Modern Design Tips: Moving the Living Room Upstairs

24 Sep Modern Design Tips: Moving the Living Room Upstairs

Lighting the second floor can be tricky to get just right. Closed-wall staircases prevent light from reaching the second floor and rooms at the top of the staircase are often dark, closed off spaces that don’t welcome guests or family members to the second floor. The options are endless when designing your perfect home, so why not let as much light in as possible and take full advantage of all the space in your home?

Utilizing Second Floor Space

One great way to make the second floor more welcoming is with an open room or living space. This space can act as a gathering space, a second relaxation space, or a great place for guests to rewind before bed in a secluded area away from the rest of the home. By adding a room here, you add more functional space for the entire family. Imagine your kids have friends over and want to have a movie night. Instead of you giving up the living room and adjacent rooms to give them space (and avoid the noise) they can use the upstairs living space. As opposed to a basement or separate closed room, open living spaces make it easy to check in, bring up snacks or drinks, and keep an eye on your kids and their guests.

Designing with Creativity In Mind

A second-floor living room also gives you the opportunity to spread your creative wings. The primary living room might be a more elegant design, to serve as a more formal meeting room. An upstairs living room is the best place to add more color and creativity in a space reserved for guests or younger members of the family. Be sure to add all of the comforts of the primary living space so everyone can enjoy the room at its most comfortable.

By brightening up this space, you give yourself options for its use. With natural light, this could also be a great place for an art studio. With open walls and plenty of windows, these rooms make the whole home feel more open and airy. You’ll create more vertical height and make the ceilings feel even taller.

Maximizing Family Time

Another upside of upstairs living space is the opportunity it presents to spend more time as a family. Comfortable space right outside of the bedrooms encourages families and children to spend more time together. Family members can come out of their rooms and assemble. If you are trying to encourage kids in the home to spend more time together, outside of their bedrooms, create this space with entertainment areas to eliminate the need for separate TVs in each bedroom.

Adding Comfort for Guests

If you need more from this space, you can add sleeping accommodations to create a cabin feel with open bunks and shared space. This space can be the perfect room for visiting friends and families to have an area they can share, comfortably secluded from the rest of the family. Less like a guest room that doubles as a storage space, these upstairs rooms make guests feel like they’re staying in a hotel or resort.

Separate Rooms for Separate Interests

If you have a family with multiple kids or a husband who refuses to watch anything but sports, you know the arguments that can pop-up over the remote control. Second-floor living rooms are a great way to limit those arguments and give members of the family with different interests a place to watch in peace. If someone in the family needs a quiet place to study or create, these secluded spaces help meet the needs of everyone in the family.
Thinking of adding a secondary living area to your home? Talk with the design professionals at Michael and Associates and we’ll help get the design process started. You want the house of your dreams and we want to build it for you!