Open for Living

When we were in the homebuying market a few years back, there was no rambler coffee table book, no “preserve the open ranch house movement,” and little appreciation for one-level living.

My husband reluctantly agreed to go see the nondescript fifties house for sale on the corner—as a favor to me. However, after dragging him over the threshold, my work was done. The floor plan captured us. We saw past the orange shag carpet, the psychedelic wallpaper, and the scattering of lime green trim to appreciate a nearly ideal layout for a growing family.

The entryway that presented the spacious living room flowed into a doorless formal dining area and melted into the kitchen that slipped into the informal eating nook. Simply, the layout had movement and when we saw our two-year-old gleefully running around the built-in oak buffet, we were sold.

The Trends are Wide Open
It seems we are not the only converts to the open floor plan. The American Institute of Architects confirms that homes are increasingly designed with open and more informal layouts, and homeowners are looking for fewer rooms that share the space and light, and are all wrapped up in a smaller housing footprint. The movement is not toward bigger; it’s toward better.

Hudson, Wisconsin. “The more that people are exposed to it, the more people say ‘Wow, this is how I want to live in my home.’”

And while open floor plans have an aesthetic appeal, it isn’t all about good looks. “Part of the trend is cost-driven,” says architect George Cundy of Cundy, Santine & Associates in Shoreview. “Let’s say you’re trying to save a dollar or two. Are you going to build a house with smaller rooms? No. You’re going use a design that flows, that makes the rooms look bigger so the rooms don’t have to be so big.”

A home that flows gives the illusion of space. Ever been in a house that is smaller than yours, but actually looks bigger? It’s the “Big Sky” phenomenon of dwellings. It’s not that the house is really any larger, but because you can see farther, everything feels more spacious. Open floor plans, because of their limited use of walls and doors, obstruct less of your sightline and make smaller homes feel roomy.

“By having an open layout there is balance and flow between each and every space, including outdoor views,” Lenzen says. “To visually see through rooms, one gets a more panoramic view of the lot. It gives a very large space feeling even in spaces that may not be that large.”

Cundy asserts there are also cultural motivations to the open floor plan movement: Modern Americans live more practically. In old Victorian homes all the way to sectioned-off ramblers, there were formal rooms such as front parlors and entertaining rooms. These spaces were used only for holidays, weddings, and funerals, and otherwise the furniture was encased in plastic and no one entered until the next event. Americans are no longer willing to pay for rooms they’re not regularly using. “Now our lifestyle is more relaxed and that is reflected in the floor plan. It is more sociable to get away from all these little rooms,” Cundy says.

As families struggle for time to simply “be,” there is a tendency toward a more collective living. “People like the idea of being in one room and still have contact—be it communicative or simply just the presence of other people in their home. It allows for a sense of community,” Lenzen says.

The cook is no longer isolated in the kitchen but can still visit with those in the living room while making dinner and knowing which child is causing the havoc on the couch. “We’ve all heard (or said) ‘Hey! Whoever is causing trouble in there, cut it out!’ but now that the gathering rooms are so part of everything, there’s no getting away with anything,” Cundy says.