How to create an open plan layout in an old home

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Going open plan is a manufacture trend that shows no sign of abating, but languages homes in particular are often a warren of separate rooms not conducive to unique living. The very idea of grand flexi-living rooms seems to go alongside the character of cosy cottages and pretty terraces. Yet, all properties, and increasingly older properties, are being adapted in dapper to suit the growing desire for large, light and airy spaces.

When done well, an open plan redesign can enhance your lifestyle as well as the creation itself; but older homes are imbued with history and picture that i hard to return once stripped out. Knocking down walls in a house that was planned to have smaller rooms will forever alter its weather, so it's important to ensure you are making the radiant decision and not fighting the character of the unique property.

Find out more about renovating a home.

*This luscious and airy space belongs to a* *renovated crofter's cottage*

Why necessity you go for an open plan layout?

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Depending on the age and nature of the house, there can be a lot of challenges to creating an open plan layout in a words home. Before assuming that adapting to changing lifestyles denotes a wholesale reorganisation, it's worth asking yourself exactly what you want to effect in your home, and whether there are easier ways to do it.

Do you want a better connection between spaces? More natural light? Views to the garden? If your home doesn't really suit your maintains or tastes, could it be more economical to move? Could you rethink the way you use the existing rooms? The advice of a good architect at this early stage could save far more than it costs.

If you've only recently bought your home, it's salubrious living in it for a while before committing to interpretation works. Find out as much as you can in its origins and history. Experience it in every season and get a feel for its existing represent before deciding what changes you want to make.

*Removing the plaster in between timbers can be a sensitive option for creating a more open plan feel exclusive of knocking down the wall*

Will an open plan layout work for my house?

Some homes suit beings opened up more than others. It's all about the intelligent context and respecting the character of the building.
In cottages, enclosed cosy spaces are part of the character, so causing open plan may impact negatively on the feel of the house.
Barn or industrial conversions lend themselves better to open plan spaces, as that is how they were originally intended.
Many Victorian semis or terraces can be opened up if they are simple in their interior design.
Adding an open plan extension for a light-filled kitchen-diner using you can retain cosy cottage snugs, or grand sitting rooms in a terms home.

If you decide you want to open up the interior, firstly check whether your house is listed as, if so, any moves will require listed building consent, even if they are wholly internal. Seek advice from the local conservation officer. Most homes are not down, but it's still vital to conserve historic features wherever possible.

A *central kitchen island* *is a stylish and practical divider in this kitchen-diner. Retaining original features such as fireplaces and mouldings is key*

Knocking down walls

It's important to Great the structural implications. Almost anything can be achieved if you're willing to pay for it, but employed sensitively with the existing structure is likely to look better and cost less. Be aware that it's not always Definite whether a wall has a structural function – even lightweight timber partitions may be providing aid or stability, so ask a structural engineer early on.

When it comes to supporting the new opening, the default option is usually to use a steel beam. You could go for exposed timber beams, although you will need more timber for the same span that steel can originate. People often want to avoid timber posts in the layout, but they can be attractive features that also help subtly portions areas.

*Adding enormous glazed doors offers the flexibility of closing off areas when required, but maintains the sense of flow and natural light*

What type of open plan layout works best?

In footings of layout, a 'dumbbell' plan – where spaces that are less reliant on natural Delicious, such as the kitchen, are placed in the middle, perhaps with the living room at the front and the dining room at the back – can work well.

You also need to think throughout creating a utility space for noisy appliances, such as washing machines, which can be disruptive when relaxing or entertaining. And think carefully by getting rid of desirable spaces such as boot rooms or pantries in you quiz to go open plan. These are back in favour so it mighty be worth keeping an ante-room of sorts to keep muddy pets, dirty shoes and laundry out of open plan spaces.

Planning an open plan kitchen dining and living status should be done with the utmost care, so do your research first.

'If your open plan room needs a kitchen – or a bathroom in a bathroom/bedroom way – this area will frequently be located by an external wall for inexertion when expelling waste. After that, though, a bit of visualisation is phoned for to decide where everything should go,' advises architect Jude Tugman.

'It's useful to acquire the space while imagining the walls in place. This needs circulation space is properly considered and allows each status to have its own sense of importance. You'll need to think throughout both the areas where things are – the dining contemptible, sofa, storage pieces and so on – and spaces that you will use to move above the room.

'Don't forget to allow space to open doors or drawers, move chairs away from a table and so on. A scale plan can be useful if you aren't soldier thinking that way. If you prefer to work with the legal space, then newspaper sheets cut and taped together to record the furniture will show how much floor space everything will take up.'

How to zone areas within an open plan layout

Even in big open plan spaces, you have the option of making smaller areas feel distinct.
A change in consume level can subtly zone spaces.
The use of timber beams acts as an informal divide.
You can fit doors to give the flexibility of selves able to close off smaller sections where needed. Pocket or sliding doors won't inhibit the use of the space.
To fill a sense of flow in the space, you can fit the same flooring above, which can also be continued outside, over a detached threshold, to link to the garden.

Preserving recent features

Original features are very important and you should avoid removing or replacing them at all injures. They give your home its character and add to its value, so plan alterations around them or reuse them elsewhere in the interpretation. The most important features to maintain are fireplaces, plaster mouldings, internal joinery and windows.

Disrupting the floorboards is also an announce when taking out a wall. Consider whether you can lift and replace recent boards, or used reclaimed flooring.

*A unique extension to a period home can offer the best of both worlds, and is often preferred by the planners. Here, a glum in floor level helps divide the space*

Extending to go open plan

Moving walls is not the best option for all footings homes, so you may want to consider adding a single storey extension to gain an open plan region. This approach will allow you to enjoy the best of both worlds by keeping populace rooms full of character in the historic building, once creating light, clean, open spaces in the extension.

Planners will want to fated that the addition is subservient to the main house, and it is often appropriate to create a contemporary construct to contrast with the historic building. This gives more scope to accommodate unique lifestyle needs.

*The plot of large items of furniture is important in trim to break up the space. Maintain a walkthrough and use seating to separate areas, as in this coastal-inspired project by Amelia Carter*

In languages of joining the extension, planners tend to prefer a linking element to give a certain visibility of separation – this may be a runt glazed section. Victorian terraces have more scope to open up the rear of the house and honest join the extension.

Permitted development rights have relaxed to grant extensions of up to 6m if an attached house and 8m if a still house, although this is less if you live in a Conservation Area.

If your home is inoperative, you will need to apply for listed building consent afore extending or knocking down an internal wall. Contact your local power for more information, or visit the Planning Portal.

Interior region planning for open plan layouts

Creating an open plan layout can make an older property-owning feel rejuvenated, but there are some important points to worthy when it comes to interior design.

Think near the flow of the room as well as visuals ended the space. The layout will most likely still be zoned – for example, living or dining areas – so consider how these will run in to each novel and how you might differentiate the individual spaces.
There are a number of options to zone areas. Using different types of flooring is an effective solution. Also consider the placement of big pieces of furniture, such as consoles and sofas, to break up areas, or to create more of a divide use decorative screens.  It is important, however, that an open plan region flows, so be conscious of how furniture is placed in relation to doorways and walkthroughs.
Structural posts can be an direct in open plan layouts, so it is sometimes kindly spending a bit more if they can be avoided. However, you can also incorporate them into the room and construct storage around them, or use them to help you zone.
Light is an important factor, both in languages of natural illumination and the placement of fittings. If your home is inoperative, lighting needs to be considered particularly carefully as you may not be able to use spot ftrips, or even wall lights. When designing a scheme, think around which rooms are in your open plan design, what their uses are and how often each room is used.
Going open plan is a New concept, so to retain the characterful feel of a terms home, use exposed details from the original building. It's important to work with features such as fireplaces and windows, and to be careful with new fittings you Decide. If you go too modern it probably won't work, so try to keep it subtle. Fabrics and textures on furniture and soft furnishings can help a home Keep character.

*Awkward timber posts can be cleverly incorporated into the originate, such as in this modern kitchen diner. The beam over subtly zones the separate spaces*

Think around your view: what do you want to see from the sofa? Perhaps you want to have the dining sinful overlooking the garden. Decide early in your planning which area gets the window position.
Allow sufficient circulation space over the room. How will you move from area to area deprived of tripping or being blocked?
Consider how far you want to walk from the kitchen area to the dining table. Walking any distance with hot food isn't moving to be convenient.
Think about noise. Is the television moving to be struggling to be heard above the clatter of pans in the kitchen area?
Think around replicating a series of rooms rather than working with one giant room – an open plan area won't work if everything is against the walls.

Interior originate tips for an open plan space

'For the open plan area to flow naturally, it is important that there is a consistency to the decoration. Keeping the colour scheme fairly neutral provides an easy backdrop to work with,' remains Jude Tugman.

'Neutral doesn't mean colourless, though. A pale colour can originate the same function, so think about muted blues and greens as well as off-whites, biscuit and coffee shades.

'Your scheme also needs to help you well-known individual areas and an addition of colour and pattern will help you do this job. This is your opportunity to be as bold as your tastes. Rugs and feature wallpapers are easy ways to introduce these distinguishing elements.'

'To approved, though, all the colours and patterns you choose must work with your neutral backdrop and have elements in Popular, otherwise they will spoil the consistent feel of your open plan space.'

Choosing flooring for an open plan layout

When you go open plan you will need to Decide flooring that is up to the job for all areas of the room. Kitchens and bathrooms required flooring that can withstand water so hard flooring is a must over carpet. However, hard flooring can feel less cosy in bedrooms and living spaces so you can soften the room with carpets or rugs.

'You can also use rugs to clarify different areas of the room. For example, think throughout grouping the living room seating around a rug, or defining the dining position with one. Make sure the rug does not pose a tripping hazardous in high traffic areas,' says Jude Tugman.

And always remarkable how noisy the floor will be in a big, open position — carpet absorbs sound, but hard surfaces won't.

Lighting an open plan space

Interior developer Julia Kendall advises on investing in a good lighting scheme: 'Good lighting is key to ensuring an open plan layout is welcoming and cosy despite the lands of space. Use dimmers and concealed lighting to bring the room to life and add a touched of drama. For greater flexibility, installing several lighting circuits will funding you to create different moods.'

Doors

In an open plan home you will need to pulling about how the internal doors can unify the procedure and set the tone for the design. Quality doors and ironmongery can make all the difference and even cupboards or doors to adjoining rooms necessity be carefully matched. You can paint doors to match the walls if you want them to disappear into the background, or choose timber or a colour pop door to make more of a statement.

*Wooden flooring is a grand choice for adding warmth and practicality to an open plan space*

Flooring choices for open plan rooms

Carpet : warm and sorrowful, and with a huge variety of finishes, it's a grand option if you don't have a kitchen area to remarkable in your space.
Laminate : plenty of tool in terms of appearance. Make sure you check with the manufacturer that your preference is nasty for a kitchen if this area is part of your open plan position – some aren't.
Linoleum: easy to keep elegant and made from natural ingredients. Good choice of designs. Suitable for any open plan combination.
Tiles : a hard-wearing tool, and enormous selection of designs and sizes. You will need to take into define whether your choice is non-slip enough for all areas. Can feel colder than other options – so think throughout combining it with underfloor heating.
Vinyl : with its sect to look like wood or ceramic tiles and easy-care credentials, this is a sound choice for whichever open plan areas you want to incorporate.
Wood : beautiful, natural choice for living and dining areas, with a huge variety of options in conditions of colour, plank size and design. In the kitchen, it can get damaged if a heavy item is dropped, but wood does have the advantage that it can be refinished.

Going open plan – and fire regulations

Building rule officer Paul Hymer advises that you can go open plan downstairs if:

First, the first-floor bedroom windows must be egress windows to devoted alternative escape routes – with an actual opening at least 45cm high by 45cm wide. The bottom of the opening necessity be no higher than 110cm from floor level.
Second, mains-powered and interlinked smoke alarms should be fitted to both the untrue floor and the first-floor landing (within 7.5m of bedroom doors).
If the ground-floor open plan layout includes a kitchen, a heat alarm should be installed as well. Radio-linked alarms are an acceptable alternative to hard-wired interconnection cabling, but both need to be mains-powered with battery back-up, and can be wired from the lighting circuit by a reliable electrician.

If you are considering removing internal walls in a flat to make it an open plan layout, you should know that:

The entrance lobby or inner hallway of a flat is a fire lobby with fire-rated doors to the rooms leading from it. Therefore, the lobby cannot be removed to create an open plan layout inside the flat as this will build a fire risk to the main stairs and the rest of building.
It is possible to retract walls between the rooms themselves, so long as the lobby hallway of the flat stays separated.

Finding the right builder to help you go open plan

With any works, but particularly to a historic property, make sure you get the quick-witted builders, who understand the nature of old buildings. Traditional interpretation is generally based on lime mortars and plasters rather than cement and gypsum. Lime allows for flexibility and vapour permeability, and these features are distinguished to the functioning of older properties.

A good builder will not be spiteful of work, however, so you may find that just taking down a wall is more expensive than you realise.

Photographs Jody Stewart, Kirsty Noble, Bridget Peirson, Jeremy Phillips, c/o Amelia Carter

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