Congratulations! You’ve decided to get started and design your dream home but before you start sketching ideas and think of hiring an interior designer there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. The first and most obvious questions are “How much are you willing to spend on this project?” and “What is your design style?” The answers to these two questions will decide a lot of things from the scope of your project to the type of interior designer you should work with. Next, ask yourself these five questions.
What are the Features you want to Change about the House you Currently Live in?
Before you begin sketching out your dream designs look around the house you currently live in and note down the features you like and dislike about the place. This will ensure that you do not overlook these points in the final design layout.
What is your Lifestyle?
The layout of a well designed house is dictated by the lifestyle of the people who live in it. For family that socializes a lot, a large living room with lots of seating is a basic necessity while for someone who works at home; a room that can function as a private office is needed. A newly married couple might want extra guest rooms for friends likely to stay overnight or if you like barbeques, you might want a lawn or terrace as part of your house.
What are the Important Rooms?
A bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room and dining room are must haves for every home but the sizes of these rooms vary according to the importance given to them. A kitchen that is used by members of the family to cook in is more likely to be large than a kitchen used only by a cook. Similarly, people who entertain a lot of guests at home might prefer to have a large formal living room as well as a smaller informal den while people who don’t entertain guests at home might choose to have a living room that also functions as a TV room.
Do you have any Specific Needs?
Some things like an extra light can be added on at any point of time but making a house wheelchair friendly is something that needs to be thought of at the very start. For families with toddlers, child friendly design in terms of flooring and furniture edges is very important. Other points to consider are hobbies that have special needs. Photographers might need a dark room within the house while wine connoisseurs might need a basement to store their collection.
How Much Time can you Invest to Maintain the Look of the House?
Every home looks beautiful when staged by an interior designer but maintaining the look takes a lot of personal effort and time. Curtains and soft furnishing that follows a pastel colour palette needs to be washed or drycleaned ore often than those that follow a darker colour scheme. Open storage looks good only when it is regularly dusted while cabinets and drawers afford you the luxury of quickly putting things out of sight. Also consider the help you are likely to have. You may love the feeling of walking on grass but if you don’t have a gardener you might be better off with a pebbled or tiled patio.
Once you have the answers t these questions it’s time to determine the style you envision your home to be in. Try our unique StyleFinder to get started.
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