Annual Homes & Design Issue 2023
In today’s world of open-concept floor plans, it can be difficult to create intimate, tailored spaces while maintaining a seamless flow between areas of the home. Here, we’ve connected with area design and construction professionals about how to do just that, and they’ve assured us you can have the best of both worlds!
Arrange furniture to encourage conversation and create cozy nooks. Use soft lighting fixtures like lamps or wall sconces to add ambience to the room. Avoid harsh overhead lighting and use dimmers to control the intensity. Introduce soft textiles like pillows and blankets, along with different textures through rugs and wall hangings. Opt for warm, earthy colors, soft neutrals, and subtle patterns. Display personal items like photos and artwork or sentimental objects. Bring in plants and natural materials like wood and stone. The key is to strike a balance between functionality and coziness, so ensure that the chosen design elements align with your needs while creating a warm and inviting space. By combining these suggestions thoughtfully, homeowners can achieve a cozy and intimate atmosphere!
Creating an intimate and cozy space with an open floor plan can be challenging, but by keeping a few key factors in mind, it can be achieved. Lighting, color, texture, and furniture selections are key to making your space intimate. Create different layers of lighting in the space that are soft and welcoming. Use dark, rich colors to create a sense of warmth in the space. Rich colors can be added by using wall paint, rugs, window treatments, or furniture. Rich wall paint is definitely the current trend. Having layers of textures is another way to create an intimate feel. This can be done by using rugs, window treatments, wall décor, pillows, and upholstered furniture. When selecting furniture, make selections that are multi-purpose, that way, the space can be used in multiple ways.
These days, it seems like people want taller and taller ceilings. When creating cozy spaces, don’t be afraid to bring the ceiling height down. Not everywhere, obviously, but altering the ceiling heights can make spaces interesting and give areas appropriate definition. Try taking a cozy space with a shorter ceiling and opening up some direct sightlines to an adjacent, taller space. This can allow the smaller room to borrow visual space from the taller room, thus helping it feel cozy rather than confined. Another way to create cozy spaces is by carefully considering the function of a room. Think about what you will be putting in the space and build around that. By avoiding flex or dual-purpose spaces, you can avoid items and elements feeling like they are either being lost or overpowered.
The comfortable feelings of coziness and intimacy derive from a sense of safety and security – likely handed down from our hunter/gatherer ancestors. The best way in space planning to encourage these feelings is by limiting scale to human proportions. We do this by creating smaller room sizes and lower ceilings in areas meant for one or two people or planning smaller furniture groupings in larger spaces for the same purpose. Beyond that, light, texture, and color play a role in this feeling. Focusing on textures through wood, curtains, rugs, artwork, or other sources combined with a darker, muted color palette and low-level warm lighting all contribute to creating a cozy intimate space.
In the past, many homeowners sought out homes with closed floor plans in order to maintain privacy for both their guests and families. With open floor plans on the rise, it can be necessary to create shared living spaces that are both cozy and comfortable. This concept is not only beneficial in granting a breathable and flexible environment but also in making conversations easier, as well as promoting togetherness within the home. Once space is achieved, homeowners can begin to build their desired safe nooks and crannies around the home, whether this is by breaking up a given room into a mirror-image arrangement of seating areas or choosing furnishings and textiles that create separation. Whatever the given solution may be, it is important to be cognizant of functionality and meeting one’s personal needs and desires, not just making something look pretty or keeping up with the trends.
Peppers Construction | Ben Peppers
Many homeowners like to create an open floor plan and minimize walls in their living and kitchen areas for ease of function and living. By adding beams to the interior spaces, they can easily get a more cozy look, and faux beam options are available at most price points. Another way to really impact the atmosphere is to invest in good lighting. This is also a place where you can easily embrace trends that change over time without having to make a huge change. Planning in advance will also give you a cohesive look, and flooring, cabinets, tile, and wall colors can all be coordinated to really affect a space. Classical styling, fixtures, and furniture will all round out that intimate, comfortable look.
Using natural materials is a great way to make a space feel cozy and intimate. Incorporating a fireplace into the space is one of my top tips for achieving this. To add even more atmosphere, pair a wood-burning fireplace with natural elements like stone, a solid wooden mantel, and natural décor pieces like driftwood, antlers, or other natural art. Not to be forgotten are the wall colors and accents that you place within the space. Choosing warmer paint colors can make a large space feel more intimate and personal to you. Selecting appropriately sized furniture is another great way to turn any space into a cozy haven.
