Open-concept floor plans are more common than not these days. The positives of these sprawling spaces far outweigh the negatives, which is evident by the fact that their popularity is ever-growing. Walls create restrictions on space, placement of furniture, and the flow of natural light. Without borders, however, the designation of the room becomes blurry. By creating home zones with different types of flooring, it is easier to differentiate the kitchen from the dining area and the dining area from the living areas.

Creating Home Zones

Zones are assigned areas for specific functions. These functions vary from home to home and family to family. What is considered a vital use is based on your personal needs and the needs of your family. Think about how you use each space. Do you have children that use the dining room to do homework, or does your family only use to room to eat dinner? Do you spend a lot of time reading in the family room, or do you just play games and watch TV there? Do you have a desk in the great room, or do you have a large dog kennel in the area? These are all areas you’ll spend creating home zones in.

Designating the Zones

Once you’ve thought about the types of zones, you would like to create in your home and the function of each specific area, the next step is getting to work on strategically separating it. This could be as simple as adding lighting and throwing a rug down in a reading nook. Or using furniture to separate an area. But that’s not the point of this article. So let’s talk more about flooring.

Flooring Options

By using different types of flooring or floor coverings, you clearly define areas in your home in a very subtle manner. Whereas a wall is intrusive to the open atmosphere many families crave, it does make room boundaries clear. Are you searching for solutions to creating home zones and just aren’t sure what to do? Let’s walk through some suggestions we often give to clients.

Bathrooms, Laundry Rooms, and Mudrooms

Bathrooms present a unique situation. While all bathrooms have doors, some have areas you’d like to outline. For example, a toilet and shower area has different needs than a vanity area. Things to consider when selecting bathroom flooring include moisture, humidity, odor absorption, cleaning, and maintenance. Like bathrooms, it’s important to consider the use of the room before choosing your flooring. Linoleum and hardwood flooring don’t require much maintenance and are easily cleaned. Obviously, wood flooring and permanent carpeting are not optimal selections for a bathroom floor. Because they both absorb moisture, they will rot and mildew over time. However, placing rugs with non-slip backing on a tile floor allow you to separate the areas within your bathroom while adding a decorative flair. Rugs are easily cleaned and require minimal maintenance to keep them looking new.

Dining Rooms, Kitchens, and Living Rooms

In an open-concept floor plan creating home zones is a bit trickier. Great rooms are areas that consist of dining rooms, kitchens, and living or family rooms with no clear boundaries. One way to separate the space within a great room is to install different flooring within the room. For example, it’s not unheard of to use hardwood in the dining area, carpet in the living room, and vinyl in the kitchen. Some might argue that doing this defeats the purpose of giving the great room a cohesive feel. In that case, we’ll dive into some more specific tips for creating home zones in other ways.

Creating Home Zones with Flooring

As professional builders and remodelers, installing different flooring is our preferred way of defining different areas, or zones, in your home. There is a huge variety of flooring types that make clearly define these areas. If you don’t like the idea of using drastically different styles of flooring, consider choosing the same kind of flooring but with alternating colors. For example, you may want hardwood floors throughout your great room. But have you considered dark wood in the kitchen and lighter wood in the dining area? By blending the flooring color from one tone to another, you create a smooth, subtle transition between the spaces while clearly differentiating them.

Many homeowners opt to keep a similar type of flooring but change the pattern between spaces. This opens up the design possibilities tremendously and allows you to use different colors in different areas, letting you add flair with materials and colors while keeping in mind the functionality you desire.

Asking the Experts

Whether you’re planning a home remodel or building a brand new home, Cobblestone Builders is here to help. We’ll gladly answer all of your questions about creating new home zones with different flooring. By this point, you’ve already understood the functionality essential to your family and know that you want the versatility that an open-concept floor plan allows. Now it’s time to contact us to personalize your vision, discuss the aesthetic you’re looking to create, and implement the plan.
Since 1990, Cobblestone Builders has been building cost-efficient, high-quality homes, and condos. We are now recognized as one of southeastern Wisconsin’s premier home designers specializing in open-concept floor plans and using superior, eco-friendly building and flooring materials. Visit our website to see our wide variety of floor plans, read about what our clients are saying, or take a look at lots and land for sale. We’re excited to hear from you!