The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - 82

THE DECLINE OF THE
OPEN FLOOR PLAN
In the McMansions that flooded the
suburbs in the 1980s and beyond, the open
floor plan reigned, with soaring entryways and
rooms that flowed into one another, blurring
the lines of living and dining spaces. But as
many families discovered while cooking,
working and attending virtual school together,
it's difficult to find privacy and personal space
without walls.
" The wide-open main level floor plan was
already on its way out, but the pandemic
cemented its demise, " notes Janelle. If you have
an open floor plan and a living or dining room
that goes unused, now could be the time to add
walls, or install french doors in a cased opening
to create privacy. A home office or library could
be a study space for teens, a work-from-home
office, or a private reading nook.
Interior designer Edith-Anne Duncan says
she has turned living rooms and dining rooms
into home offices, because these spaces aren't
always needed as they were originally intended
by the builder. She has also created multipurpose
spaces, and has a dining room/studio
82 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
in her own home. A working studio during the
day, built-ins house her fabric and wallpaper
swatches, sketches and design tools, and when
she packs them away, the room takes on a new
life as a dining room.
Another in-demand living space for the first
floor is a dedicated mudroom-which can also
be carved out of existing unused space on the
first floor with a re-work and the addition of
walls. " For our clients with children, mudrooms
are one of the very first requests, even before
the kitchen, " notes Janelle, who says if she was
designing the perfect home for her family, it
would have a large multi-functional mudroom.
AN UPTICK IN
OUTDOOR LIVING
Alicia Smith is an interior designer with
F&S Building Innovations, a Roanoke-based
contracting firm that, like most builders,
has been inundated with client requests for
new builds and home renovations since the
pandemic began. Smith says that outdoor
living spaces are at the top of the wish list for
many clients.
" I think that as people spent more time with
family throughout the quarantine period, they
realized that they wanted to take advantage of
outdoor space, so they added screened rooms
to enjoy family dinners outside, firepits to
entertain around, that sort of thing, " Smith
says.
Janelle echoes Smith's assessment, saying
in addition to screened porches and firepits,
other exterior spaces that have taken priority
for homeowners are outdoor kitchens, pergolas
and poolscapes. " Clients are looking for
outdoor spaces and outdoor furnishings of
the same quality and with the same attention
to detail as their indoor spaces, " Janelle notes.
A SANCTUARY
FROM THE CHAOS
While the pandemic has been enough to
deal with on its own, the stress of political
unrest, social movements and climate
change disasters have taken a toll on the
American psyche. Is it any wonder that we are
increasingly looking to our homes as a safe
sanctuary, and a respite from modern life?
As an anecdote, home palettes are shifting to
warmer tones, as icy grays, stark walls and cold
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The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021

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