mike.parsons

The open floor plan makes your home appear larger and it provides you with more space by freeing up the areas occupied by interior walls. In a family home, it increases the sense of unity and connection by boosting transparency and improving communication. In terms of hospitality, it makes entertaining guests easier and less taxing. If your aim is to increase the flow of light through the room, with an open floor you’ll have a lot easier job. However, transforming your old home into an open floor plan is not an easy task. So, here are six tips to help you out.

1.Check your legal rights

The first thing you need to do is check your legal rights to destroy various walls and pillars, especially if you’re in an apartment. In some cases, you may only be the owner of the contents of the apartment and not legally allowed to make any alterations that could compromise the structural integrity of the place. In strata apartments, your rights will be even more restricted. For instance, you might not even own the entire depth of the wall but only its exterior parts. Therefore, it’s smart to check your rights before committing to a project.

2.Knocking down the walls

The next thing you need to do in order to transform your home into an open floor area is to knock down some walls. Even then, you need to know which walls are safe to demolish. In order to do so, you need to do two things – hire professionals to do it and red the plan to see which walls are structurally significant. According to experts behind Demolition Co, this has to be done carefully and with a purpose. Even if you do plan to make an open floor plan, you might want to leave some interior walls intact. In other words, it’s not clean-cut.

3.Create zones

Just because walls are no longer there to show that your home has different areas, this doesn’t mean that you should abandon the concept in its entirety. In fact, there is a number of methods through which you can create zones in this area without the use of walls. One of the ways to do so is to envision a room-like zone in your mind and pick a focal point for each of them. Then, you arrange all the furniture around it (preferably facing it). You can even use area rugs as islands.

4.Kitchen island

If you plan to open up your kitchen in order to turn the part of your living room into a dining area, there are several issues that you’ll have to resolve. First of all, a kitchen island becomes a much more valid of idea. This is especially true because a person behind a sink can now interact with those in the living room or even watch a living room TV while doing dishes. Second, the importance of a quality range hood becomes even greater. The last thing you want is to pollute the area with all sorts of cooking odors. With no walls to act as a barrier, this is your only shot.

5.Types of an open floors

Previously, we’ve talked about the degree of an open floor plan that you should go for. Well, the thing is that a semi-open floor is definitely an option. Sure, a completely open floor is a more iconic option but it is not necessarily the best solution. Keep in mind that this will allow you to express your creativity to the fullest. By abandoning the idea that your floor plan needs to be X or Y, you will be able to fully explore its potential.

6.Additional work

There are a lot of additional tasks that will have to be handled in order for this project to be successfully conducted. For instance, some electrical lines may be going through the walls that you intend to remove. So, if you decide to demolish them, you might have to find alternative routes. Also, HVAC ducts will probably have to be rerouted, as well. Then again, some of these projects will leave parts of the remaining structure damaged. Therefore, you’ll have to do some patching or hire professionals to do the job. Lastly, the project will include a lot of waste, which is why the cleanup process is so important.

In conclusion

In the end, making an open floor plan out of your old home is more than just a simple project that involves tearing down a couple of non-supporting walls. You still need to reinvent the design of the place and make sure that it all comes well together. In fact, this transformation is much larger than you would originally expect it to be. This is why you should customize the plan according to your own home and hire some professional help. These are really the only two ways to ensure success.