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Adding walls to an open concept plan

last month

We are moving into a house that was opened up.. the foyer, LR and DR are one open space and we tend to like cozier spaces that give you privacy. (Learned this can be important during the lockdown!) I think creating a foyer would be nice and also considering putting a wall between the LR and DR. Thoughts?

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Comments (8)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last month
You need to post the floor plan showing all measurements for sure and also the plan needs to be able to be enlarged . My advice usually is to live in a house for at least 3-6 months before changing anything major. As for your plans mayny things are affected when adding ot taking away walls like the HVAC for instance .
PRO
Glo European Windows & Doors
last month
I wouldn't completely close it off but would consider a cased opening between the living and dining room:
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One way to make the space feel cozy yet spacious is to use color to help define the separate spaces. It helps make each area feel more like a room, yet seeing into what color defines as another room helps make it feel spacious. My lower level has an exercise room that's open to a music nook and the staircase. So I selected coordinating colors that I liked and defined the music nook with the beige wall and ceiling and the exercise area with the paladian blue wall and ceiling. I used the architecture and trim color to help define the tray ceiling and the column to help separate the spaces. The art helps tie the color scheme together. This way they relate, coordinate, but each provide their own separate purpose...cozy yet spacious. My mother's condo had a DR and LR open to each other so we picked a drapery fabric that had blue and orange accents in it against a taupe background. So we painted the whole area the taupe, and the lr wall opposite the dr a terra cotta, and the dr wall opposite the lr a blue. So again, with color the two rooms coordinated but the color scheme helped define each area making the coziness of two rooms with the spaciousness of one large room. I have my FR and kitchen and breakfast nook all in one open area, but in order to define the spaces separately to make the function clear and to lend more coziness, I again used coordinating fabrics and paint colors to define the separate areas. The FR and breakfast nook are in the beige/gold paint while the kitchen is in the rust. The valances in the kitchen and the breakfast nook contain both colors, but more rust in the FR and more gold in the kitchen. This way the color story gets told in both rooms, but in different proportions to define the spaces. The architecture of the soffit also helps to define the spaces. The arch in the soffit was repeated in the shape of the island and in the flooring which again are more visual cues to define separate cozy spaces while still having that spaciousness of a larger room.
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If this were a house in which you intended to live, I would suggest that you look through this: https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/15-reasons-to-think-twice-about-an-open-floor-plan-52554#less-storage-space . However for a spec house, wall-less interiors are probably the way to go. I generally prefer to have walls separating the functional areas. I physically and visually enter another space and function. My mind follows. I also like to have plenty of walls on which to hang art. In many houses the TV is over the fireplace because that is the only wall in the living/dining/kitchen/den space. And don't get me started on how many living areas only have overhead lights (which are typically very unflattering) because all the furniture is "floating" and there are no outlets for lamps and tables in the middle of the living space. If you do decide on no interior walls, think about furniture placement before you start to build.
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felizlady
last month
Your floorplan is pretty small, doesn’t enlarge well and lacks measurements. If you are a neat cook, having a door or wall between the dining room and kitchen is not necessary. A cased opening between the living room and dining room (instead of what seems to be a single post?) makes a dining room a bit more formal. Are the other dining room walls all glass? If the kitchen island has bar seating extending into the dining area, the effect is much more casual. Do you have a place to put a buffet/storage piece in the dining room? A nicely decorated dining table looks welcoming if seen from the living room.
kandrewspa
last month
I think judiciously placed cased openings as shown above can be more attractive than wide open spaces. I don't see a good way to create a foyer, but you could definitely have a cased opening between the LR and DR. I think all open is more consistent with a modern style. Did the previous owners favor a different decorating style than you have?
Karen W
Original Author
last month
thanks all! These are the only drawings I have at the moment, but drew in some possible partial walls and penciled in the dimensions. I could imagine pocket doors between LR and DR. I like modern and transitional, but just find this space too open for my taste. thanks!
Kendrah
last month
I am a huge fan of closed rooms. None of this open concept business for me. We purchased last year an apartment with an open concept kitchen, living, and dining room and before moving in enclosed the kitchen and made two entrances with pocket doors. Love it.

When I read your original post, I immediately thought walls with pocket doors. However, after seeing your picture, I might rethink my love of separate spaces. Your view through those windows is rather spectacular. This space seems to call for openness - a statement I rarely say. So two questions:

1. Privacy: Is your house large enough for you and others to find private space when you need and want it for the activities and times of day you wish to have alone time?

2. Visual separation: Would it suffice to create a sense to two separate areas within the space to add more of a cozy, two room feel? There are tons of ways to do this but will that be enough or are you really after total sounds privacy and total visual privacy?
Karen W
Original Author
last month
The views are amazing, but they are visible from all the windows so we wouldn't lose the view from any room if we did divide it somewhat. The question you ask is key... when it is just the 2 of us we can probably get away from each other, but the house is meant to be a place to have guests and grown kids and some day grandchildren. Then the noise might become an issue. Fortunately the kitchen isn't open and so there is some privacy there for the cook and/ or a place to have a snack and a private conversation even if others are in the house. I also think someway to create a foyer or sense of a foyer would be great. I kind of hate walking in the front door and seeing the entire house.
Shasta
29 days ago
Your could use mid-century modern as a model. They do such a great job of providing separation without totally enclosing spaces.

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