Open-plan rooms still need a seam

Knocking through a wall is not the same as designing the space that remains. The cook still needs a boundary. The conversation still needs a place to sit that is not in the fridge door's swing.

A rug under the seating, a low sideboard as a spine, or a change in pendant height can draw that seam without building a wall back. The furniture does the zoning the plaster no longer does.

Drop the dining table first in the studio — it is usually the most stubborn rectangle — then the sofa, then the kitchen stools. If the sofa has to sit in the cook's path, the seam is in the wrong place.

Open plan is a gift of light and a tax on arrangement. Pay the tax on the screen, not after the courier has gone.