Part I of our 2-part series on open plan living in Bangladesh.
Have you heard the phrase open plan living, and are wondering what it means?
Maye you heard it from a friend, who said that his/her house has an open floor plan, and you want to know what that looks like.
Or someone suggested that having an open concept floor plan may be a good idea for you, and you want to decide if that is true or not.
Then this is just the blog post you need to read – Tilottoma’s post giving you an introduction to open plan living in Bangladesh.
Blog overview
In this blog post on an introduction to open concept floor plans in Bangladesh,
- First we will see what it is.
- Then we shall see what its advantages are.
- After that we will take a look at its disadvantages.
- And finally, we shall see what you should expect from your interior designer in Bangladesh if you want to discuss an open plan interior design concept with them.
Are you ready?
What is open plan living (or, an open concept floor plan)?
First of all, there are many phrases like,
- Open plan living.
- Open floor plan.
- Open concept home/house plan.
All of which refer to open plan living.
So, what is it?
Well, in simple words, an open house plan refers to a house plan in which there are no walls or doors between different rooms (such as the dining room, the living room, the study, and so on).
In other words, an open concept home has one large room with several functional areas, like a dining area, a party/living room area and a working/study room area.
Does that mean there are no walls or doors inside an open concept home?
Of course not.
Everyone will expect some privacy in their bathroom.
Depending on your lifestyle, you may also demand privacy in your bedroom.
So, there would still be walls and doors in an open concept home, to maintain privacy as needed.
Advantages of an open concept house design
Among the benefits of having an open floor plan are…
It makes your house look larger
If you’re living in a budget flat, or in a small house, having doors and walls between rooms limits their size and makes each room look small.
However, with an open floor plan, you have one space for several uses, so it makes a small home interior look larger.
It increases togetherness and intimacy
Say someone in the household is cooking dinner while another person is watching TV.
In a non-open floor, the two persons would be cut off from each other completely.
However in an open floor plan, the two persons would be in sight of each other, and the person cooking could also watch the TV.
As you can see, this increases togetherness among family members.
Entertaining guests and holding parties is easier
Think about it.
Carrying snacks from the kitchen to the living room (where guests are usually entertained) is easier.
Going to the dining space is easier.
Disadvantages of an open concept house design
And here are a few disadvantages of having an open floor plan.
It won’t work for larger homes
If your home is already larger, an open floor plan can make it look too large.
In other words, it might seem you have to walk a long way simply to get from one end of the open floor space to the other.
Can you wall off the messier parts of the house?
Like we discussed the example of the person cooking in the kitchen area being visible from the living room.
The mess, smoke and sounds from the kitchen would be easily visible and audible from the living room area too.
The messier parts of the house may not be good for an open living plan.
How will you replace load-bearing walls?
In many cases, walls don’t act simply as a divider between rooms or spaces.
They also support the load of the ceiling.
Removing such a wall should be planned carefully.
In many cases, support beams can replace the walls, however, they need to be planned and built carefully, and they will be costly.
What you should expect from your interior designer in Bangladesh if you discuss an open floor plan
As a top BD interior designer, we always behave completely professionally with all our clients, and you should demand the same from your chosen interior designer in Bangladesh also.
If you want to discuss an open concept floor plan design project with an interior designer in Bangladesh, you should expect:
- A full discussion and explanation of the pros and cons of open plan living.
- We have given some pros and cons here. However, as a unique person, the pros and cons for you specifically will depend on your lifestyle, and should be discussed with you.
- A clear explanation by them to you about what such a project would mean for you.
- In other words, what kind of work would be involved, how much it would cost, and so on.
- And finally, if you agree to engage that interior designer, a clear understanding on project timeline and budget.
This is important to have a smooth open floor home design project in Bangladesh.
Further reading
To better understand the concept of open plan living in Bangladesh, you can refer to the following blog posts.
The house design and building checklist blog post will explain to you all the steps you need to take if you are building a new open concept house.
Will we see these home design trends in 2022 is a good post to become aware of home design trends in Bangladesh in 2022 and plan your open floor concept home accordingly.
How you can decide which furniture you should keep is an important read if you’re remodelling an existing home, and are looking to replace furniture.
Tips for decorating a small space will tell you about the challenges of decorating a small space, which an open living plan can avoid.
And finally, 8 air cleaning plants you can keep in your home is a must-read for a new home design.
