{"id":756782,"date":"2026-07-11T13:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T13:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/756782\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T13:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T13:51:19","slug":"a-designer-lays-out-her-secrets-to-a-cozy-open-concept-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/756782\/","title":{"rendered":"A Designer Lays Out Her Secrets to a Cozy Open-Concept Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Atlanta-based designer Laura Jenkins, founder of Laura W. Jenkins Interiors<\/a>, wants you to get reacquainted with the back of your sofa, especially if you have an open-concept living room. The truth is, when most of us are faced with decorating a vast space, we\u2019re hesitant to throw a barrier (like a couch) in the middle of it. Instead, our instinct is to shove the furniture as close to the walls as possible. \u201cPeople are afraid to divide a space because they think it\u2019ll feel closed off or they won\u2019t be able to circulate around it,\u201d says Jenkins. \u201cBut in reality, it can make a room feel bigger.\u201d Exhibit A: a new-build home in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood that she recently decorated for a newlywed couple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jenkins, whose firm typically specializes in historic renovations, was tasked with giving the very-vanilla interiors a bit more personality. That can be a hard thing to do in a large room that screams \u201cjust constructed.\u201d Her challenge: create three distinct areas\u2014a lounge zone, a breakfast nook, and an entertaining-ready kitchen\u2014in one space. We asked Jenkins to give us the play-by-play on the layout.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Floorplan<\/p>\n

\"roomCourtesy of Laura W. Jenkins Interiors<\/a> <\/p>\n

Step 1: Dress Up the Back of the Sofa with a Console Table<\/p>\n

\"livingRug, Rush House<\/a>; Ottomans, Billy Baldwin<\/a> in Designs of the Time<\/a> fabric with Schumacher welt; Coffee table, Eneby Home<\/a>; Sofa, Nickey Kehoe<\/a> in Pierre Frey fabric; Lounge chair, Una Malan; Side tables (next to sofa), vintage from Nickey Kehoe<\/a>; Side table (next to chair), vintage from South Loop Loft;<\/a> Custom drapery by Douglass Workroom<\/a> in Designs of the Time<\/a> fabric; Ceiling lights, Jessica Helgerson for Roll & Hill<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really afraid to see the back of the sofa, and it\u2019s valid\u2014a sofa can look strange if it\u2019s just floating,\u201d says Jenkins. There are a few solutions to this problem. One is to simply select a couch with an interesting or curved back. A quicker fix (especially if yours is a sectional with visible seams) is to place a console table or a folding screen behind it.<\/p>\n

Tip: A patterned sofa adds vintage charm to a builder-grade living room, even if the fabric isn\u2019t technically old. <\/p>\n

Step 2: Go Low with Your Accent Seating\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"chaiseChaise, vintage from South Loop Loft;<\/a> Bolster in Robert Kime fabric<\/a>; Chest, 1stDibs<\/a>; Lamp, BDDW<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love using a chaise in a living room, especially in one where you are looking through to another space,\u201d says the designer. Being mindful of the sightline into the nearby formal dining room, Jenkins opted for the low-slung style instead of another armchair. She added Billy Baldwin ottomans (as seen above) for the same reason: they don\u2019t block the view of the fireplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tip: Multipurpose seating that\u2019s easy to move, like poufs that can serve as footstools or extra seating, lets you change the feeling and function of an open-concept room in a flash.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Step 3: Get All the Chair Legs on the Rug\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a general rule for an open-concept room, Jenkins situates every chair, sofa, or table leg on an area rug. \u201cWhen none of your furniture is up against a wall, it\u2019s important to anchor it,\u201d shares the designer. She accounts for exposing a 12-inch border of flooring around the edges and figures out the rug size from there.<\/p>\n

Tip: Adding floor outlets allows you to have lamps in central areas without a bunch of extension cords (read: tripping hazards).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Step 4: Sandwich the Table with a Banquette<\/p>\n

\"banquetteBanquette, Billy Baldwin<\/a> in Schumacher fabric<\/a>; Custom pillows in Maharam fabric;<\/a> Dining table, vintage from Eneby Home<\/a>; Dining chairs, DWR<\/a>; Pendant, Florian Schulz<\/a> via Hector Finch<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

With the living area feeling like its own, separate space, Jenkins turned\u2014literally\u2014toward the kitchen and added a banquette on the other side of the console. It didn\u2019t matter to the designer that the bench wasn\u2019t the same length as the couch. What was important from a dimensions standpoint was that all three items (the sofa, table, and bench) were generally the same height (around 30 inches tall). \u201cI wanted to be able to put things on the table\u2014a drink or decorative items. If it was too low, you wouldn\u2019t be able to see what was happening back there,\u201d says Jenkins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tip: Place your room-dividing furniture piece at a natural breaking point in the space. In this project, it was obvious to line up the console with a cased opening, but a window or edge of a doorframe could also be a nudge in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Step 5: Drop the Lighting Over the Dining Table<\/p>\n

\"openBarstools, Lawson-Fenning<\/a>; Island pendant, Jessica Helgerson for Roll & Hill<\/a>; Custom cafe curtains in Designs of the Time<\/a> fabric.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Typically, the designer hangs dining table pendants 6 feet off the finished floor. But in this space, she decided to drop it an extra 6 inches to punctuate the breakfast table and make it feel extra intimate.\u00a0 The Florian Schulz fixture is actually a counterweight pendant, so it can drop even further without fussing with the wiring. \u201cThey use this table a lot for games and puzzles, so the lower light is also very functional,\u201d adds Jenkins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tip: Swap recessed cans for artful flushmounts, like in the living room. It\u2019ll bring some much-needed dimension to the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"open<\/p>\n

One of Jenkins\u2019 passions is finding counter stools that are equally cozy and stylish. \u201cBecause in reality, people love to sit at the island and hangout with whoever is cooking,\u201d she says. And in a kitchen that\u2019s open to the rest of the living space, it matters what they look like from the back. Lawson-Fenning\u2019s Cruz Barstools<\/a> are one of the pro\u2019s go-tos: \u201cThey have this little brass detail that\u2019s like a piece of jewelry, they\u2019re super comfortable, not too heavy, and they have a footrest,\u201d says Jenkins. The leather seats are about as wide as a standard dining chair, so they can get a little tight when lined up along a smaller island, but that\u2019s also what makes them easy to sit in for hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tip: If you have any control over the height of your island, aim for the standard 36 inches so it lines up nicely with the rest of the kitchen\u2019s surfaces. \u201cIt looks cleaner when everything is the same,\u201d says Jenkins.<\/p>\n

Step 7: Mix Up Window Treatment Styles, But Not the Fabric<\/p>\n

Jenkins swathed the formerly bare windows in two styles of treatments. Cafe curtains in the kitchen allow plenty of natural light to pour in, while tall drapes prevent TV glare in the living room. Using the same sheer fabric throughout ties the different areas together nicely.<\/p>\n

Tip: Another feature to keep consistent? The finishes of the light fixtures (Jenkins opted for brass). \u201cIt\u2019s hard to mix it all up when everything is open to each other,\u201d says the designer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Sign Up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,20142,229,88],"class_list":["post-756782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-core-home","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}