Decorating Open Concept Homes with Wilderkind Style

The short answer to decorating open concept homes: pick one mood, then mark each zone with the floor, the lighting and the furniture layout. Wilderkind style (natural materials, plants, worn wood, layered textiles) works well for this because it is forgiving and warm, and it softens a big, echoing room.

If you're wondering how to decorate an open concept home without it feeling like one giant lobby, start with the floor, then go up. The sections below follow that order.

Save

Why zoning matters in an open floor plan

Open plans are not a new idea. The National Park Service looked at 1950s ranch house floor plans and found that all 467 sampled plans showed some form of spatial zoning, grouping rooms by function, public or private. Even with fewer walls, people sort a home into areas. Your job is to make that sorting visible.

Without walls, the brain needs other cues. Gestalt psychology describes how we visually separate figure from ground. A rug under a sofa group is a clear figure on a ground of floor, and that is why rugs work as boundaries.

How do you use rugs to define zones?

The most common mistake is the postage-stamp rug, which leaves furniture looking adrift. Size the rug to the furniture group:

• Living area: at least the front legs of the sofa and armchairs should sit on the rug, and all legs is better.
• Dining area: extend the rug about 24-30 inches past the table edge on every side so chairs stay on it when pulled out.
• Walkways between zones: keep about 36 inches of bare floor clear.

If the living and dining areas see each other, don't use the same rug twice. Choose cousins instead. A vintage red Bokhara in the living area can sit next to a jute rug with a border that picks up the red. Our guide to rugs and layering for an open-concept space goes deeper on mixing textures.

Save

Can furniture work as room dividers?

Yes, and it's cheaper than building anything. Float the sofa a few feet off the wall and put a console behind it. Top it with a long planter, and you have a living half-wall that blocks the kitchen view from the seating area without closing the room.

As an architect, I'd use a low back-of-sofa console or an open shelf rather than a tall solid unit. You keep light and sight lines, and you still get separation. This is also the core of a good open concept living room layout: furniture grouped around a focal point, with clear paths around the groups.

Spacing that keeps the room usable

• Coffee table: about 14-18 inches from the sofa.
• Main walkways (kitchen to patio, entry to living room): about 42-48 inches wide.
• Secondary paths, such as between an armchair and a side table: about 30-36 inches.

Stand in the kitchen and look around. Can you see the TV? The mudroom pile? Use a high-backed chair, a screen or a plant to block what you don't want to see and keep the view of windows or garden.

How do plants and lighting add height?

If everything is low, a big room feels like a bowling alley. Add vertical breaks: a tall plant in a corner, a tall bookcase, a pendant that lowers the ceiling over one zone. A large woven pendant over the dining table, hung roughly 30-36 inches above the tabletop, creates a room within a room.

Pet note: if you share the home with cats or dogs, check every plant against the ASPCA toxic plant list or ask your vet. Lilies, sago palm and oleander are well known as dangerous, while spider plants and Boston ferns are commonly listed as safe. For cats, sturdy wall shelves with a rough wood surface double as climbing routes.

Save

What color should you paint an open concept house?

Pick one palette for the whole space and vary how much of each color appears in each zone. A simple split is mostly neutral, a good share of earthy green and a small dose of terracotta. In the living area, keep the neutral dominant (cream or oatmeal on walls and sofa), with green in armchairs and the rug and terracotta in pillows and art. In the dining area, flip it: green on the wall or wainscoting, wood and neutral on the table and floor, terracotta in a runner or vase.

Walking from the light zone into the moodier one feels like changing rooms, yet the colors are the same. For more palette ideas, see these open plan colour schemes.

Keep the light the same too. Use one color temperature in every bulb, 2700K or 3000K, so a cool kitchen bulb doesn't clash with a warm living area.

Which materials survive pets and kids?

Wilderkind style likes materials that age well, which suits a home with a dog. I recommend textured upholstery (tweed, boucle, heavy linen, distressed velvet) over flat solid weaves, which show every hair and crumb. Performance fabrics resist liquids and are easy to clean.

• Leather: full-grain or top-grain with a natural finish. Scratches blend in. Bonded leather tends to peel.
• Wood: visible grain and knots hide wear. High-gloss lacquer shows every fingerprint.
• Patterns: Persian rugs and small-scale prints hide stains better than solid gray.

Save

How do you tame the noise?

Hard surfaces bounce sound around, and open plans have a lot of them. Soft layers absorb it: lined curtains, rugs, upholstered ottomans instead of wood coffee tables, a sheepskin over a dining chair, woven baskets. The layered Wilderkind look helps here without any extra effort.

Scent travels freely in an open plan too, so read about scent stacking mistakes before lighting three candles in three zones.

Finishing touches

• One large plant, such as a ficus or olive tree, to soften right angles.
• One vintage wooden piece: a milking stool, dough bowl or antique side table.
• Art leaned on consoles and mantels instead of hung everywhere.
• Mixed metals, such as unlacquered brass with matte black, for a collected feel.

Other moods follow the same zoning logic. See FunHaus or Opera Aesthetic for a different take.

Save

Frequently asked questions