There’s personal style, and there’s extra-personal style, and when it comes to the latter, it’s the condition and look of your home that dictates how others will interpret your unique brand of chic. From the most in-depth of interior design considerations to the tiny touches that can put the polish on the icing, there’s a multitude of ways in which any individual with a flair for fashion and style can deploy those skills in the home. Here’s a fresh list of some of the work you’ll be able to do to secure the most exquisite and personal of homes.
Property
The property itself is, of course, a huge factor in what style your home – interior and exterior – you’ll be able to curate. There’s plenty to think about when selecting a home; some look for the right postcode, within an easy commute to the center of a city, while others are looking for a specific atmosphere and neighborhood. Larger houses are cheaper in less desirable areas, so it’s best, if you’re inclined to favor space to develop, to look into the less desirable areas for a home.
Buying your property – or getting out a mortgage, as most people do – is the best bet for those with aspirations to redesign the home’s interior. Renting offers little flexibility and freedom when it comes to personalization, and besides, you’ll not be able to call the place your own despite all the work you’ve done on it. Mortgages can even be secured for those who’ve a bad credit history – perhaps through bankruptcy. Read how to get around this apparent setback so that you’ll be free to select the home of your dreams.
Renovation
When you’ve got the keys to your dream home, you’ll be able to start picking the brains of property developers, interior design personnel, and handymen as to what you’ll be able to change about the interior structure. Open plan bottom floor designs are extremely fashionable at present – especially so for those hosting parties – and so it may be worth considering what walls you may able to knock in without damaging the integrity of the structure you’ve recently acquired.
For a little inspiration, there exist some useful floor planning apps to download online that’ll help you visualize the new spaces you could create, adding in your items of furniture so that you can plan to the inch where everything might fit. As well as knocking in walls or shaking up the general structure of the home, there’s also a great deal of modernizing you will be able to consider – whether it be new windows and doors, modern lighting, or updated plumbing, this is a good step to take early on in your stylish home design.
Style Considerations
You’ve got your home, and you’re happy that for the time being you’ll not need any handymen in to rip open walls or floors, or to replace dated utilities. The next step is to consider what overall feel you’d like to inject into each and every room of the house. Remember: consistency is key – it’s impractical to paint each room a different color, with different styles of furniture from different decades. Mashing together these things rarely ends in a unified and impressive chic.
Instead, decide on a few key style elements. What color palette will you be using with what materials – white walls and wooden floors? Perhaps you’ll go for regal blues and dark woods, or concrete floors in the modern minimalist style. Would you like to bring your home forthrightly into the twenty-first century with all the mod-cons, or would you like to hark back to previous styles that you simply adore, like the art deco or shabby chic from years gone by? The choice is yours, but something you’ll have to decide upon early to attain the most stylish of homes.
Furniture
If you’re leaving a previously-owned home and you’re taking your furniture with you, you may be in possession of some outdated, scruffy or ill-fitting items that it might be best to replace. There’s always someone looking out for second-hand furniture, so do advertise online if you’ve decided to buy a whole new set of furniture for your new home. If you’re moving in without furniture, then it’s advisable to look for three things in your new furniture: quality, style, and suitability.
The quality of new furniture will in some way guarantee the longevity of the item, whether it be a couch or a four-poster bed. You’ll likely get a warranty for many years with quality items, which is a useful financial asset. The style of your new furniture should, of course, complement your own unique sense of how you’d like your home’s interior to look, while the upholstery and materials should in some ways match the rest of the home, which is what will ultimately make items suitable for purchase. Take color swabs and photos with you as you shop to remind you of what you’re attempting to match.
Ornamental Extras
In fashion, it’s often the smallest of touches that really sets off an outfit. The same goes for your home: the decorative additions serve to draw everything together – all the interior elements that you’ve worked so hard to bring into your home. A stylish lampshade, a framed vintage map, some wooden coasters to match the floor: this is where stylish homeowners truly punch their stamp into their home, with a flourish of personal design prowess.
It’s always a good idea, in this sense, to keep your eye out – in stores and jumble sales, online and at markets – for perfect ornamental additions to your home. The more practical they are the better, although plenty of people have the space of mantelpieces and windowsills to place useless yet stylish items in such a way as to subtly accentuate the overall style of a room, commanding the eye and dropping clues as to the logic behind your overall style choices.
A stylish home is one of the most difficult yet enjoyable things to achieve in a fashion-centric and style-conscious life, so bear these tips in mind to get you on your way to securing the household look of your dreams.
All images from the stunning design of F apartment in Kiev shared with us by OM Architecture – discover the full project on our ArchiSCENE page.
