Function

Conventional wisdom tells you always ask the question, “What is the function of this room?” This is the first best question to ask when starting a design project.

Knowing how you want to live in a particular room in your home is a really helpful place to start when you are working to redesign a room to be great. While many rooms in smaller homes are multi-functional, it is especially important in 2021 to have a design for each room to offer practicality and to be able to utilize the room on a daily basis.

Because individual rooms have become much more important while we spent more time at home getting through the pandemic, I have worked much more this year with homeowners to make their individual rooms in their homes more spacious and purposeful.

To begin, be sure to rid yourself of anything that doesn’t belong in the room. If you are considering adding a new paint color to the room, think about light, naturally found shades of white and tan. Of course consider the colors of any upholstered furniture to be certain that there is an aesthetically pleasing color palette for the room with the paint colors you choose. Choosing a light color typically makes a room look larger.

If you can add any mirrors on the walls, the mirrors should always be placed across from the windows to reflect the outdoors. Mirrors that are framed like windows offer a great dynamic by adding architectural elements. Adding sheer curtains over the window area and hanging them at the top of the wall near the ceiling will amplify space within the room.

As you prepare to place furniture, try to keep furniture from being right next to the wall. Keeping furniture even a few inches from a wall can help keep corners clear and open. No one wants their furniture to look like it’s been stuffed into the room.

If there is going to be a TV in the room, be certain to hang it on the wall. Having the television on the wall gives instant floor room. Be sure that there is some floor space that can be viewed.

Leaving some spaces clear on tables or shelves will also give an added feeling of more space. Items  chosen to be in a room should be cohesive with the function of the room and tell its story. Décor should give an inviting feeling and encourage those in the home to come into the room and enjoy the space. Oftentimes clients have a lot of ideas and visions in their heads of what they want. It’s the design’s responsibility whether a designer creates it or the home owner creates the design to make it all cohesive. That is the essence of design. Be sure to follow the design and let the design own any feelings you are having that bring uncertainty.

Any room designed will have to work with the rest of the house, but an individual room does not have to match the rest of the house like the pieces that pull a particular room together.

Choosing the right pieces to match the function of a room is an important part of accomplishing the goal of making a room into a great space. Placement of the furniture and hanging things on the wall so that space is not empty brings character to the space and builds function to a room.

Each room within a house adds to the joy of enjoying a home for the way it is meant to be lived.

Whether you are readying your home to sell or just making it more enjoyable to live, it’s a good start to start with one room at a time. Joy can be felt in a home well-lived. We all want that.

Call me at 360.635.1121 or email DianneMorrisHomes@gmail.com to learn more about how to stage your home to list.