If you’ve heard of feng shui, you likely understand how our homes can affect our emotional well-being. For example, if your house or apartment is arranged in a way that disrupts the harmony or balance within the space, you might feel “off” internally.
But if you have, say, an open-concept floor plan, this might help improve your mental health. At least, that’s what experts have claimed in the past.
An open floor plan often makes a home feel larger and more spacious, which might naturally help your brain feel less “cluttered,” so to speak. However, more people are pushing back on this style.
According to HGTV, “Since growing in popularity throughout the 20th century, open floor plans have been all the rage in home design for more than a decade. Rather than distinct rooms separated by walls, open-concept homes feature one or more common areas—such as a living room, dining room or kitchen—combined into a single large space.”
“These designs were intended to create a more fluid, casual living space by eliminating walls that traditionally separated rooms like the living room, dining room, and kitchen,” Tanisha Lyons-Porter, a professional organizer and owner of Natural Born Organizers, told Yahoo Life. “The appeal was clear: Fewer barriers made homes feel larger, brighter, and more inclusive, allowing for better flow between areas.”
However, today, more people are opting for cozier homes with charming quirks and separate spaces.
One TikTok user spoke about this shift from open-concept floor plans to more closed-off ones, separated ones. She took her followers to Instagram to ask how they felt about the interior design style.
“Everybody hates it,” she said. “One girl even said that the trend was totally driven by HGTV because it was just easier to knock out walls and easier to film in these open rooms. But I’m telling you, hundreds of people responded saying, ‘I’m so overstimulated. It’s so loud. There’s no sanctuary or peace to be found.”
They also said that cleaning the home felt more overwhelming, as they couldn’t necessarily separate tasks by individual rooms.
Are Open-Concept Floor Plans Good or Bad for Your Mental Health?
So…is the open-concept floor plan actually good for our mental health, or were we just sold a lie?
Personally, I think it all depends on your preferences. While open spaces might make someone feel less claustrophobic and less overwhelmed, cozier, closed-in spaces might make another person feel safer and more at peace.
“This trend [away from open floor plans] is especially evident among families who want separate areas for work, school, and relaxation—needs that became more obvious during the pandemic,” Carissa Aulich, a real estate agent with Redfin, told Yahoo Life. “Buyers are now tending to go toward more traditional floor plans because of reasons like privacy, sound control, and the desire for designated areas.”
Moral of the story? Do whatever you want with your home, and for the love of God, stop blindly following “trends” just to fit in.
The post Is Your Open-Concept Floor Plan Wrecking Your Mental Health? appeared first on VICE.
