Pros and Cons of Open-Concept Floor Plans

Since growing in popularity throughout the 20th century, open floor plans have been all the rage in home design for more than a decade. Rather than distinct rooms separated by walls, open-concept homes feature one or more common areas — such as a living room, dining room or kitchen — combined into a single large space.

It’s easy to see why open-concept floor plans are popular: They can make a modest amount of square footage feel spacious, they improve foot traffic flow between rooms and they’re ideal for entertaining. But these designs have their drawbacks, too, such as decreased privacy and increased noise levels. Our list of pros and cons will help you decide if an open-concept home is a good fit for you and your family. If you’re sold on an open layout for your next house, get tips for decorating an open living space, arranging furniture effectively and making an open floor plan feel cozy.

This is probably the biggest challenge that open-concept living solves. Small spaces can feel so much smaller when they're cut up by walls that delineate one living space from another. Adding more square footage comes at a cost and isn't always an option. Whether you're in an apartment that can't be expanded or adding on a room is cost-prohibitive, open-concept can be a perfect solution. A not-so-tricky way to trick the eye into thinking that you've got more square footage than you really do is by tearing down walls and opening up your rooms to each other.

On the flip side, if you've got square footage to spare, having an open-concept layout can make an already big space feel far too big. A warm, cozy home can be hard to achieve when there are no walls. The feeling of an echoey, warehouse-like living space is even more amplified if you've got high ceilings. And let's not forget that heating or cooling a huge space can be costly depending on the climate of your hometown.

If you're in charge of family mealtime, you may be quite familiar with the feeling of isolation that comes with that culinary responsibility. While the rest of your household is watching a show, or playing in the living room, or doing homework at the dining room table, you're toiling away in kitchen. You miss out on conversation and togetherness simply because living spaces are cut off from each other. An open concept is a very neat fix for that problem.