It can be overwhelming to style a great room. There are so many possibilities, and you don’t want to overdo or underdo it. When it comes to the different decor elements, there are a few key points to keep in mind to keep your aesthetic pronounced while still having a cohesive, functional space. Here are my top 5 ways to make a great room cohesive!
What is a Great Room?
A great room is a living room, dining room, and kitchen in one large open floor plan space. The open concept has become a more common blueprint theme for homes in the last 10 years, as homeowners seek a space where their families can gather comfortably together for every occasion.
How to Create Cohesiveness
1) Let’s start from the ground up. Ground each area of space with its own rug to visually divide each space. A few pointers to keep in mind:
- If one rug is patterned, choose a more natural or more textural with less pattern.
- If one has more of a bold or larger, busier pattern, choose another that has the same colors or undertones in a more simple design. If you are choosing three rugs for the overall space, make sure at least two of them have the same undertones.
Pretty simple right? Contrast is ideal but within a similar theme! If you pair your rugs together, they don’t have to match or be the same, just similar in nature. For more info on this, see my blog on How to Pair Area Rugs for Your Living Room or Great Room.
2) Give visual interest and character to each area by adding ceiling and accent lighting. A grand chandelier can go a long way in a living room or dining room, especially if it’s in theme with some great pendant lights in your kitchen. Typically, pendant lights look great over a bar or buffet, and you can use 2-3 of them based on the size of your space.
3) Use furniture, such as the back of a sofa as a divider. Create “lines” with your chairs, sofas, and side tables to establish where one space ends and another begins. You’ll want to make sure that these lines are parallel to other accents in nearby rooms, so you don’t have a maze that your guests need to wind through to get from one room to another.
4) Intermingle similar materials and finishes in each space that have another material or color in the adjoining room. For example, let’s say you have black dining chairs with an oak wood dining table. You can bring an oak side table into the living room. Then, add accents of black through the curtain rods, pillows, or table lamp. Repeat in 2-3 elements in the room. You can even repeat a pattern in the adjoining area!
5) At the end of the day, follow your intuition and how it feels. Think about how you want the space to feel and how YOU want to feel in it. Put in colors that you love and invoke a positive feeling inside of you! Most importantly, have fun! Your personality should shine through your home decor.
