During times of personal transition, our home environments are often radically disrupted and don’t feel or function as before. However, whether you are staying put or moving into a new space, the shiny silver lining is that they represent new beginnings.
As our lives change, our homes must change with us to nourish us emotionally and spiritually. They can provide a foundation for our lives and a personal connection between our past, present and support stepping into a future of new possibilities.
This blog post outlines a process that you can use when life transitions allow you to re-think your living space.
Time Out
Going through transitions encourage us to stop for a moment, take stock of our lives and resolve to make changes that will improve their outcome.
With this said, there is nothing more disheartening than investing time, energy and money in your home and ending up with something that is not at all what you wanted or expected. We must plan for our homes, as we do for our lives, so that they nurture our personal success.
Dream Big
Before starting to plan, allow yourself to play first. Create a vision of the big picture. Think of spaces that you have seen or visited that you have liked, a restaurant, hotel or your friend’s beautiful summer home. What elements spoke to you? Was it the color of the walls, the fabric on the sofa, the stone flooring or maybe it was the way the space flowed from one room to another. Think about how you may be able to incorporate some of these ideas into your own vision, literally or figuratively.
Following is our three-step plan to help simplify the process:
1. Assess and Prioritize
Understanding our personal needs and priorities is the first step toward moving forward. It is the key to maximizing the design and functionality of a living space by providing a solid foundation for successful decision-making
2. Get Up Close and Personal
To create a living space that looks, feels and functions the way that you envision, you must really get to know your physical space.
Become familiar with the proportions of the room, ceiling heights, architectural details, the available storage, the quality of the natural light, the focal points you want to highlight and the features you want to play down.
3. Weigh the Options
Our lifestyles and individual preferences create demands on our living space. Assessing your requirements and determining what is optional versus what is necessary and what adjustments you can make are key.
Once you have a clear sense of both your physical living space and your personal lifestyle requirements, the next step is to combine the two to create the foundation for a successful design.
The Silver Lining
Life transitions are an important time to reflect on our homes and their role in our lives. Our living environments are integral to our success and set the stage for almost every experience that we have. Not only do they effect how we feel and perform, they influence our relationships and the message they send about us to others
Whether your life is in transition or not, we hope that you will find some value in this process for yourself!
As always, if you need assistance, we are here to help! In addition to full-project design, we also offer design consultations, when you just need a few hours of support from a seasoned professional.