Living Room Dining Room Combo

Practical Tips For Arranging Furniture In An Open Concept Kitchen Floor Plan

When you have an open concept kitchen, it’s crucial that you arrange your furniture in a way that creates a balanced, cohesive space. Obviously, when your kitchen, dining room, and living room are all in one area, this is easier said than done. Don’t get overwhelmed while designing a great room. Just follow these practical tips for arranging furniture in a way that is both functional and fabulous.

  1. Use furniture as markers where one room starts and the other ends.

10-19-18 RTA2-Cambridge Antique White Glaze with Island

While bringing the family together is one reason for an open concept kitchen, that doesn’t mean you should feel like you’re cooking where you’re eating — or eating where you watch television. Ideally, you want to create subtle divides that make each area of your great room feel separate while still part of a larger design.

Furniture is the best and most natural way to achieve this balance. One easy example is installing a kitchen island. This practical piece of furniture serves as a meal prep space, a storage unit, and an unobtrusive way to say, “Hey, you’re about to leave the kitchen.”

Arranging a couch, accent table, or two chairs along an invisible “wall” in your living room is another way to create a natural divide. When picking furniture for your living room, keep in mind what the piece looks like from all angles. For example, if you are going to use a couch as a divide, make sure its back is as beautiful as its front.

  1. Leave pathways around main furniture clear to avoid feeling crowded and cluttered.

Beautiful open plan second floor white kitchen with dining spaceTo create a continuous flow throughout your open concept kitchen floor plan, it’s important that you don’t stack furniture wall to wall. Carve out clear pathways around your dining room, living room set, and kitchen area so that you can seamlessly move from one area to the next.

If you have a lot of furniture pressed against walls or too close together, either you have too much furniture or your arrangement is off. A big motivation for a great room is the open, airy space it creates. The last thing you want to do is reverse that by overcrowding or cluttering the room.

First ask yourself if there are any unnecessary items that could be eliminated. If not, start rearranging your furniture. Flipping your dining room table so that it is aligned horizontally instead of vertically (or vice versa) might do the trick. Or moving an accent table from against a wall to behind a couch could do wonders.

  1. Turn a lonely corner into a cozy corner for reading, relaxing or working.

Open floor plan of dining and living room interior.

When designing a great room, you may find that some awkward areas or corners appear. This is totally normal and you should think of it as an opportunity rather than a burden. Now you can set up that cozy corner or workspace you’ve always wanted.

Depending on how much space you have to work with, consider a comfy chair and tiny accent table or woven basket for storing blankets (or books). If you have a little more room and are in desperate need of a place to put your laptop or manage bills, look for a small desk or set up a little workstation with office cabinetry.

At The RTA Store we help make your dream home a reality with RTA (Ready To Assemble) and Pre-Assembled cabinets and accessories. Whether it’s your kitchen bathroom, laundry room, home office, bar room or TV room, we offer the same (if not better) quality you would find at any retail store, but for a fraction of the price. Stop by our website or give us a call and let us make your dreams come true with the help of our free room design tool!