Making a move
What to know about up-scaling your home after your big move
Maintaining your home is a requirement of being a homeowner. But so is creating the home you want through design. When is the best time to change up the style of the house?
“My advice would be to live in the house for at least one season if possible before making any big interior design decisions,” says Caroline Flannery, Interior Designer and Creative Director of Interiors by Caroline.
As tempting as it can be, Caroline says that rushing into decorating is not always a good idea.
“If you want to start right away, paint all your interior walls the same colour, perhaps a warm white or a light neutral. Painting all the walls the same light colour will help you really ‘see’ the space.
“Any interesting architectural features will become more apparent and it will give you the opportunity to observe the light and how it changes throughout the day. This can really help when it comes to designing your colour scheme later on.”
It can be difficult to hold back on making design plans for the new house, but Caroline says it’s common for it to take time. It’s best to get it right. So does she have any tips from her own moving days?
“My own house was very unusual. It was originally designed as an art exhibition space with just one internal wall which housed the bathroom, and apart from that it was completely open plan. The first thing I did (after the big party I threw, of course) was create a scaled 3D cad model so I could explore lots of different layouts. It took quite a while to decide how to divide the space up and I lived out of boxes for many months. But it was worth it!”
One of the big choices for any new home is choosing the furniture. This is a choice which can’t really wait for six months, as you need a couch to sit on in the meantime. How do you smartly choose furniture for a house? Is it a practical consideration or fully a design one?
“Furniture should certainly be practical, but in order for your interior design scheme to be a success, your furniture should not only be beautiful but should also work with the proportion and scale of your room.
“I recommend starting with a scaled plan. Measure your room and decide on your layout before purchasing anything. It’s also a good idea to use masking tape to mark out the dimensions of the furniture on the floor, particularly for larger items such as your sofa and dining table. This will give you a sense of how much space each individual piece will occupy in the room before committing to a purchase.”
With most new homes, it is usually a couple moving in together. This can make designing the house difficult as there can be two different personalities competing for space. Caroline recommends communication to merge their two different personalities when designing the house.
“Communication is key when designing for a couple. It is important that neither person feels they have to compromise on the decoration of their home. If both have strong views, ideally both will be equally involved throughout the entire design process. Sometimes it can get quite heated, but we always get there in the end!”