An advantage of hiring a custom home builder is that you can design your new house exactly as you like. One crucial decision is whether to opt for an open floor plan or a closed floor design. To help you decide, consider the following factors.

Decorating Challenge

A closed floor plan has walls that separate the different rooms, which limits your line of sight. You can only look at one room at a time. This can help with decorating your home, as you only need to precisely match the colours and textures of the floor, walls and everything else in one room. You can give each place an individual personality while keeping the overall house design coherent.

On the other hand, in an open-floor house, you can see the kitchen, dining areas and living room at once. Thus, you not only need to coordinate the elements within each zone but within the entire space. The kitchen backsplash, for instance, needs to cohere with the sofa and rug in the living zone.

Versatility

On the other hand, an open-plan design is more versatile as it allows you to adjust the different zones: to move them and change their size. For example, a sofa and rug may designate a TV zone. To change the layout, you could move it to another spot in the open floor plan without pulling down or constructing walls. Alternatively, you might be able to move the dining table to a different location. This versatility gives you a lot of freedom in arranging the living areas of your home. While you can move the furniture around in a separate room, you don't have as much freedom because of the defining walls.

Light and Space

Part of the appeal of an open floor plan is that it can make a house feel larger and roomier. This sense is partly because, without walls, light can freely flow throughout the space, so it will typically be bright and airy. As a result, you'll save on lighting bills. On the other hand, separate rooms can have a cozy and more homey feel even though they may not be as bright and walls limit how far you can see.

Safety and Privacy

Open floor plans offer advantages in terms of safety. If you have children, you can keep a watch on them playing in the lounge area while you're preparing dinner, for example. An open area also allows those with mobility issues to get around the space more efficiently. They won't have to navigate so many narrow doorways, and you can arrange the layout specifically for easy access. Conversely, however, this openness doesn't offer much privacy. In a house with separate rooms, family members may go to the living area or den to read and enjoy peace. In an open-plan place, they might have to go into their bedroom to get the same privacy.

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