5 Great Room Design Ideas

August 18, 2020

A great room is a large open-concept room that usually serves multiple functions. A common combination for a great room is the kitchen, dining area, and living room. Because they are so large and also multipurpose, it’s important to get the design and layout right. Here are a few great room design ideas to help inspire you:

1. Include More Natural Light

When you don’t have a bunch of walls separating areas and have an open great room instead, natural light can reach more of the room and make a bigger impact. Include more natural light in your great room by adding more windows, including bigger windows, and even skylights.

Not only does this bring more natural light into the room, but you also get the opportunity to enhance the look and feel of the room with decor. A large bay window can have a bench with pillows, under bench storage, or even small built-in shelves in the walls for a reading nook. You also get to add window treatments, which can make a big difference in the atmosphere of a room.

2. Use the Same Colors in Different Ways

One way to tie your great room together and also define separate zones is to use the same colors in different ways or in different materials. For example, you can use an area rug in the living room that matches the color of a color in your kitchen countertop.

You can match the curtains in a dining room to the color of a sofa, couch, or chair in the living room. In this way, you’re still tying different parts of the room together without them blending into each other too much. Defining key characteristics of the room is one of the great room layout ideas and it includes colors, which can help with planning out this design idea.

3. Add a Fireplace

A fireplace is a great element that can add some comfort and warmth to a great room. Not only is this a popular feature, but it also gives you some opportunities to play with fireplace decor.

You can make a fireplace the focal point of the room or you can design it to be more of a complementary enhancement. Either way, you will have a useful feature that also helps enhance your great room.

4. Consider a Vaulted Ceiling

Vaulted ceilings are an elegant and beautiful way to make a room stand out. Not only are they a statement ceiling and are often one of the popular interior design trends, but they also help make the room look and feel more spacious and open. They’re also one of the Spanish style kitchen design ideas.

But, they can have a bad reputation for creating a lot of energy loss. Although some vaulted ceilings are not energy efficient, they don’t need to have that problem. You can have a vaulted ceiling that still gives you the openness and height without being so high that it makes temperature control difficult. You can also add a ceiling fan to help better circulate the air in the room.

5. Get Creative With Lighting

Natural light is a great addition to your great room, but you’ll need some other lighting options to make sure you have the light you need. In addition to switching up the types of lighting you use, you can also get creative with the lighting fixtures you include.

Recessed lighting or track lighting are popular choices for great rooms. But, it is often paired with other types of lighting as well. A traditional chandelier may not be the look you’re going for, but there are plenty of lighting fixtures to help you create the look you want no matter what type of lighting you choose.

There are pros and cons of great rooms and making sure it’s designed well can remove a lot of the cons and keep the pros. These are just a few great room design ideas to inspire you when thinking about the one in your custom home. Although it covers multiple uses, a great room is just one room of your custom home and there are a lot of details to consider.

Partnering with a custom home builder can help you work through the details and ensure you get the home you want. If you’re ready to bring your dream home to life, contact Custom Home Group at 717-284-4090