#44: Are Open Floor Plans Over?: a house log

This week we are sounding off on an article that says open floor plans should be a thing of the past. We have been known to knock down walls and widen doorways to add a more expansive feeling and better flow in all three of our homes, but there are undeniable reasons why it may NOT consistently be the right call. So we are breaking down all the pros and cons of open concept living and pointing out when to avoid the urge to open up a floor plan – plus what to do if you are struggling with the one you’ve already got. We also share a big curb appeal improvement that we tackled in simply one afternoon and Sherry spills her go-to sources for extra long curtains and explains why she loves them so much. One last gripe: what is the deal with all of those storage units popping up everywhere!?

You can download this episode from iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio – or listen to it below! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos that we referenced. Note: If you are reading in a feed reader, you might have to click through to the post to see the player.

What is New

• Here is the link to the metal mailbox post we purchased (it also comes in black), as well as the black mailbox that we got for our neighbor. And below is a swift photo-recap of the project.

• Home Depot’s website only seems to have the gold version of the adhesive metal house numbers we picked up, but the dark bronze versions we purchased are on Amazon. They are the ideal size for the front of the post, which is where we stuck ours and our neighbor’s.

What is Not

• Here is a link to the whole line of Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines Paints.
• And, as promised, here is a link to that old Reader Redesign she submitted back in 2013, in her pre-Fixer Upper days.

Open Floor Plans

• Here is the House Striking article about “Why We Need To Simply Stop With Open Floor Plans“
• And here is a recap of a few times we dealt with open floor plans:
  • Widening doorways (and in fact closing one!) in our first home
  • Adding a large opening in a closed wall in our second home
  • Opening up our living room & kitchen (below) in our current home
  • Decorating a quite open living room + kitchen floor plan in our showhouse
• For reference, below is the closest photo we have of how open we could’ve left our current house, had we not chose to add some visual separation with the built-in bookcases in the living room.

• Here is how it turned out after deliberately leaving a wide doorway, but not going whole-hog and eliminating the wall entirely.

• And here is all the storage we gained on the other side of that wall, thanks to leaving room for the bookcases.

• Also, here is our friend’s living room makeover that we lately shared in case you missed it. Again, the wall she considered taking down is the one with the big leaning mirror on it (the TV for the informal living room is on the other side of that wall).

We are Digging

• Above are some of Sherry’s go-to 96″ (or longer!) curtains that work strong, even for standard height 8′ ceilings like ours. 1 /2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
• As you will notice, many are from our go-to sources for long curtains: West Elm, Pottery Barn, Wayfair (you can even search by length!), and Ikea (remember to wash the cotton ones first to avoid capri curtains!).
• Here is the book John’s digging: So, You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.
• And below is the podcast where he first heard about it, which tells the Lindsay Stone story we mentioned in our episode:

Psst- Looking for something we have dug in a past episode, but do not remember which show notes to click into? Well, here is a master list of everything we have been digging from all past episodes.

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