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The Open-Plan Living Space Planner: A Data-Led Layout Tool
August 31, 2026

The Open-Plan Living Space Planner: A Data-Led Layout Tool

An open plan space works when it is planned as several small rooms without walls, each with its own boundary, floor covering and light. That is the conclusion of a 2026 layout report published by Furniture in Fashion, aimed at the knock through and extended spaces now common in British homes. The analysis identifies furniture backs and rug edges as the most reliable boundaries, finding that a sofa positioned with its back to the dining area defines the living zone more effectively than any partition while preserving daylight and sightlines. It sets out strict rug sizing, requiring at least 60cm of overhang beyond a dining table so pulled back chairs keep all four legs on the surface. The report also treats acoustics as the structural weakness of single volume living and argues for separately switched lighting per zone. A dimensions table gives minimum and comfortable areas for seating, dining, kitchen and study zones....

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Are Formal Dining Rooms Disappearing in Britain?
August 30, 2026

Are Formal Dining Rooms Disappearing in Britain?

The formal dining room is not vanishing so much as changing employment, and this report from Furniture in Fashion examines what that means for the furniture inside it. No published national dataset tracks dedicated dining room numbers over time, so no rate of decline is claimed. Instead the analysis sets out the three structural pressures at work: the cost of allocating a room to an hour a day, the rise of the kitchen as the primary eating space, and the shift toward cooking in company. It traces how these rooms actually change, usually accumulating a laptop, then a printer, until the secondary function becomes primary, and why the table so often survives the transition. It also makes the practical case for keeping a door, and sets out how furniture specification should change when a room holds two jobs....

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The UK’s Dining Room Report 2026
August 28, 2026

The UK’s Dining Room Report 2026

The British dining room has not disappeared, it has been absorbed and asked to do considerably more than it was designed for. This annual report from Furniture in Fashion finds that dining is now typically a function within a shared space rather than an activity with a dedicated room, and that the furniture succeeding in British homes is the furniture tolerating use beyond dinner. It examines the shift from bounded room to defined zone, why pendant lighting has taken over the job walls used to do, and how remote working has made seat comfort and surface resilience more important than tabletop impact. It also covers the move to lower, shallower sideboards that preserve walkway width, and the now settled practice of mixing seating by position. A reference table sets out clearance, storage and lighting requirements for each common British layout....

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Bookcases and Open-Plan Living: The UK Layout Report
August 27, 2026

Bookcases and Open-Plan Living: The UK Layout Report

Open plan living removed the walls and the surfaces furniture used to lean against, and Furniture in Fashion's layout report concludes that the bookcase has absorbed that change more than any other piece. Used as a divider rather than a store, it has to be specified as a freestanding object: a finished rear face, a stable and fixed base, and a height of 110cm to 140cm that separates zones for anyone seated while preserving sightlines for anyone standing. Our analysis sets out the shelf specification that determines whether the unit holds its shape, including maximum unsupported spans of around 80cm for a 22mm shelf under hardbacks, and depths of 18cm for paperbacks, 25cm for hardbacks and 30cm for double sided use. We also explain why knocked through terraces divide better across their width and where circulation routes should be protected....

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The Open-Plan Living Space Report 2026: 50 Statistics for Journalists
August 25, 2026

The Open-Plan Living Space Report 2026: 50 Statistics for Journalists

Furniture in Fashion's Open-Plan Living Space Report 2026 finds that open plan layouts transfer four jobs from the building to the furniture: zone definition, storage, screening and sound absorption. The report concludes that unsuccessful open plan rooms fail on function rather than style, with the most common error being a primary walking route that cuts through the seating area instead of passing around it. It sets out the specification that replaces each lost wall function, from boundary pieces at 75 cm to 90 cm that define without enclosing, to open backed screening units at 150 cm to 180 cm that interrupt the kitchen sightline while preserving daylight. Storage, not seating, is identified as the constraint most likely to force a rethink after furnishing. All guidance is clearance and specification led, with no estimated statistics used. The report is published as a reference for journalists covering UK housing layout and interior design....

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The Snug Report 2026: 50 Statistics for Journalists
August 25, 2026

The Snug Report 2026: 50 Statistics for Journalists

The snug is a direct consequence of open plan living: knocking walls down solved one problem and created another, and the snug is where the need for quiet enclosure went. In this 2026 report, Furniture in Fashion sets out why furnishing a snug like a scaled down living room produces a room nobody chooses to sit in, and why depth and substance in the furniture matter more than compact proportions. The analysis covers the tighter 120cm to 180cm seating distances a snug requires, a room size table matching UK reception room dimensions to workable arrangements, the lamp heights and warm colour temperatures that define the room's character, and the acoustic case for soft surfaces distributed at multiple heights. No national dataset classifies snug rooms, so no statistics appear and none have been estimated....

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Display Cabinets and Open-Plan Living: The UK Layout Report
August 25, 2026

Display Cabinets and Open-Plan Living: The UK Layout Report

Display cabinets have taken on a structural role in open plan UK homes, according to new analysis published by Furniture in Fashion. The report finds that removing internal walls raises the value of closed storage, because there is no adjoining room left to absorb overflow and everything is visible from everywhere else. It identifies the return walls, alcoves and chimney breast recesses left behind by knock through conversions as the positions where tall narrow cabinets do most work, and argues that visual weight matters more than capacity when a unit stands in an open sightline. The analysis recommends glazed upper doors over a solid base as the most versatile format, limits cabinet depth to 40cm on any wall carrying a route, and sets 90cm of clearance for hinged doors. It also covers cabinet lighting as a solution to the difficulty of lighting large open rooms....

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The Open-Plan Living Space Price Index 2026
August 24, 2026

The Open-Plan Living Space Price Index 2026

Furniture in Fashion's Open-Plan Living Space Price Index 2026 concludes that furnishing an open plan home costs more than furnishing the same floor area divided into rooms, for structural rather than decorative reasons. The report identifies three cost concentrations: the scale premium required for furniture to hold its proportions in a large undivided volume, the storage that open plan architecture removes and furniture must replace, and the finish consistency demanded when every piece sits in a single sightline. It sets out the controlling lever for each zone, from extending dining tables that keep the everyday footprint small to consolidating storage into fewer wide units that double as zone boundaries. The index analyses cost structure rather than price levels and contains no monetary figures, as no verifiable published dataset covers UK open plan furnishing costs. The report is published as an editorial reference for journalists covering UK interiors and household spending....

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Dining Sets and Open-Plan Living: The UK Layout Report
August 24, 2026

Dining Sets and Open-Plan Living: The UK Layout Report

In open plan UK homes the dining table works as architecture rather than furniture, according to new analysis published by Furniture in Fashion. The report concludes that dining sets in these spaces should be chosen on circulation first and seat count second, because the table sits in the middle of the main routes between kitchen, garden doors and seating area. It sets out the clearances that make the difference: 75cm to withdraw a chair, 110cm to pass behind a seated diner and 120cm between a table and an island with stools. The analysis finds that pedestal and trestle bases free the table perimeter and typically allow one or two more chairs at the same length, and that round and oval tops perform better at junction points because they present no corner to a passing route. It also examines surface finish, sightlines and storage....

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The Corner Sofa Buying Behaviour Survey 2026
August 23, 2026

The Corner Sofa Buying Behaviour Survey 2026

Corner sofas are bought for seating capacity and regretted for orientation, according to a new editorial analysis from Furniture in Fashion. The 2026 report identifies handing, the left or right position of the chaise return, as the decision that most determines long term satisfaction, and notes that the trade convention describing it is widely misread because it is expressed from the perspective of someone sitting on the sofa rather than standing in front of it. The analysis also finds that corner units frequently suit small UK living rooms better than buyers expect, because they occupy corner floor that a straight sofa and armchair arrangement leaves as dead circulation space, particularly in terraced homes with chimney breast alcoves. Where corner sofas divide open plan kitchen diners, the report recommends low backs, finished rear panels and 90cm of clearance on all open sides, and identifies the return dimension rather than overall width as the measurement most rooms fail....

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