Designing for Entertaining: Mastering Open-Concept Spaces

Open-concept floor plans have soared in popularity in recent years, knocking down walls between rooms for a more free-flowing living space. When designed properly, these wide open areas can be perfect for entertaining guests. However, they also come with unique design challenges.

How can you master the open-concept layout to create a space tailored for hosting parties and get-togethers? Here are our design tips:

Define Zones

Don’t let an open floor plan feel echoey or cavernous. Use area rugs, lighting placement, and furniture arrangements to define distinct zones for preparing food, dining, and mingling.

Direct Traffic Flow

Strategically place furnishings and anchor pieces to subtly direct foot traffic patterns. You want to avoid cramped bottlenecks while keeping key areas easily accessible.

Add Architectural Interest

Incorporate architectural elements like half-walls, columns, orchanges in ceiling heights to add visual intrigue and break up the space.

Enhance Acoustics

Packed open rooms can get loud quickly. Sound-absorbing finishes like carpet, curtains and textiles help prevent noise from reverberating throughout the space.

Let Storage Shine

Maximize hidden storage like pull-out drawers and cabinet hideaways to keep serving essentials and clutter conveniently out of sight.

Personalize with Purpose

Carefully chosen accent pieces, artwork and decorative objects give an open layout warmth and personality guests will remember.

At Emberr, our interior designers have extensive experience optimizing open floor plans for entertaining every type of gathering while maintaining an inviting ambiance.

Let us help you design a space perfect for you and your guests. Contact us today to get started!