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An Idaho family uses a two-sided gas fireplace in the middle of the great room for ambience and energy efficiency.

Avoid overcrowding, though. Area rugs create subtle boundaries. But taller, bulkier furnishings can pose more formidable divisions. The idea of openness is not to enclose it.

Posts create see-through walls by appearing to frame open space like interior windows. This feature works especially in kitchens, which are often tucked under lofts to visually separate

cooking and living areas. The posts may support the upper level, but even structurally superfluous posts suggest a purpose.

2. Don’t be square. Many people lay out great rooms by dividing a core square or rectangle, assigning one half to the living room and the other half to the kitchen and dining area. There are many other ways to arrange the three living spaces, and even introduce a fourth space, such as a foyer, a sitting nook or a breakfast bump-out. One popular layout for people who entertain is the command post kitchen. It moves prep and cooking into the middle of the great room, usually surrounded by an eat-at bar or a half-wall.

3. Stack a fireplace. An interior fireplace rather than one against the wall not only keeps more heat inside the house, but also provides a barrier between room areas. A popular arrangement is a two-sided fireplace serving living and dining areas.

4. Take the stairs. But be careful. They eat up a lot of floor space. Stairs usually are at the edges of rooms, but they can be positioned at the entry to part the flow into the living room on one side and the dining-kitchen areas on the other.

5. Arrange furniture.

Not as a blockade, but to reinforce groupings. Don’t rely on one set to define the entire living space; break it up into two or more sitting areas. If you have enough room, create separate fireplace and window settings and maybe a hobby corner.

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6. Develop multiple focal points. Some homeowners place a fireplace in a wall of windows with a television in front of a window, so they can see all three at once. Invite attention to the whole great room, however, by spreading out these functions and creat-