Open floor plans appeal to home buyers looking for flexible living spaces and airy interiors. Great rooms unite kitchens with living spaces, so parents with little children can watch children play whenever they cook, and couples may easily participate guests in meal prep when they amuse. Modern homes frequently feature open floor plans, and some elderly home remodels eliminate walls to open up an interior.
History
Barns were among the first structures with floor plans. Post and beam construction allowed for cavernous interior spaces created by breaking walls. Before, insufficient insulation and lack of central heating generated open floor plans reveled in colder climates. Rustic cabins used post and beam construction to open up insides, and the prevalence of open floor plans grew after World War II. Architect Cliff May (1909 to 1989) initiated casual living with all the open-floor-plan, ranch-style home he helped encourage and develop.
Function
Open floor plans work to ease traffic flow at a home, and also to promote casual living and entertaining. The undivided living spaces additionally function as multiple-use places. Food preparation, eating and lounging all occur in one room. Ideally, open floor plans additionally blend interiors with exteriors, visually expanding the space.
Outcomes
Houses featuring open floor plans should make people feel relaxed and welcome. Successful open floor plans assist small spaces feel more spacious and light-filled, and the massive glass walls in many ranch-style homes add mild and an airy feel to an interior. When someone enters a home with an open floor plan, he should not feel restricted or claustrophobic.
Types
Ranch homes, especially those constructed in western states like California, featured spacious floor plans. Modern homes have fewer interior walls. Along with architect A. Quincy Jones (1913–1979), developer Joseph Eichler (1900–1974) constructed over 10,000 post–World War II modern homes comprising interior courtyards, walls of glass and spacious floor plans. Lofts also feature open floor plans, in addition to exposed pipes and air ducts. The industrial feel of lofts works well with open spaces. Often, open floor plans operate best in homes which were designed specifically around the characteristic. Well-planned remodels of old homes may achieve fantastic results when walls become eliminated, but wholesale elimination of interior walls may yield unattractive and unwelcoming spaces.
Factors
Homeowners might finally cycle of homes with spacious floor plans. Serious cooks sometimes prefer another space, instead of a being on display all the time. Cold ponds might create big open spaces with vaulted ceiling additionally to feel chilly. Planning a feeling of enclosure using folding screens or massive plants can help reestablish required closeness to a massive location.