Best Flooring for Open Concept Floor Plans Blog

In today's houses, it is becoming more and more common to see an open floor plan on the main level of the house. Open floor plans are also typical in finished basements. These layouts are great for family homes, because they keep everyone closer to each other even if they are in different "rooms". However, one tricky aspect of having an open floor plan is that it can be hard to determine what kind of flooring the best fit. Should you use one consistent flooring type throughout the entire space? Should you create separate "rooms" with different types of flooring? Are there any flooring varieties that look bizarre next to each other? Basically, the answers to these questions differ on a home-by-home basis, and according to your personal style preferences. There are some smart guidelines to use when selecting flooring for an open floor plan, though, and here are our tips.

One Flooring Type

If you are going to use one continuous flooring type throughout your open floor plan, then hardwood, tile, or stone are your best bets. Hardwood will make your open floor plan look larger, but it will also pull all of the separate spaces together to the eye. Although wood floors take some maintenance and care, they are versatile enough to work in many different rooms. So, if your open floor plan includes your kitchen, your living room, and your foyer, you can still count on hardwood floors to fit well in each space. The same goes for tile, stone, and laminate, which is a budget-friendly alternative to hardwood.

Multiple Flooring Types

If you'd like more of a visual breakup between "rooms" in your open floor plan, then going with multiple floor types is a great choice. Our tip for using more than one flooring variety in an open floor plan is to use different floor colors, but to make sure that they are complementary. For example, use floors that are all in the neutral family or floors that are all warm-toned. You should also ask your flooring professional what sorts of floor transitions they have available, and what will look best for your particular preferences and flooring choices. Floor transitions can either be totally subtle so that your floors transition seamlessly, or they can be more obvious and stylized. It's all up to you and your personal style!

Area Rugs

No matter if you are using one flooring type or multiple flooring types in your open floor plan, you should definitely considering using area rugs. Area rugs will break up the space a little bit and provide some eye-catching variety. They are also an excellent way to give each "room" its own personality, so to speak, and even its own color scheme. You can also use different thicknesses, sizes, and shapes of area rugs to give your open floor plan more diversity. Area rugs also serve a practical purpose if you are going with hard surface flooring in your open floor plan. For spaces you want to feel more comfortable, such as the living room, area rugs are perfect for adding softness and warmth.

Best Flooring for Open Concept Floor Plans Blog

Source: https://austin.floorcoveringsinternational.com/articles/open-floorplan-flooring/