Open plan living is increasingly popular and multiplying, as are different ways to decorate it from an interior design perspective.

So now you have your open space, the next task is to decorate it.

The biggest challenge is how to divide the spaces, so read on for some design tips, styling and layout ideas that you can apply to your home.

In the zone!

Allow your furniture to ‘float’ towards the centre of the room, rather than be pushed back against the wall. Define spaces with zoning areas into what function they have, e.g., sitting area, sleeping area, cooking area, and combine furniture shapes and designs, so it is not all square tables and harsh right angles, but instead a fusion of curves and meeting of clean lines. For a sense of flow, curved chairs, like the Harper Swivel Chair and Lorna Modern Rocking Chair, help the space cohere and make a contemporary living chic statement.

Soften hard surfaces with the use of rugs and well-spaced furniture, keep the floorplan cohesive and connected, and create walkable paths about the space.

Create a wall without a wall

Turn bookcases into walls, as room dividers, e.g., to separate a lounge area, and use sofas to break up the floor plan and section off a living room aspect.

Within a large living area and ideally, more space to play with, a nice idea is placing two sofas back-to-back, facing opposite directions, then adding a long narrow table in between the two on which to display lamps and vases, bringing a different dimension to the space. A modular sofa, such as this L-shaped Eve Corner Sofa with beautiful grey herringbone fabric, is another great way to divide up space and lounge in luxury. Sunday afternoon never looked so good!

Did someone say coffee? Coffee and end tables are a useful boundary and division of the room. We have a wide range of coffee tables, from metallic copper Botani tables to the contemporary style City mini coffee table.

The Kross Black Coffee Table is a multi-functional table designed for today’s modern open-plan living. With a diameter of 84cm, it is a handy stylish must-have item to be placed strategically beside the sofa for the remote controls, digital devices, and an espresso. Round tables are not only a fantastic solution for smaller open-plan living spaces, but they also look great against other round tables alike.

In a large open space, this black table would look sleek with the white Avery Round 120cm Dining Table, which has a satin finish. The black and white combination of the two tables and surfaces looks even better with the Morom Pendant Lamp Black, or the industrial-inspired hand-glazed, high gloss, ceramic Room 9 Large Pendant Lamp. Available in white, yellow, or blue. The idea is uniformity and keeping shapes in the same family.

The remarkable thing about open-plan living is the flexibility it offers. Being able to move and adapt furniture around a unified space, for different moods, events and get-togethers is a major bonus.

The oval-shaped Abbey Extending Dining Table fits with this ethos, it’s on the open plan living style radar with a Scandi-inspired minimal design, which extends to 136cm.

Along with being visually soothing to the eye, curves are great at keeping children out of the danger zone of sharp corners, which is one of many crucial factors to consider in an open-plan space, with room to run around.

Make life easy, with things you can easily switch around, across the floor, such as the lightweight Alba Industrial Round Side Table. The wooden table top with an intricate iron frame helps give the illusion of more space, as does this special set of two interlocking Luna Side Tables, made using mango, a sustainable hardwood. One-off designs, like the Luna Side Tables, are also key.

Stick to a soft neutral colour palette, and hang art

Think from the ground up, floor to ceiling. Have something that connects everything together, a trim or material that makes an appearance throughout the house, which is often referred to in interior design as the ‘red thread’.

If you are lucky enough to have an open living space surrounded by nature, create a connection between the indoors and the outdoors, for a seamless interior style.

Play with scale

Think of a room as being like a garden. Hang plants at different heights and create interesting visuals and textures. And remember, things that are living bring life to a room!