I Broke the Most Important Design Rule When Remodeling My Living Room – And It Completely Transformed the Way We Use the Space

Warm yellow orange living room traditional english style with a fireplace, large cream couch, gallery wall, a scalloped rug and an upholstered ottoman.

For years, I believed good living room design was all about working around the architecture you’re given – particularly in a historic home. Doors, entrances, and circulation routes, I thought they were untouchable.

So when we started remodeling our living room, the idea of removing doors (let alone blocking one up entirely) felt like a cardinal sin. Everything I thought I knew about the principles of interior design warned against it. Rooms needed boundaries. Flow mattered. And doors, apparently, are sacred.