When you first bought or rented your property one of the first thoughts that would have entered your mind when walking into a room would have been ‘what will I use this space for?’ Buyers and potential renters will think the same thing as they look round.
In some spaces the purpose of the rooms are obvious…the bathroom is for washing, the kitchen is for cooking, the lounge is where we relax and usually watch television. Others need more thought out design. This is where professional home stagers and designers really come into their own. We are experts at utilising underused or incorrectly designed spaces and optimising them to reach their potential.
The processes home stagers and designers go through when redesigning spaces in homes can be quite complex and based on years of experience, I have selected a few key areas to explore to help you adapt these techniques in your own homes.
Firstly and most importantly, the spaces we create in our homes should be practical for day to day living and enhance your wellbeing in your home, after all you need to feel good in the place you spend most of your time, when not at work. As a part of the consultation process designers will ask you to list the things you do most in your home and then plan out which rooms you do those tasks in. We do this to ensure the rooms are being used to their full potential and to identify any areas we need to redesign if they're not functioning in a purposeful way for you.
Once designers know what you need from your home we make sure the spaces you already have are working well to suit your lifestyle with regards to storage, how usable the spaces are, the feeling of enjoyment from each room and design styles you like or aspire to have. Storage in rooms is vital to keep clutter at bay and ensure a room is useable for its indented purpose, getting it right is often the key to a room's usability and versatility. (More detailed blog posts on storage and decluttering will be coming soon.)
Secondly it's important to define the function of a space so it doesn't become cluttered with no real function or usability. Dining tables for example in separate dinning rooms are the most common dumping grounds for paperwork, laundry and other miscellaneous items in many people's homes. If you only use your formal dining room three times a year is it really serving you and your enjoyment of your home? Would the space be better suited as a family room, playroom, home office, home exercise studio or meditation room? Only you know the answer to this. There's dining tables that fold up into vertical shelving now so you can use your dining space in a variety of ways when the table isn't in use. Clever furniture choices can mean your rooms can finally provide you with the space you've always wanted.
If your lifestyle means you do more reading than yoga at home then any space that's available to redesign would be best as a library or reading nook rather than a meditation space. Think about the spaces in your home, what you use each room for, how often you actually use the space and whether there's any space you're crying out for that doesn't currently exist in your home? Can you repurpose any existing rooms or if there's a lack of extra space can you redesign a room to make it multi-functional? A spare room can often double up as a home office by removing the bed and putting in a day bed or sofa bed along with a desk.
Finally, it's important that the design choices you make reflect your personal style (although not too much when designing spaces for sale or rent). Designers will often chose timeless pieces of more costly items such as flooring choices, furniture, window dressings and classic colour choices for walls and ceilings as these items are not easy to change if we want to refresh the look in our home. Designers use accessories such as soft furnishings (cushions, rugs and throws), flowers, vases, candles, ornaments and artwork to bring in elements that are more unique, quirky even and up to date with current colour and design trends. Once you have chosen classic timeless pieces my top tip is to find an item that you love and base your colour pallet around that for the room. For example, accessories in living spaces or bedrooms, can be a piece of artwork, a bedspread, a throw, a cushion, a rug or even a vase. Once you have found that inspirational piece, select others that compliment and add something without detracting from the design.
My rule of thumb for any accessory is it has to serve a purpose, not just look nice, I don't like lots of things to add to my dusting! Most of the time less is more, I ensure I choose beautiful photo frames for a select few family photos, vases with flowers in, candles that smell and look amazing, cushions that add pops of colour, pattern and texture, artwork that I love to look at and appreciate and throws to add warmth on chilly nights in bed or on the sofa.
If you found this useful and are up for independently transforming your home please tag us in your projects #houseproudsolutions If you would like more bespoke and detailed advice for your home and design needs please contact us for a consultation. We look forward to hearing from you.
