This is something I find many of my clients really struggle with. Generally people move into a new home and decided to renovate or decorate a room at a time. This is practical as it reduces the overall impact of the work on the home but also help to spread the cost of the work.
However depending on the timescale of the work the start of the first room and the last room can be years apart. Not only might our taste have changed but also the functional requirements too. We could end up decorating the final room in a vastly different style than the first. This is when people feel a real disjoint in their homes and wonder how they can make it feel ‘whole’ again.
My 5 top interior design tips for creating a home that feel cohesive and well thought out are as follows.
HAVE A PLAN!
BEFORE you start any work on your home have a plan taking into consideration who uses each space, the taste, style, budget, requirements etc. This can also include and structural work you are planning to undertake and it should also futureproof as far as possible. i.e. If you have young children it’s safe to assume they will get bigger, need more space, study areas, space for a car etc.
This is my no.1 tip for creating a cohesive feeling home is to create a cohesive plan! In this plan you would work out the main elements of the room, flooring, colours etc.
Flooring
In your plan think carefully about the flooring. This is a major component of your home and a fairly expensive one. It is also not something that you want to change regularly. Decide on the flooring for each space and stick to it. If you are working a room at a time make sure the flooring you choose will be available in the future if possible. If you can’t be sure it might be worth buying the stock now and having it fitted later.
In order to make your home feel well considered it helps to only have a couple or 3 floor choices throughout. This would usually be a hard floor for task areas such as the kitchen, Utility rooms etc., then maybe a different hard flooring for the bathrooms (this might be the same as the kitchen floor) and then a soft flooring option i.e. a carpet for the bedrooms and softer area such as living rooms.
Lots of different flooring choices is the quickest way to make a home feel thrown together.
Neutral Colour scheme base
When compiling your plan thinking about the overall colour scheme might feel frivolous but it can save you time and money to have an idea of your neutral colour base and work to that rather than realise later on that the colour you want doesn’t work with another room in the view line.
You might choose a warm neutral base colour which can work well with greens for example and then when you are making more detailed plans for each room you know you can add green accents.
Using one neutral throughout the home will make it feel very calm and cohesive. Regardless of the colours you add to it you will have that continuity of the one neutral.
Accent colours.
Using certain accent colours which work well with your neutral base is a great way to inject your own personality into your home whilst keeping the flow of the neutral base.
You can pick out the accent colour in varying strengths throughout the home. For example you might use a darker Green in the Drawing Room as this is a slightly more formal room and this can be carried in smaller quantities into the other rooms, by way of accessories. In the other more informal rooms you could use a lighter version of the green. Don’t forget you can also add other colours to the accent colours in order to differ the look of each room but I would stick to 3 colours at the most to limit confusion and disjointedness.
Carry your style throughout
Whatever your style – whether you’re a devout minimalist or have your own individual style make sure to carry it throughout the home. Again this can be tweaked in each room to offer character (and might not be allowed in children’s bedrooms!) but try to let your personality touch each part of the house.
If your kitchen is very modern and crisp it would feel confusing to walk into a grand traditional Dining Room. If you each have different styles in your home try to find a balance where you can all feel happy with the result. For example, adding some opulent mirrors or art to modern schemes can work very well and might be enough to satisfy the minimalist and the traditionalist.
The main benefit of having a home that feels cohesive is that it reduces visual stress and removes confusion which makes us feel uncomfortable which therefore makes the home feel relaxed.
Creating a plan can also save you many hours of time and therefore money later on as the decisions are already made.
If you would like help with creating your renovation plan please get in touch - I would love to help.
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