We talk a lot about tiny home life on this site. However, it doesn’t matter whether you live in a converted caravan or a huge mansion. The amount of space in your household isn’t important – it’s all about what you do with that space. If people can create tiny homes that manage to squeeze all the elements of a full-sized house into a small space without it feeling cramped then you can certainly do a better job with the interior of your home. You might have a growing family, and that might make your household feel as if it’s shrinking, but there’s a lot you can do to change that. You don’t have to move home.
Creating a permanent paradise for your family is all about turning your home into a place that allows growth. It’s about making a household that you and your family will love for many years because it’s spaciousness and timeless. We’ll talk about all of that in this article, but the point is that you don’t have to outgrow your home. It can be saved. You just need to rethink its design both on a functional and a visual level. Here’s some advice that should help you to turn your family home into a place that you can love forever (or, at the very least, until the kids leave home and you decide to downsize).
Take it back to basics.
If you really want to make your family home feel like the kind of place in which you could live for years then you need to give yourself room to grow. That means you need to take things back to basics. You need to declutter your home so that you can let its design breathe. Overloading your household with “stuff” doesn’t always make it look better; it makes the place feel cramped and busy. As we’ll discuss throughout this article, less is often more. See this as an opportunity to get rid of the junk you’ve been hoarding for years. Your goal is to cut down your home’s design to the bare essentials; leave the possessions and furnishings that actually add some character and personality to your home. You’ll make your house feel more spacious, and the remaining things in your home will make more of a visual statement – they won’t be overshadowed by a mountain of clutter.
Use your home’s potential space.
Continuing from the previous point, you need to put your home’s potential space to good use if you and your family want to enjoy this house for many years to come. It might feel as if your home has shrunk over the years, but the truth is that you’ve probably not been utilizing the space to the fullest of its potential. Now that you’ve decluttered, this should allow your home to breathe a little, but you can go further than this. You could put up new shelving on the walls in the kitchen, for example. Create more storage space for the things you still have in your home; don’t let clutter build up again. You could even convert the attic or the garage into a guest bedroom or a second living room so as to extend your home by simply putting space to better use. The potential for your family home to become paradise is already there – you just need to see it.
Personalize the design.
You need to remember that this is a home for the whole family. Whilst you’re renovating and decorating, you need to make sure that you don’t lose sight of this. Your house should feel personal to everyone in the family. A nice aesthetic is important, but not if you sterilize your home to the point that it feels foreign and devoid of any personality. Let your family’s tastes shine through your home’s design. You could all design pieces of artwork to hang up on the wall. Even if you just throw a few splashes of paint on a blank canvas and put it in a frame, the point is that you’ll know it’s something you created; it’s one-of-a-kind. Most modern art is contemporary and minimalistic – you don’t need to be the next Van Gogh.
Of course, being creative is only one way in which to personalize your home’s design. You could buy some ornaments of certain animals that you and the family like. You could hang some more family photographs on the walls of your house. You might even want to check out these colorful and quirky kids’ beds to add something fun (but practical, of course) to the bedrooms of your little ones. It’s important that your children have a cozy and personalized space to call their own. In fact, it’s important that everybody has a space to call their own if your home is going to feel like a paradise for the whole family. Make sure that every family member has their voice heard.
Use timeless styles.
As mentioned in the introduction, the best way to turn your family home into a long-term paradise is to use a timeless design style. Following trends might seem like a good idea, but you’ll regret it when the next “new” style of home design comes along and your house is left with an outdated interior that belongs to a previous era. If you want your home to feel current on a permanent basis then you need to forget the trends and focus on timeless design. The minimal approach works well. You should’ve already decluttered and reinvented your home’s space, so you’re well on your way to achieving this, but minimalism goes further than spaciousness. It’s about the colors you use in your household too. You should opt for neutral backgrounds to simplify your home’s appearance. Paint your walls white; this will not only create a blank canvas that works well with whatever furnishings or color themes you want to use throughout the house, but it’ll naturally reflect light and brighten up your home.
Of course, there’s nothing more timeless than nature itself. Unlike manmade design, nature doesn’t follow cool trends; it’s permanent. And that makes it the perfect tool to use for a permanent paradise in your home. You should get rid of any tacky old carpet and use wooden flooring instead for a natural design that adds a bit of class to your home; you could always get some rugs if you want to maintain the cozy aspect of a carpet. You could even get granite countertops for your kitchen to create a powerful visual effect. The benefits of using natural design aren’t just aesthetic, however. If you use plants as design features in your rooms then it’ll not only add vibrancy and color to your humble abode but it’ll also make your home feel nicer. Plants purify the air by removing toxins, so a well-placed English Ivy or Peace Lily could make even the tiniest room feel open and refreshing. It’s time to get rid of that “stuffy” feel to your home. You can simultaneously refresh your household and utilize a timeless form of design. This is a win-win situation when you’re trying to create a permanent paradise for your family.
Remember that you have a garden.
This entire article has been about interior design, but you shouldn’t neglect the exterior of your home. Whether you have a tiny backyard or a huge garden, any space can be utilized into something great (as we discussed in an earlier point). You should turn your garden into a little outdoor slice of paradise, and that doesn’t just mean you need to mow the lawn more often. You could create a patio area for the family to enjoy on summer days. With a dining table and some comfy seating, you could have a brand new outdoor room to use for barbeques or simply enjoying the beauty of nature.
*This is a contributed post.
Leave a Reply