommodate multiple focal points, but a small room should never have more than two. In a living area with a beautiful view, for example, both the fireplace and the windows can be focal points. To balance more than one focal point, establish seating areas or groups of accessories around each of them.

One of the focal points should always be more dominant than the others, so make sure you’re using paint or lighting to ensure that the viewer will look at it first. To make whitewashed furniture pop, put a dark wall color behind it; inversely, put your dark statement furniture in front of a white wall.

You can also try flanking your focal point with plants, lamps, or vases on either side to give that part of the room some “weight.” Height is another way to help your focal point assert itself. If your focal point is an armoire or desk, and there’s open wall space above, hang a tall mirror over it. Patterns often have visual movement, so a patterned rug can actually help “lead” to a focal point when the lines of the pattern are going in the same direction.

If you have a side table that you'd like to use as a focal point for your room, try hanging a tall mirror over it.

If you have a side table that you'd like to use as a focal point for your room, try hanging a tall mirror over it.

Even if a room is filled with the most beautiful objects, without a clear focal point, it won’t feel cohesive. Creating focal points is a skill any interior designer needs to know to do well in their profession. With some of these designer tips in mind, you’re well on your way to giving your rooms a professional touch.

Because this farmhouse kitchen is mostly white, a black fireplace screen with animal figures was used as a backsplash to command attention.

Because this farmhouse kitchen is mostly white, a black fireplace screen with animal figures was used as a backsplash to command attention.

If you have some ideas on how you want to redesign your rooms but could still use some help, feel free to get in touch with us. The best ways to reach us are by calling our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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