Short answer. An open-plan room works when it reads as three places in one: somewhere to cook, somewhere to eat and somewhere to sit. Mark them with furniture, rugs and light rather than walls, and put the table between the kitchen and the sofa as a buffer. Choose an extractor that vents outside if you can, and quiet appliances, because every smell and hum reaches the sofa. Sit where the sofa will be and check what you see: the window and the people, not the sink.
Kitchen layout basicsLiving room layoutNorth-facing room colours
Zoning: three places in one room
| Zone | How to mark it | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Cook | Units, a change of floor, light under the wall cupboards | A worktop that faces the room or the window |
| Eat | The table, a pendant above it, a rug under it | Room to pull chairs out and walk behind them |
| Sit | The sofa, a rug, lamps | A clear route past it and a view that is not the sink |
The sofa's back can act as a wall without blocking light, the table keeps the cooking at arm's length from the sofa, open shelves divide without darkening, and a change of floor marks the line between cooking and sitting.
Rugs and light
Make the living rug big enough for at least the front legs of the sofa and chairs, and let a dining rug reach 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in) beyond the table. Light divides best of all: bright at the worktop, a pendant over the table (its bottom about 70 to 85 cm above the top), lamps by the sofa, each on its own switch, so the kitchen can go dark after dinner.
Smells and noise
Vent the hood outside if the building allows; a recirculating hood only filters, and needs its filters cleaned or changed. Size it for the whole room (makers often quote about ten air changes an hour), at least as wide as the hob, and run it before and after cooking. Compare the decibel figures of the dishwasher, hood and fridge, and add rugs, curtains and soft seating to soak up the echo.
Island or table?
Rough guide: units 60 cm deep, a walkway of 1 to 1.2 m, an island 90 cm deep with 1 m round it, and a work triangle of 1.2 to 2.7 m a side and 7.9 m in all.
An island turns the cook towards the room but needs a walkway on every side. In a flat a table often does more: you eat and work at it, and next to the kitchen it doubles as worktop. A peninsula is the middle way.
| Space around the living and eating zones | Common guideline |
|---|---|
| Main route through the room | About 80 to 90 cm (31 to 35 in) clear |
| Between sofa and coffee table | About 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) |
| Behind dining chairs, to pull out and sit | About 80 to 90 cm (31 to 35 in); more where people walk behind |
| Table edge per person | About 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in) |
Try the room in 3D
In Flatwalk you build the kitchen piece by piece along the walls of your own plan, then place a real sofa and table from real shops at their true size. Walk to where the sofa stands and look back at the kitchen, measure the route past the table, light each zone for the evening, and give the address to see which end of the room gets the sun. Flatwalk does not show smells or sound and does not check these guidelines for you.
What Flatwalk does that older planners skip
Lights
Add ceiling lights, lamps and LED strips and see each zone lit in the evening, not only by day.
Your flat in its city
Give the address and the street and buildings around you appear in 3D where the map has them.
Sun for your address
See whether the sun reaches the kitchen end or only the sofa, by date and hour.
One piece, in your own room
Through the live camera or in a photo of the room, stand a table or a sofa on your own floor at its true size before you buy.
Detail
Kitchens, wardrobes and bathrooms built piece by piece, with floors, tiles and paint.
Made for a thumb
Tap a sofa or a table and its choices appear: move it, turn it, replace it with another.
Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.
One flat, free
Most people plan one home. For that, Flatwalk costs nothing: no trial clock and no card. Drawing the flat, building the kitchen, furniture at its true size, the tape measure, lights, sun and walking are all part of it, and each AI tool gives one free try. A membership is for people who want more flats or more AI.
Questions people ask
How do you zone an open-plan kitchen and living room? With furniture, rugs and light: the sofa's back towards the kitchen, the table between them, a rug under each zone, and separate lights for cooking, eating and sitting.
Do I need an extractor that vents outside in an open-plan room? It is the better choice where the building allows it, because it takes smells out of the room. A recirculating hood works too, but its filters need regular care.
How do I make an open-plan room less noisy? Choose quiet appliances, add rugs, curtains and soft seating, and run the dishwasher when nobody is watching television.
Should I have an island or a dining table in a small flat? Often a table. It seats people, works as a desk and serves as extra worktop, and it needs less walking space than an island.
Flatwalk lets you build your kitchen, place your sofa and table at their true size and light each zone in a 3D plan of your own flat, free for one flat. It is launching on Google Play; join the waiting list at flatwalk.app.
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