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Planning Your Home Design

Updated: Mar 2, 2019

Taking a few moment to really think about your home and the spaces within it will truly transform and help you enjoy your creative process for designing it! Here are a few questions, answers and tips that you can follow that will get those creative juices flowing:



What is the overall vision that you have for your home?

One

Be it that you want to change just one room or you’re about to embark on an epic home makeover adventure of a lifetime, when planning your home décor the first thing you need to do is decide what it is that you ultimately want accomplish and how much time, effort and money you are willing to spend on achieving it. What is the overall vision that you have for your home? Are you are a natural born entertainer, the one that regularly loves to have family and friends over? If you are, then you will need enough seating in your design plan for example, and an open space living layout will serve you well.



What is the overall vision that you have for your home? Are you are a natural born entertainer, the one that regularly loves to have family and friends over? If you are, then you will need enough seating in your design plan for example, and an open space living layout will serve you well.




Two

What are your hobbies and are any of them primarily home based? What do you need for these hobbies, and do they require equipment? If they do, then you need to consider storage and enough of it that can be used to tidy away the equipment when it is not in use. Click images for details



If you collect art for example, allocate enough wall space to display the finest pieces in your collection. And if you collect rare vases and ornaments, you may want to put up enough shelving. Get some display ideas from our Easy Creative Feature Wall Ideas blog post. Click images for details


It’s important that every member of your household has a space that they can identify as their very own.

Three

Who will be the primary users of the each space in your home, what are their ages and what will they be using the space for? Bearing in mind that it doesn’t have to be an entire room, but it’s important that every member of your household has a space that they can identify as their very own. That own space for example could be a corner in a small living room that serves as the space where the children can do their homework, and in that corner you can have a small desk, reading lamps, and wall décor that encourages learning. Click images for details



Four

Minimalist living is not to be sniffed at, and whilst minimalism is not for everyone, we should all ask ourselves how much furniture and worldly possessions we actually really need. Too much furniture in the home can give it the feeling of being overburdened and cluttered. The rule of thumb is to start with the furniture that you absolutely need, then work your way up to progressively adding décor that adds harmony and cohesion to your interior design. Click images for details



Five

How easy is it for you to walk around your home without bumping into your furniture or tripping over rugs? Accessibility within your home is very important especially if you have young active children. You need to carefully consider the traffic flow within your home, and make high traffic areas such as the hallway clutter free and have durable flooring. Click images for details



Six

Your home needs a focal point. Moving that up a notch, actually each room in your home needs a focal point which will form the nucleus of your design. The question to ask yourself is what do you want to see when you walk into that room? Where do you want the eyes of your guests to be drawn to? From a design and budget perspective, your focal point should receive the most attention. Obvious focal points are fireplaces or bay windows is you have one.



Seven

How will you easily maintain order and organisation in your home? You want to make your home as easily organisable as is possible and the best way to do that is to have plenty of fixed and portable storage hubs around the house. Baskets for your magazines, throws, CD's and children’s toys dotted around the room can make tidying up a family affair! Click images for details



Eight

A good starting point to any home décor endeavour would be colour. The colour of your walls is low hanging fruit when it comes to freshening up the existing look and feel of your home. If you are not working on a blank canvas, be sure to choose a colour that compliments existing furniture and décor. Most home décor stores stock paint samples, grab yourself a few of these and swatch them on your walls before deciding on which fit best, and which colours work for your home in all types of lighting both natural and artificial. Click images for details



Nine

Before you impulsively hit the high street or click ‘buy now’ online, decide your budget! Your decorating goals have to be aligned to your budget. Having a budget is not only important for keeping our pennies in check, but when funds are limited a restrained budget can trigger creative ideas and force you to use our imagination more to achieve your desired goal.



As the saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention” For example if you want a new sofa but can’t afford one right now, you could spruce up the one you already have with some lush yet affordable cushions and throws, both of these are definitely a cheaper alternative to a brand new sofa but can give the same “like new” effect! And instead of buying wall art, buy a blank canvas from your local art supply store and create your very own Picasso!


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