When your kitchen opens to your living room, you can’t really use opposing décor in each space. Your entire home needs to flow. Here are some tricks to creating a space that is both cozy and functional.

• Choose coordinated color palates: Decorating your kitchen in bold primary colors while keeping an autumn palate in your open living room will be torture for the eye. It is critical that you choose colors for each of these spaces that coordinate with one another. Choose one color to tie everything together and coordinating shades to blend the rooms together.
• Create rooms within rooms: Not everyone loves large, open floor plans and sometimes it is important to create visual breaks. Use design tricks to create rooms within rooms. Use a rug, a love seat and two chairs to form a conversation area in one corner of the large space. Set your primary sofa with the back to the center of the room to break up the space and create a walking path.
• Match your lighting: If you have a large crystal chandelier over your dining room table but your living room has a series of modern lamps, this can be confusing. Do what you can to create symmetry in lighting throughout the open space. Match the colors or the design aesthetics of lamps and light fixtures to tie the entire area together.
• Add personality with accessories: Of course, you don’t have to have one design concept for the entire house. You can use accessories to personalize each space. Maybe you would love to have owls in your kitchen. This doesn”t mean you have to extend that décor into the living space. Use different accessories around your house to separate the functions.