Bookcases, partitions carve out cozy spaces in great rooms

Many of today's single-family houses, condo units and apartments allow their owners to tailor interiors to reflect lifestyle choices and aesthetic preferences. Large, undivided rooms in these homes present opportunities for multifunctional arrangements.

A single space incorporating what would once have been a separate kitchen, dining room and living room can indeed function well for those who favor informal design. Even then, however, it may not be easy to achieve a desired degree of comfort and orderliness without installing permanent dividers, i.e., walls.

Such a step does foreclose the options that open spaces offer. It would also negate what was presumably one of the attractions of buying a particular home in the first place.

Q: We recently moved into a new house that combines the living room, dining room and kitchen into one big area. This layout offered exciting possibilities at first, but it now seems lacking in comfort even though we've positioned the furniture to divide the space in accordance with its different functions.

Can you suggest how to make this setting more cozy and inviting?

A: These multipurpose spaces, also often referred to as great rooms, are intended to promote togetherness for family and friends by grouping cooking, eating and socializing in one big area. It's fun for those who like freewheeling layouts. It won't work well, however, if you prefer cozy over communal.

There are ways of creating a visual sense of enclosure without resorting to walling off sections of a great room. Bookcases or other types of built-in units can be installed below eye level to delineate a sitting area. Open shelving above counter height also can be added as a kitchen divider.

These sorts of partitions are well-suited to serving as focal points because they can accommodate displays of decorative objects.

Another possibility is to place a movable screen perpendicular to an existing wall as a means of separating a dining area from a sitting area. That insertion retains the overall openness of a great room, particularly one with a tall ceiling.

As a related alternative, you may want to consider something like the Skyline gliding panels from Hunter Douglas, which are shown in the accompanying photo. Installed on a ceiling track, this type of divider allows a section of a room to be either partly or fully open to other sections.

The narrow panels seen here are made of a grasswood fabric in a faded denim color that contrasts with the room's gold and green palette and with the dark wood furnishings.

Area rugs in compatible but distinct patterns and colors can also produce visual demarcations while enhancing the warmth, or coziness, of a large open area.

Color is generally an effective way of accenting differences among functional segments of a single room. Keep in mind that there's no good reason to give a great room only a single color; in fact, it should be designed with varying textures as well as colors for flooring and wall coverings.

Rita St. Clair is a syndicated columnist with Tribune Media Services Inc. E-mail general interior design questions to her at rsca@ritastclair.com.