If you’ve checked out the game applications available for your phone, you may have run across a whole section of them dedicated to playing at designing your dream home. Some apps are all about fixing up ‘grandma’s house’ while others let you pretend you’re an architect or interior designer. These apps are all geared to our desire to live in spaces that speak to us. Whether we want stimulation or tranquility, each of us wants our home to be a reflection of our wants and needs. This extends into real life and causes many of us to spend hours on the internet perusing design blogs or searching through custom home builder pictures. What inspires you?
Do-It-Yourself
If you’ve ever watched a show or flipped through a magazine on home improvement, you may be aware of some fashion fad aimed at your home. Some of these fads come and go – think the avocado-hued appliances of the 1970s. Some, like hardwood flooring, tend to stick around. Others raise and fall only to come back into popularity when used differently, like utilizing neutrals in your palates.
Some of us want to incorporate a fresh look into our homes without buying into a fad that may have limited staying power. It’s tough sometimes to maintain a timeless look while injecting a bit of novelty into our living spaces. If you’re not sure how much you’d like to commit to a new style, start with accessories. Much easier to change out than wall coverings, paint, or furniture, accessories like pillows, curtains, and knick-knacks can bring an innovative appearance to your chosen room without a significant monetary investment. If you like it, you can always go bigger later.
Interior Professionals
Once you’ve dipped your toe in the waters of changing up your look, you may decide you’d like to commit to it even further. Now is the time you want to consider bringing in some professional guidance. It’s easy to fall down a Pinterest rabbit hole looking at pictures of spaces that inspire you. To reconcile your ideas into something that both fits your budget and reflects you rather than just imitating what you’ve seen others do, you may want to hire an interior decorator or designer.
Interior decorators use the existing architecture and layout of your home for breathing new life into your rooms. They’ll use wall coverings, paint, new rugs, furniture, and decorations to re-do and probably re-arrange your room or rooms to fit best the way you live. Interior designers take it one step further because they’re capable of reading the blueprints of your home. By doing that, they can suggest and coordinate further renovations that include altering the existing hard-wired lighting or moving non-load bearing walls.
The Ground Up
If your dream is a custom-built home, you’ll need to find a good contractor with whom to work. Many contracting companies have exterior and interior specialists on staff to help you get the look and feel you want with all the safety and technology elements you need.
You can achieve the look you want for your home regardless of how large or small your project is.
