It’s so easy for a home to fall into disrepair. Even if you’ve lived there for years and turned the place into your cozy little abode, that doesn’t mean you’ve done the best job of maintaining your house. And the more your home starts to fall apart, the more that “comfort factor” starts to fade away. At the other extreme, a modern household with sleek and contemporary design might not feel very homely if it’s lacking some personality and character. You need to find the right balance between a cozy household and a well-designed household. This house needs to really feel like your home, essentially.
But where do you begin on such on a mission? How do you start to turn your home back into a place you love? The answers to those questions will vary depending on each individual homeowner. It all depends on the state of your house and your specific preferences and tastes. That being said, there are definitely some general areas of home design and DIY that you should give some attention if you want to get yourself on the right track. Here are 6 steps that should help you to get started on your journey towards turning your home back into a place you love.
Step one: clean and tidy up your house –
Step one might sound a little bit boring, but it’s absolutely essential if you want to get your household back on track. The best place to start on your mission to reignite your love for your home is to clean and tidy the place from top to bottom. You need to start by walking through every room in your house and really giving the place a deep clean. Your home may not be brand new anymore, but some clean carpets and furnishings could really help to make it appear brand new. When it comes to your walls, you might even want to repaint; it’s not technically “cleaning” your house, but you can’t really clean marks off a painted surface without making more of a mess. You should also separate your belongings; things you want to keep, things you want to throw out, and things you want to sell or give to charity. Decluttering is an important step in cleaning your home so that it can be stripped down to the core necessities.
It’s not just about achieving a minimalistic and spacious design but also making your house a more practical place in which to live. Who wants to continuously trip over clutter when trying to navigate their home? Nobody does. You need to give your house a detox, in other words. Once you’ve gotten rid of all the mess, you’ll have more of an idea of what was hiding beneath it all. You’ll be able to see what really needs to be fixed in your home. You might find, however, that the majority of the problems go away once the house feels clean and spacious. You’d be the surprised by the psychological impact that clutter can have on our minds. As we’ll discuss throughout this article, coziness isn’t just about your house feeling comfortable on a practical level – it’s about your house being comfortable on a visual level. We’re all very influenced by our surroundings.
Step two: think about space you aren’t using –
This ties in with the last point. Obviously, cleaning and tidying is a good way to free up space that was being swamped with unnecessary clutter, but it’s only the start of your mission to make your home more spacious and minimalistic in design. You need to think about space you aren’t currently using, or, at least, space that you aren’t using to the fullest of its potential. Even after the decluttering process, you’re still going to have some belongings (hopefully). Proper storage is the key to avoiding a messy house in the future. You could put up shelves on walls, for example, to create new homes for items that just get left lying around the house. You could even swap out old furnishings, such as that coffee table, for better alternatives. For example, you could get a coffee table with drawers that provide additional storage. It’s all about thinking outside the box.
Speaking of “thinking outside the box”, you might want to think about rooms that you could put to better use in your house. If you have an attic, basement, garage, or spare room that serves as nothing more than a dumping ground for all your forgotten stuff then it’s probably time to rethink the way you use these spaces. These rooms could be converted into brand new areas that help to extend the house. For example, you could create a fun entertainment room for the kids, a second living room that the whole family could enjoy, or perhaps even a guest bedroom for people who choose to stay over. The point is that you could be expanding your house more than you realize if you simply thought about the space you already have available and put it to better use.
Step three: upgrade the kitchen –
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms of the house. The bedroom might be your own personal little space, and the living room might be a fun place in which you can relax, but the kitchen is a room that brings the whole family together. It’s a place for eating, talking, laughing, and relaxing. That makes it an integral room when renovating your house. The kitchen should tie the whole house together, and you need to make some serious improvements if it isn’t doing so. The key is to really open up the available space. As suggested in step two, you could think of some creative ways to create additional storage, such as putting up new shelving units for crockery and other kitchen utensils that don’t have a home. You should have clean and clear countertops.
Additionally, you need to think of the color theme in the kitchen. A neutral background will help to brighten up this space, which will make it both a more practical area in which to prepare meals but also a more pleasant environment in which to relax. Lighting really does have a big impact on our mood. You should be aiming to make the whole house feel bright, of course, but it’s certainly important to do so in the kitchen. Repainting the walls and cabinets in a neutral shade, such as white, will really help to reflect light and brighten up the space. You could even redo your countertops in a more neutral-colored material so as to help accentuate this effect. The point is that your kitchen should be a bright, warm, and welcoming environment.
Step four: upgrade the bathroom –
Another room that’s integral to creating a cozy home you can love is the bathroom. You should consider a remodel if this has become a room that you dread entering. Perhaps you’ve stopped cleaning it properly, or the faucet has started leaking, or the tiles on the wall have become faded and chipped. You need to start at the bottom and work your way up when improving this room. Make sure the flooring is modern. Go for stone tiling to keep the look “natural” – as we’ll discuss later, this will ensure it avoids becoming dated over time. You should opt for contemporary design with your sink, bathtub, and toilet, however; crisp white design will make your bathroom feel cleaner.
Step five: give your garden some attention –
This is a step that many homeowners skip when renovating their home. Your garden is such a crucial piece of the jigsaw when you’re trying to create a house that you can love. What use is a well-designed kitchen if you have to stare at a neglected, overgrown backyard every time you look out of the window? You need to give your garden some attention. Get outside and mow the lawn or create a new flower bed. Add some color and life to this outdoor space. You could even consider making more of a connection between your house and the garden. For example, a glass sun room could provide a lovely extension to your living room and make your home feel as if it’s part of the outside world. A gazebo in the garden itself could also create a nice area in which to relax outside with your family.
Step six: use some natural design indoors –
Continuing on from the previous step, you should aim to make more of a link between the outdoor world and the indoor world of your house. In other words, a dose of natural design can really add some color and vibrancy to your home. If you’re really aiming for a minimalistic and timeless interior then nature can provide you with that aesthetic. Manufactured design can risk the risk of becoming tacky and off-trend very quickly, but nature doesn’t follow trends; it exists separately from our world. And that’s exactly what your home needs. It needs a sprinkle of character and flavor in your home. It needs something to freshen up the design. If you get some plants in your house then you’ll also improve the air quality of your home. You’ll be winning on many levels.
Love,
*This is a collaborative post