Open Plan living design

Ways to make your house more open planned

While many of us dream of having an expansive, LA-style open planned home, very few of us have the budget for one. Sometimes our nine-to-fives don’t cover quite enough of the mortgage for a home that sprawls across multiple acres.

Instead, there are a few tricks we can deploy to make our homes feel much bigger and much more capable of resembling the party pad of our dreams.

These techniques involve the clever use of double glazed doors to create an illusion that will open out the back of your home into the great outdoors.

Bi-fold doors

At the moment, these are the absolute royalty of patio doors. The reason for this is they act as a glass wall that sits between your home and the outside world. The door opens out using a concertina effect, which removes the need for endless panelling and door handles.

Open Plan style Bi-Fold Doors

You may have even seen these on popular design programmes. They are used to blur the distinction between outdoors and indoors in the warmer months as they can be easily unlocked and pushed to the side.

This is ideal if you are aiming to create more social, open planned living space in your home. In the warmer months, you can virtually extend your property by seamlessly opening out onto the patio. 

Patio doors

One of the best ways to add space to your home is to create a gateway to the outdoors. This can be done by the simple addition of traditional patio doors. The first style that often comes to mind for many is French patio doors.

These have two panels that open out by simultaneously pulling the two handles. Even adding these to a dining room or kitchen will have a more dramatic effect than just a single opening door.

Choosing French doors with glass panels will instantly flood in extra light and provide you with an amazing view of the outside. They are also said to be a great match for older, period homes.

If bi-fold doors are a little out of your budget, but you still want the effect of large panes of glass opening out into the garden, then sliding doors could be a much more cost-effective, but equally clever design feature.

You can leave sliding doors slightly ajar if you want more fresh air circulating in your house, or you can slide them completely open to give a clear walkway from your home onto your patio area outside. 

A cost-effective solution that provides many benefits 

Choosing a uPVC version of either French or sliding doors is a very cost-effective way of making your home more open plan. It’s worth noting too, that if you want particularly big panes of glass, you will want to opt for an aluminium frame.

Patio doors are one of the easiest ways to add space and light to your property without having to shell out for an extension. If you feel one or more of your rooms at the back of your house are feeling a little bit claustrophobic, then patio doors will add an instant dimension of openness that won’t require your home to be a complete building site.