Open Floor Plans Vs. Traditional Floor Plans
In this article, we discuss the pro's and con's of open and closed floor plans to help you decide which one suits you and your lifestyle best!
Open Floor Plans
What is an Open Floor Plan?
An open floor plan is a floor plan that usually has a large single living space that functions as multiple rooms. For example, the kitchen, lounge and dining area become one open space without walls and doors dividing it up. Open floor plans are great for entertaining guests because you can still be apart of a conversation while preparing food in the kitchen. You will also have better outside views with an open floor plan, as well as natural light, making the living space feel more open and inviting.
Pro’s of an Open Floor Plan
1. MORE LAYOUT OPTIONS
With open floor plans, you have much more space to play with. You can get more creative with how you layout the area and what furniture pieces you want to use.
2. CREATES AN ILLUSION
Open floor plans can make your home look and feel more spacious and less cramped. This type of plan can help maximise the space of a smaller home and can make an older home feel new.
3. SAFER FOR CHILDREN
When you have an open floor plan, you can still keep an eye on your children in the living room while preparing dinner in the kitchen. This can keep children safe and out of trouble but still give them more room for activities.
4. ENTERTAINING GUESTS
With an open floor plan you can entertain your guests whilst cooking and keep the conversation going instead of having to hurry to the kitchen and back to get them drinks. An open floor plan also allows a greater number of guests in one space.
5. NATURAL SUNLIGHT
Natural sunlight is able to flow through your living space without having walls block light or throw shade. This means you will use less artificial lighting and save on energy bills.
6. PROMOTES INCLUSIVENESS
Instead of being left out being in different parts of the house, an open floor plan allows family members to interact with each other because there are no walls or doors to block you out.
Con’s of an Open Floor Plan
1. MORE COSTLY TO HEAT & COOL
It can be a little more expensive to heat and cool an open floor plan because it is a larger area, and heat escapes/comes in more easily.
2. DIFFICULT TO CONTROL NOISE
Noise may bounce and echo a little more with an open floor plan. This could be a problem if you have a large family or are trying to entertain guests as there’s no keeping the noise from the kitchen out of the rest of the living space.
Traditional Floor Plans
What is a Traditional Floor Plan?
A traditional floor plan has smaller sized rooms for relaxing, cooking and eating. This type of floor plan can provide privacy and is easier to clean and keep organised. With a traditional floor plan, you can have more speciality rooms like a home office or workout room. These floor plans are becoming a little dated, with more homeowners opting for an open floor plan. However, that doesn’t mean an open floor plan might work better for you over a traditional floor plan.
Pro’s of a Traditional Floor Plan
1. PRIVACY
A traditional floor plan offers an added sense of privacy from the rest of the home. If you have surprise guests, it is a lot easier to contain and hide a mess from them. Smaller rooms are also easier to clean and maintain.
2. MORE VARITATIONS FOR DESIGN THEMES
With closed floor plans, you can have different design themes in different rooms because there are more walls, doors and separate rooms, so you don’t have to limit your artistic flares when designing the interior of your home. Since there are more walls, they are also great for adding more art work, so you can make your home more unique.
3. EXPENSE
Traditional floor plans can be less expensive compared to open floor plans. If you are not building a new house and decide to knock down walls later on, then this can be very expensive, especially if it is a load bearing structural wall.
4. DIFFERENT ROOM FUNCTIONS
Traditional floor plans allow you to have specific rooms for different purposes. For example, you could have an office or craft room and can also decide who has access to these rooms.
5. NOISE CONTROL
Having more walls and doors will keep the noise from one room travelling to other parts of the house. This is an advantage if you have guests over and are only wanting to entertain them in one part of your home.
6. FREE OF COOKING SMELLS
If you don’t like having the smell of your cooking fill the entire house, then a closed plan is a better option as it is easy to make sure the cooking smells stay in the kitchen by simply closing a door.
Con’s of a Traditional Floor Plan
1. CAN FEEL MORE CRAMPED
Traditional floor plans are more closed and can make you and guests feel a little cramped. Hallways can also get a little crowded, making it harder to move from room to room.
2. MAY FEEL MORE ISOLATED
If you are cooking dinner for everyone else in the house, you won’t get to socialise with them either as the kitchen is separate from the entertainment area, so you may miss out on socialising. This can also impact on family life, especially if you have children that don’t help out with cooking, making it harder to catch up with them.
3. CAN LEAD TO MORE MESS
Traditional floor plans can make you a little lazy because it is easier to hide mess. Rather than cleaning up a mess or putting things away, it becomes tempting to just close the door on messy rooms.
So which plan is for you?
As you can see, both open and traditional floor plans have their many advantages. But depending on your lifestyle and whether you value open space or privacy, the decision is up to you. Many plans can be modified to suit you, so remember to weigh up the pros and cons list of each and consider your everyday lifestyle and how often you think you will be entertaining guests.
