10 Gorgeous Open Concept Kitchens That'll Make You Want to Tear Down Some Walls

Open-concept kitchens are having a moment. Well, they’ve been having a moment for the past several years now. People have embraced the idea of opening up their spaces to connect their kitchens to their dining rooms—and maybe even connect their dining rooms to their living rooms, too. These open-concept interiors encourage seamless movement from room-to-room, making them particularly great for entertaining. No longer do you have to be holed up in your kitchen cooking a meal, while your guests chat away in your dining room. When these spaces are connected, you can converse while you cook—entertaining and enjoying yourself in equal measure.

The only downside of open-concept kitchens? They can be kind of hard to decorate. When you’re given a massive blank canvas, it’s hard to know where to go next—or even where to start. Thankfully, the interior design world is loaded with chic open-concept kitchen ideas worth replicating in your space. (Honestly, some of them are so cute you may be tempted to recreate them even if you don’t have an open-concept kitchen.)

01 Add an Island

A kitchen island can be a great way to add counter space without closing off your kitchen. And if you don’t feel like building one into your space, you can always opt for a rollaway island. To keep things feeling cohesive, choose a rollaway island that mimics your cabinetry. And make sure it’s just wide enough to give you extra counter space—without cutting off the pathways into and out of your kitchen.

02 Invest in Your Backsplash

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Bold backsplashes are fun, no matter how your kitchen is laid out. But if your space is open-concept, a sleek backsplash isn’t just nice to have—it’s necessary. Of course, you can go as bold or as subtle as you want to. Just be sure to choose something that you’ll like looking at—and that you’ll love showing off.

03 Keep Your Ceilings in Mind

Using consistent overhead accents—like matching exposed beams—can be a great way to keep your open floor plan feeling cohesive. Having a consistent thread running through your space will enable you to switch up your furniture choices, your palettes, and even your aesthetic as you move from room to room.

04 Frame Your Island

Framing your island can be a great way to make it feel more connected to your kitchen—without separating it from your dining room. The frame will act like a wall. But because it’s open, it will keep the flow from your kitchen to your dining room feeling completely seamless.

05 Ground Your Space with a Cozy Rug

If your open-concept kitchen feels a little too open, add a rug. The rug will break up your space, adding contrast—and a welcome dose of coziness, too. And don’t worry about spills and other mishaps. There are tons of cute performance rugs that are designed to withstand the wear and tear of the kitchen. (Some of them are even machine washable—so you don’t even have to worry about spot-cleaning.)

06 Go Wide

Most open-concept homes boast a relatively square design. A kitchen lines one wall, a bar runs parallel to it, and a dining room table runs parallel to both of them. But why not do things a little differently and go wide? You can create a pathway that leads directly from your kitchen to your dining room, allowing you to move even more seamlessly between cooking and entertaining. 

Of course, a design like this won’t work in any space. But if a more conventional approach isn’t working in your home, this might save you from giving up on your open-concept dreams.

07 Shake Up Your Structure

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Connecting your kitchen to your dining room is an obvious choice. But connecting your kitchen to your living room can be an equally practical one. If you do a lot of entertaining—and if that entertaining looks a little more like a wine-and-cheese night than a dinner party—you might be better off designing your kitchen to open up into a cozy hangout space, rather than a sleek dining room.

08 Keep Things Cohesive, but Dynamic

Pay attention to the shapes in your space. They can make as much of a visual impact as the colors and prints you choose. If your dining room chandelier is full of crisp, bold lines, echo those shapes in your dining room chairs—and maybe even your barstools, too. By opting for shapes that are similar, you can keep your furniture feeling cohesive, without matching pieces exactly.

09 Spring for a Double Island

If you’ve got a lot of space to spare, consider adding two kitchen islands. Yes, you heard us right—two kitchen islands. You’ll add counter space without closing off your kitchen. And if you’re working with a wide open room, your end result won’t feel cluttered at all.

10 Invest Effort from Floor to Ceiling

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When you’re decorating a kitchen, you’ve only got a few pieces to worry about—your cabinetry, your countertops, your kitchen island, your backsplash, and your lighting. That’s really it. So feel free to invest a ton of time and effort into each of those pieces. Since they’re big, they’re bound to make an impact. And there are so few of them that you could invest immense care into each one without getting overwhelmed.