Open plan versus broken plan

Open plan versus broken plan

It wasn’t too long ago that clients were screaming at luxury interior designers in London to ‘tear down those walls’ in a bid to make dark, closed off properties light and open plan. It was ‘de rigueur’ to make your dining room and kitchen one united space and even remove the wall between your bedroom and bathroom.

Fast forward to 2021, and our lifestyles have changed to accommodate new ways of working and more time spent at home. Property styling has almost come full circle, with clients asking for a return to more defined rooms. This is especially true of the home office, with many London professionals now finding that a desk in the corner of the living room doesn’t cut in when it comes to peace and professionalism.

While we are working in some properties to reinstate separate rooms, using our interior design CGIs to re-plan layouts and illustrate what is possible, interior designers are increasingly helping clients to adapt using the ‘broken plan’ approach – a style of interior design that retains the bright and free-flowing aspect of open plan yet creates a sense of separate living.

Broken plan centres on keeping spaces free of internal walls, with ‘zoned’ areas thanks to the clever use of furniture, colours and finishes. For instance, my luxury interior designs may include a prudently placed breakfast bar that provides delineation between a kitchen and a snug, or I may commission a high-line shelving unit from bespoke joiners HUX London, which can be used to divide a dining area from a living room.

Another way to create distinction is to change the flooring within one space. For example, limestone tiles in the kitchen can become a deep pile carpet as you move through to the living area, for a sense of transition and new purpose. Even a colour shift can work – either contrasting tones or different shades from the same colour family can be used to create separate areas within the same room.

Talk to the Rudolph Diesel team about your property’s layout, whether your concern is space division, privacy or sound proofing. We can present a set of luxurious interior designs that will open your eyes to new ways of living, working and relaxing at home.