360° Painting 101: How To Paint an Open Floor Plan
The modern trends of sleekness, simplicity and subtlety merge in the open floor plan. The open floor plan allows energy to flow uninhibited from one side of the house to the other, uniting the house in a sense of continuity. Good feng shui, good design sense and awesome functionality; what’s not to love about an open floor plan? Almost nothing, except for the challenge of painting an open floor plan.
Accent walls
Accent walls add character, diversity, and depth in any room. Use an accent to tie together the colors in your kitchen and your sofa, or, pick a color from the same palette as the dominant wall color and add a lovely contrast to your home. With an accent wall, you set your home apart while still maintaining a sense of style and continuity in your open floor plan. The accent wall itself becomes an artistic feature in the room.
Mix of texture and color
As the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, Leatrice Eisemen, has pointed out, “intricacy of design and patterning” was and continues to be an important aspect in modern interior design. In order to maintain the same vigor and theme, while simultaneously creating a lively interplay on the walls, try using paint and a mix of wallpaper, or other textured accents. The variations in light, because of the texture of wallpaper, will create depth and veracity, while remaining a subtle background in your home. Or set apart the unique kitchen or fireplace features by using tiling or stonework.
Paint the trim the same color
If you decide to paint several different colors on your walls, paint the trim all the same color, whether its white or a cream or whatever you choose. The uniform trim helps to tie all the rooms together.
Create your own palette…and stick to it
Transitioning colors between rooms in an open floor plan is a great idea, as long as you have a plan for how to maintain continuity. Using colors from the same color palette is a great step, as well as maintaining the paint trim color. But once you commit to a color palette, stick to it throughout the whole floor—not just on the walls, but in your furniture and fabrics as well. Adding other colors outside your chosen palette could make the space choppy instead of smooth.