How to paint with the Pantone colour of 2017. Fifteen design trends that are totally over in 2017.
Twenty ways to update your home this next weekend. Enough! The lists and must have or must don’t lists are overwhelming and with one click of a mouse you can have 1,458 must haves for this year and they will probably all contradict each other.
One designer will say brass is making a comeback while the next guru swears it is on the outs and to only have dark metallic in your home.
It’s kind of like trying to diagnose yourself online; search headache and sneezing and you get a terminal verdict.
Interior design should always be about common sense; it should revolve around what works for your family and what accommodates how you live in your home.
Should a family with five children and a three ft. great dane (who likes to lick surfaces) invest in a snow white kitchen? Probably not, and I don’t care how trendy or MUST HAVE white kitchens are at any given moment – this family would be miserable trying to keep them clean.
If small scale, minimalist furniture is on fleek yet you have a large family who likes to watch movies and eat popcorn then you need to thumb your nose at trend and buy that big sofa that you can all snuggle up in.
Do you have a formal or casual lifestyle?
Do you host the rare social gathering known as the dinner party or do you tail gate grilled sausages and chips for your friends?
Home needs to reflect your most enjoyed activities and the backdrop to your life. Spend the money where you spend the time and focus that energy on making those spaces amazing.
Your fulfillment and joy will be ten-fold if you invest in a beautiful patio set to barbecue on all summer long rather than putting new hardwood in a room you never visit.
Figure out the broad strokes of your life; hard vs. soft, formal vs. casual, bold vs. refined.
Use these terms to help you decide what your home will represent and what it will say to the world. I have seen homes which need various décor upgrades yet the clients spend $15 thousand on an outdoor hot tub and you know what? The enjoyment and use they get out of that purchase is beyond value and pays for itself in satisfaction every single day.
This is common sense and good use of design budget in my eyes.
Life is fleeting, the moments with our families are brief and we have so many missed opportunities as we fret over the details.
Open up, allow life to get in and to make a mess from time to time. To have time in your big, comfy loud or quiet, small and conservative home is a gift and we worry far too much about being on trend and on point when it comes to our homes.
Curl up on the sofa and throw a few pizza boxes on the floor, I bet you’ll never see that on a top ten trend list!
Kim Wyse is a Central Alberta freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Realtor/Ask a Designer’.
