Open Floor Plans and Colors
Many homes built in the last few years are designed with open floor plans.An open floor plan usually involves a great room or living area, that is open to kitchen and dining room.Often, open floor plans can create a problem in selecting a color scheme, because one room flows into the other.If you do not have an open floor plan, you’ll want to make sure that all areas flow well aesthetically, which can be difficult.There are several things you can do to create uniformity while allowing each room to have its own unique personality.
You don’t have to use the same color throughout, but do choose a color scheme that you enjoy and use it in the entire open area, changing the dominant, secondary, and accent colors to give distinction to each space.Use paint or apply wall-covering on the walls in each area with a different color within the pallet.For instance, the kitchen could be alight beige, the dining room a rich bronze and the living room a shade between the two.Just find a natural transition point, such as a corner, to vary the color of the walls.A long straight wall, without a natural transition, will look awkward in two different colors and textures and is best kept one color.However, if there is a horizontal break (such as a chair rail) the colors and/or textures can be different above and below the chair rail.
There are a few details that you need to pay attention to in order to retain flow in an open floor plan.Have all trim work painted or stained the same color and the flooring should remain close to the same color if you cannot continue the same floor in all open areas.For instance, if the living room has a light beige carpet and the dining room had a wood floor, it would look best to have a light wood floor as opposed to a dark wood floor.
A consistency in the style and mounting height of all the window treatments in an open area is important.You can vary the top treatment some, but overall, draperies should compliment each other in length and style.This does not mean that they have o match exactly, just make sure they complement each other.The same color will look slightly different in different areas of your home, depending on the lighting.This adds interest toy your color scheme and helps each room become unique.A wall painted peach in a room that receives natural daylight all day will look different than the same peach paint wall in a room on the north side of the house.
Avoid using conflicting styles or colors within an open area.If you have a country kitchen, it will look out of place flowing into a contemporary dining room.Use colors in your accents to pull the different spaces together if your main color schemes are different.Install dimmers on your kitchen lighting to create a soft ambiance when you’re not cooking or preparing meals.This enables an open kitchen to blend in with the living area in the evenings, particularly when you want to create an elegant mood.
If your kitchen is open to the living area, make sure that the kitchen cabinets complement the colors and style in the adjacent rooms.If the cabinets are wood, determine if they are a warm or cool stain and then select warm or cool colors for your schemes.If painted, make sure the color complements the colors in the other rooms.For instance, if you have soft ivory in your color scheme in the living area, you will probably not want to paint the open kitchen cabinets bright white, or they will look out of place.It would be better to paint them a soft ivory.If the refrigerator is visible from the living area, think about having the doors fitted with front panels to match and blend in with the kitchen cabinets.
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