So much of life happens in-between the starting line and the destination.
The places we move from and get to. Physically and mentally. It’s there that some of our most important moments live.
Because of my job, I’ve spent the better part of thirty years analyzing floor plans. Probably more than many architects and interior designers. I’ve lived in more than thirty homes and walked through thousands of apartments with buyers. That has given me a unique lens.
My takeaway?
A dead giveaway of how successful a floor plan will be usually starts with the overall shape. The outline of the exterior walls.
Most of the best homes I’ve lived in or studied are, frankly, boring shapes. Squares. Rectangles.
Things start to get funky when they become circles, triangles, or irregular polygons.
Great rooms are usually simple boxes. What makes them special is what goes inside them and what they look out to. But more importantly, it’s how those rooms connect.
The spaces in-between. That’s what separates a beautiful home from a mundane box.
In the late 80s, I worked on a loft project in Chelsea where we designed classic open loft layouts. You walked in the front door and within steps you could see the kitchen, living room, laundry and bedrooms. It was open and it was sexy - at the time.
But it had no transition.
One room held everything. There was no connector.
No moment to shift.
No moment to breathe.
That layout has been replicated hundreds of times over the past three decades. And most of them miss the same thing.
The great designers live in the in-between. They obsess over the few feet between the front door and the living room. Between the living room and the kitchen. Between the kitchen and the pantry.
They shape the walk from the pantry to the laundry room. From the laundry room to the bedrooms. From the bedrooms to the closets. From the closets to the bath.
They understand that transition creates emotion. That privacy is built in layers.
I wish more architects and designers focused there.
Because the magic isn’t only in the room. It’s also in the space that brings you to it.
Let’s do this!
Shaun