Open-Concept Living

We searched for a long time before finding our home. First there was a downtown condo followed by a rented house and now a home that is perfectly us.

When we walked through the long hall and found an open space that included the living room, dining room, kitchen and what would become the playroom, we knew we’d found our home. We enjoy entertaining, eating together and sharing space even if we’re doing separate activities. As a young family, open concept has come to mean a shared concept. We love the space and do recommend knocking down walls to achieve it, but don’t call the demolition crew just yet.

There are a few challenges that come with living and decorating in an open layout. Here are some of the pros:

 The versatile layout is great for entertaining. Furniture is easily moved to make room for more seats, or pushed aside to open up the floor for play. The table is kept small for everyday use and can be extended for a large sit-down dinner.

 The play “room” is easy to see, but is still a separate, defined space. Toys and playtime are throughout the house, but at night the toys have a home and there’s an adult space.

 There’s no getting “stuck” in the kitchen. We hosted Christmas this year, and while I was in the kitchen area for the better part of the day, I never felt that I was missing the party.

 Chores are done with one eye on the little one. One parent can get breakfast or throw a load of laundry in while the other parent gets some quality parent-toddler time and we’re all still together.

The cons/challenges: 

 It’s either tidy or not. Forget about straightening the living room for unexpected guests and leaving the dishes because “they probably won’t go in the kitchen”. There’s the negative side to “open concept is shared concept.”

 Timing renovations is tricky. Painting the living room/kitchen/dining room means it’s all off limits and almost everything must be returned to a toddler-friendly state at the end of a work period. There’s no blocking off a room with “under construction” tape.

 The budget for the room is more like that of three rooms. In a “closed concept” layout, we could have focused on one room, saved up and tackled the next room. We’ve learned to live with walls that temporarily clash, but taking out a loan and shipping the kids off to Grandma’s could work, too.

 Sight lines are challenging. I’ve been caught many times standing in various corners while sizing up angles, lighting and colour combos. When you see everything from every corner, a thought like, “does the fridge work with my couch?” doesn’t seem so strange.

I’m sure as we grow as a family and our design choices become dated, there will be a whole new set of challenges to living in an open concept. For now, I’m going to enjoy sharing this space with my friends and family and be happy that knocking down walls isn’t on our to-do list.