Effectively streamlining your communal space – everything you need to know

The communal areas of any living space are what makes a house a home, projecting the soul and character of an interior and playing host to all the crazy happenings of day-to-day life. As such, these rooms deserve a carefully considered design as a means of effectively streamlining their space.

Today, we’re exploring a variety of smart and savvy interior approaches to creating an optimised contemporary communal space that will continue to serve as the heart of the home for many years to come.

Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

Don’t be afraid to knock it through

Open-plan living continues to be a popular modern design trend, so considering knocking through a few walls is a smart choice when looking to create a more vibrant and open living space.

This interior approach is great for enhancing the social aspect of a room, through streamlining a multi-purpose environment making it a popular choice for families. For example, knocking through living room walls to create an open-plan kitchen and living area will allow Mum or Dad to cook dinner while keeping an eye on the kids watching TV in the other room. Likewise, an open-plan kitchen and dining area significantly bolsters the hosting capabilities of a space by creating a highly functional room for family dinners and gatherings alike.

It’s vital to remember the importance of privacy when it comes to a multi-resident home. Therefore, opting for a semi-open or ‘broken’ plan design can be an effective alternative to a completely open-plan environment when looking to create a sense of solitude instead. Arguably the most practical and stylish way of achieving this is through incorporating an option to close off rooms as and when required – sliding and bifold doors are amongst your best choices here.

Let there be light

Light can often be overlooked in the design stage when, in reality, it has the potential to make all the difference to the atmospheric qualities of a space.

Put simply, the incorporation of natural light through the installation of windows and open design creates a more welcoming environment, which is key to effective streamlining of any communal space. Moreover, light can be cleverly adapted to give the illusion of extra space – so, designing a room with the intention of permitting as much natural daylight as possible can assist in creating an inviting, sociable and capable communal home area.

Be smart with your furniture

While furniture is commonly thought to be the ‘finishing touch’ to interior design, smart utilisation of furniture will let you consider how an item can readily enhance both the style and functionality of a space early on in the design process.

You want to project a sense of togetherness through functional, complementary furniture. The addition of an L-shaped corner sofa, for example, defines a communal seating area while creating a sense of intimacy regardless of room size. Expand on this impression by incorporating a natural centre point to the room that encourages socialisation, with facing sofas grouped around a natural focus like a multi-functional occasional table.

Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash

If this piece has got you thinking about how you can streamline your communal areas for more sociable home design, why not find the perfect tradesmen for the job by searching Checkatrade’s database of over 50,000 recommended trade and service providers for free right here?

Author bio:

Angus Ponsford is the Director of Ponsford Ltd, an independent, family-run furniture retailer that boasts a huge selection to suit every style and budget.