Tips to turn any house into a home
A HOUSE can be any basic unit of dwelling, whether it’s a mobile home, an apartment, a super modern glass box or anything else in between. The form of the house never matters as much as what goes inside – because those are the people and special things that transform any space into a home. It’s easy to get caught up in the world of interior design and forget that making a home doesn’t require expensive furniture and bookshelves arranged by color. Around the world people decorate their homes in vastly different ways. For some homes, family-made textiles are the focal point, for others, artwork, and for some, a clean, simple space that allows for a young family to grow and be active is most important. But no matter what size, shape or style your home takes, there are a few universal ideas that seem to pop up in homes time and time again. Those common elements are the things that intrigue me the most about homes that feel welcoming and lived-in, and they’re the elements I want to talk about here today.
1) Floors: This may seem like an unexpected place to start, but I find that one of the things that unites homes everywhere is an attention to what happens under your feet. Rugs and carpet aren’t the only thing you can do to floors, but they’re a common first step because they help with the sound insulation in any room, adding something to the room that both absorbs sound and has special meaning to it is a great way to make a room feel special.
2) Lighting: Often homes and apartments are constructed with the simplest lighting available – a single overhead bulb or extra-bright fluorescent lighting. The cost-effectiveness of these choices is understandable, but having soft lighting at a lower height in the room does a lot to make a room feel cozy. So for that reason I always take out my existing overhead lighting. So if you’re looking around your home and wonder what you can do to make a quick difference, consider swapping out the lighting around you for something that’s softer and warmer.
3) Storage: One of the biggest lessons I learned about a house feeling like a home has to do with functionality. So many design decisions are based on aesthetics, but it’s hard to get around to decisions that are based on style before you deal with all the basic necessities of storage. So whether your home storage is about leaving room to display things that matter most to you, or displaying the storage devices that mean something on their own, this simple step of giving everything a place of its own goes a long way in creating a room that feels beautiful.
4) Artwork: Artwork is too often written off as being elitist, expensive and frivolous. But from the earliest days, people have decorated their homes with all sorts of things that mean something to them. From found objects in nature (like collections of shells and pinecones) and family weavings to photographs, sculp- tures and paintings, art can be anything and everything you want it to be.
5) Customized Details (Hardware): Whether you paint your dresser handles a new color, use faux gold-leaf on your lamp bases or dip the legs of your chairs in colorful paint, adding small, personal touches in places that are unexpected makes a noticeable impression on both you and your guests. There is never anything wrong with using existing hardware or furniture materials, but if you have the inclination and interest to make something a little different and a bit more like your style, the overall impact is huge.
Start with handles, door knobs, pulls and light switches, but just about any small aspect of your home can be personalized with a little bit of paint, fabric or other inexpensive materials. Small details like that cost very little in terms of time and materials and make a huge impact on the overall feel of your home.