Creating an open floor plan
can be an effective way to
give a spacious feel to a home
with a relatively small footprint.
To some extent, in fact,
an open plan actually creates
space, because less of the floor
area is occupied by partition
walls. It enables the cook to
visit with family members and
guests while working in the
kitchen, giving the space a
relaxed, casual feel that many
of today’s home buyers find
appealing.
In reality, though, the term
“open plan” is somewhat misleading.
Any well-designed
open plan actually consists of
several distinct spaces, which
can be defined in a variety of
ways, depending on the degree of openness desired. With the small-house
floor plan in Figure 1 as a