There’s a lot to think about when you start a home renovation or extension. While you want to have a space that is functional, there is a lot to consider when it comes to the overall design. One benefit of carrying out a renovation or extension is that you can put your personal touch on an outdated interior, but making sure your home doesn’t look like every other home in the neighbourhood or is filled with trends that will date in a few years can present some challenges.
By thinking outside the box and working with a designer that understands all aspects of creative home design, you can end up with a brand-new look that shows individuality and adds value to your home.
Creative Home Design Trends that Won’t Date
Trends come and go, and it can be hard to keep up with what is ‘in fashion’ at the moment. Opting for design features that won’t date quickly will bring you many years of satisfaction as well as help to retain the value of your home.
Creative Staircases
An essential part of multi-storey homes, staircases can be designed in such a way that adds an impressive feature, while also being functional in more ways than one. When space is at a premium, or if you are renovating to add a second storey to your home, spiral staircases with wooden steps and metal railings blend well into more traditional décor with a modern touch. More suited to homes without young children, floating staircases bring a minimalistic look and are relatively inexpensive. If you are needing more storage space, your staircase can be designed with cupboards or cubby holders.
Architectural Glass
When adding room extensions or renovating existing rooms, consider incorporating more glass into the exterior walls. Not only does glass give the illusion of a larger space, but it brings more natural light and warmth from the sun. If the idea of floor to ceiling clear glass is not appealing due to the lack of privacy, there are different types of architectural glass that can be used as a feature such as tinted glass or frosted glass blocks.
Eco Friendly Materials
With sustainability now becoming a key focus in many modern homes, the use of eco friendly materials not only reduces your impact on the environment, but can sometimes be more cost-effective than purchasing non-sustainable alternatives.
Everything from your cladding to insulation to bespoke furniture can be sourced responsibly. While your initial thought may be that it will be difficult to get all environmentally friendly materials, the key here is balancing conscious decisions with budget and aesthetics. Using different materials brings a unique flavour to your creative home design and can offer a talking point for visitors, along with many other benefits.
Open Plan Living
Once upon a time, it was common to see separate kitchens, dining rooms and lounge areas. This trend has shifted, and it appears the shift is one that is here to stay. Open-plan living areas that combine cooking, eating and relaxing allow families to spend time together while doing different activities and facilitates better lines of communication. Integrating the living areas provides the illusion of more space and brings the benefit of more natural light and airflow.
Make Use of Your Garden Space
While it makes sense to want to add additional floor space on to your existing floor plan, this may not always be logistically possible. If you have a large garden or lawn area that is not being used, consider adding an extra standalone room. With working from home or running a remote business becoming more and more common, a garden office gives a sense of ‘going to work’ by separating the work and living areas. It also offers privacy and quiet away from the family and can be designed with its own ensuite and kitchenette.
An outdoor room can also be used as a bedroom for teenagers who want to gain their independence, an artist studio, or a place for the budding musicians in the family to practice their instruments without distracting others.
If you like to entertain guests but don’t have the living space to do so, a garden room can be set up as a comfy space to relax and unwind with friends.
Designing with Future Updates in Mind
Whichever room or rooms you are renovating, you’ll probably be thinking about what you want and what will look good right now, but you may also be wondering if you will be happy with your choice in five or ten years’ time. While renovations can be an involved process, you can look at there being three levels of features – permanent, non-permanent and easily changed – with the latter two being items that can be updated in the future.
- Permanent features are things like cabinets, windows, doors and flooring – these serve as the base of your renovation and take the most amount of work and resources to change.
- Non-permanent features are items like furniture, lighting fixtures, curtains and door handles. These features can be updated without needing to do a full renovation and may require just a few hours of work.
- Easily changed features include your décor items such as wall art, mirrors, cushions and ornaments.
To make sure that your renovations don’t date over time, you can choose an evergreen design and colour scheme for your permanent features that will be easily adaptable. Changing the non-permanent and easily changed features from one design theme to another can be done with relatively low cost and minimal workmanship. Not only does this allow you to update your overall look when you feel that it’s time for a change, but you can also make changes that are more appealing to potential buyers when it comes time to sell.
Give Us a Call
At Bayside Extensions, we love coming up with creative home designs. If you are ready to get started on your home renovation or extension, call us on 03 9596 0368.
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