So, you’ve just decided that you are, in fact, ready to remodel your home. It’s time to say goodbye to the weird closed off kitchen of the 60s and the carpet in the bathrooms and welcome a more modern, trendy design for your house.
But between a cape cod summery feel, a cozy traditional layout, or a modern cool-tone aesthetic, there’s just way too many options to pick from. So how do you choose?
Well here’s a couple questions and things to think about before choosing your home design style and what’s best for you.
1. What’s Your Current Lifestyle?
This is by far the first question you should be asking yourself. What kind of house goes with my lifestyle? If you’re single and living in an apartment you’ll have a very different style than if you have three kids and are in the peak of your career.
What you should be asking is what style goes well with how you’re living your life right now. Do you need to consider how your family will like the style you choose? Do you need to have spaces that accommodate working from home?
For example, if you’re living alone in a smaller space that is not your forever home, then you’ll want to find a style that is both inexpensive and gives you the functionality you may need. Things like having low-maintenance appliances can be a lifesaver when you don’t have another person to maintain them.
2. How Much Cleaning Are You Willing To Do?
If there’s one thing you should always think about before choosing a certain style is how you’re going to clean it. The super trendy thick baseboards are gorgeous, but require you to hunch over the whole house while you dust every single one. That beautiful copper light fixture? Think about how you’ll keep green rust away if it’s in the kitchen or bathroom soaking up moisture.
There’s several styles that help in making a room feel clean or embrace clutter. A minimalist, function-oriented design will make a space feel clean and organized immediately. Going for a more eclectic style will embrace clutter and will actually look better with a little wear and tear. Adding black grout to white subway tiles means less yellow gunk, and a cleaner easier to maintain look.
Whatever your design desires, don’t forget about how this decision will impact cleaning every day.
3. Can You Grow With This Style?
Though it might seem like a great idea to go ultra-modern now, you may want to think about how this style will grow old with you. Can this design last the trials of time? Will it go out of trend? But most importantly, will it uphold how I want to grow into this home?
There’s a few ways to avoid an outdated look and keep your design timeless. One important thing to do is avoid trends or fads. You’ll want to pick something that’s beautiful but you could still find in a home improvement magazine 20 years ago. “Classic” styles usually incorporate Greek influences, neutral and warm colours, and pick pieces that are ultra-functional.
Overall you should always simply ask yourself: will this style last? Especially if you’re hoping this will be your forever home or something you can pass on to your kids, make sure you don’t just go straight to the latest trend.
4. How Do You Like To Entertain?
One of the most important things to a house’s design is how it allows you to entertain the way you like to. Even if you’re not a social butterfly who hosts dinner parties every weekend, you’ll want to even think of the one time a year you have family over to consider what kind of style fits best for you.
For the cocktail lovers, you might want a living room with a small bar cart and lots of tables for people to place their drinks. For the summer barbecue types, invest more time in your backyard dining space than your interior one as you’ll know that you spend more time there anyways. And for the classic dinner partiers, think about how your kitchen and dining room flow together for easy serving stations and lots of prep room for guests to help out in the kitchen.
If you can’t immediately picture yourself inviting people into the space you’re designing, then really think about your entertaining needs. It’s a great place to start in finding the perfect design.
Have you ever forgotten to ask these questions? Tell us your biggest design mistakes below!
