Houses, when you really get down to it, are pretty simple things. Little more than four walls, a floor, and a roof. It’s one of the first things that kids learn to draw, and there isn’t all that much variation between them on a fundamental level. However, it’s that extra level beyond the fundamental that makes all the difference. Sure, a Victorian terraced house and a luxury apartment might have the same basic ideas behind them, you would never mistake one for the other. Being able to bring a little extra to any home is one of those things that many people are constantly trying to do. People are always trying to find ways to make their homes bigger, better, more exciting. But how do you do it? It’s certainly not as easy as simply waving a magic wand. It takes time, it takes commitment, and it takes a fair amount of hard work. But, if you ask anyone who has taken the time to make their home more than what it was before, they will almost always tell you that it was completely worth it. In order to help give you a little bit of extra inspiration, here are a few ideas, both big and small, of how to take your home beyond four walls and turn it into something really special.
Increasing space
Space is one of the things that many people spend their lives trying to find in their homes. There are plenty of simple and small ways to make a room seem more spacious. From rearranging furniture to bringing a greater sense of flow into the room. Of course, if you really want to make a significant difference to the spaciousness in your home, you simply need to make more space. Of the different ways to do this, there are a few that are particularly popular. One is simply combining rooms. Many people find that by knocking down the wall between their kitchen and dining room, an entire area of their home becomes more spacious and welcoming. You can also add areas onto the home itself. This could be through extending certain rooms out or adding a new room entirely. If you’re looking for an incredibly useful space, then you should take a look at The Garage Plan Shop. They provide you with information on how you can go about planning and building your own garage space. Don’t just think horizontally either. If you don’t use your attic for much more than occasional storage, there’s no reason why you can’t convert it into a space that’s actually useable.
Rearranging the flow
Even if you’re not the kind of person who puts much stock in things like feng shui, there’s no denying that sometimes you walk into a home and it just flows. You can’t quite put your finger on why but as soon as you step into it, it feels like a whole cohesive place. Rather than just a selection rooms, it feels like a home. There are actually rather a lot of different ways to capture this remarkable feeling in your home. The first, and most obvious, is to focus on things like the layout of the rooms. If you walk into your living room and the first thing that you see it a large bookcase or the back of a sofa, your first impression is going to be one of difficulty and tension. Being met with a barrier like that can greatly disrupt the flow of any house. Make sure that entrances to any rooms are left open and that there is a very clear flow of movement between them. You should also think about using unified design choices throughout the rooms. That way they are able to feel much more closely connected, rather than just being a set of rooms with nothing holding them together in any way.
Seeking the unique
We’ve all had that moment when you walk into someone’s home, and it seems absolutely lovely, and then you go somewhere else, and you see they have a lot of the same furnishings. And then it happens again. And again. And again. The very worst is when you realize that much of the furnishing looks so familiar is that you even have it in your own house! Thanks to large furniture chains like IKEA, many people end up with their homes looking like identical showrooms. To avoid this, try and seek out as much unique and interesting furniture as possible. There’s nothing better than finding a piece that is incredibly rich in history and being able to bring it home. Not only does this put you in a position where you’re very unlikely to end up with anyone else having a home that looks even slightly like yours, but it also helps you put a certain sense of your own personal taste into your home. The best things to make unique are the big ones. Sofas, beds, chairs, tables, bookcases. Sure, these things have their own specific uses and need to be able to function correctly, but ignoring the style of them does a great disservice to the overall feeling and aesthetic that you’re trying to create for your home.
Understanding light
Lighting in a home is something that is both hugely important, highly neglected, and massively misunderstood. Many don’t understand why it’s so important, and those that don’t are often unable to use it properly. You might think that light is something so simple that surely it doesn’t require that much serious thought. On the contrary, it’s because of that simplicity that is it so important to think about light with a little more care. Think about it; there is nothing else that takes up so much of your home as light. The absence of it can make even the biggest, most well-appointed rooms look dingy and cramped. The best, not to mention the most versatile, source of light in your home is, of course, the sun. Making an effort to accommodate as much natural light is one of the very best ways to really bring life and energy into any room. Keep your windows clear of anything that might obstruct them. You may even want to increase the size of your windows in order to let in as much natural light as possible. Of course, you’re not always going to have natural light to work with. In that case, then you might want to get creative with the way that you light the rest of your home. Rather than sticking with the same old, boring overhead lights that so many people use, try something different. Use lamps to bring a cozy atmosphere to your living spaces, allowing you to not only illuminate a room but also use them as decoration as well. You also need to be aware that light quality is not the same for every room. Your bedroom and living room would be horrible spaces to be in if you have bright white lights everywhere. However, your bathroom and kitchen need to feel as like, bright as fresh as possible. Dim lights in those rooms is a surefire way to make them feel dark and unclean.
Giving it your personal stamp
Your home is more than a home. It’s an extension of who you are, your personality, and your interests. There are few things that many people find more unnerving than going into someone’s home and seeing no traces whatsoever of their personality, or personal life. Think carefully about the image that you want to project with your home. There are plenty of different ways that you can do this. You can use art that you love, something that not only brings a sense of personality to your home but brings life and colour into it as well. Or, if you prefer, you can decorate with pictures of you and your family. This is a wonderful way to tie the emotions of your family unit together with a home that you really care about. Even something as simple as the colour schemes that you use in your home should reflect something about who you are and what you’re passionate about. Of course, the very best option is to combine all of those ideas until you create a home that genuinely couldn’t belong to anyone else. The kind of place where visitors will be upset about ever having to leave. The kind of place that is, most definitely your home.
While making your home truly special can be incredibly rewarding, it’s certainly not a task that you should take lightly. You need to be ready to handle any possible complications that may arise from your project, as well as being able to adjust your desires and expectations based on what it actually possible to achieve in your home. As long as you’re always open to new possibilities and are willing to roll the with the punches, you’re almost certain to reach a point where you can create a home that you may never even want to leave!