Decorating Your Designer Home

Back in the day, having a customized home built was an option that was usually reserved for the wealthy. When it came to everyone else, you bought a “used” home and made do with it. But times have changed in a big way when it comes to contemporary home builders. Now, buyers have more options concerning the layout of the house itself, accessories, and even landscaping.

Today’s home buyers, from the ground up, can personalize their home to a degree that was almost unthinkable 40 years ago. But after you make a decision on the physical layout of your new home, along with all of the necessary accessories, you’ve got to design the place. But for some of us, design is easier said than done, and it can be tough to know where to start.

Keep reading for a few design tips to inspire you, then get ready to follow your bliss!

• If you’re working with a smaller space, a great way to “enlarge” the area is a circular rug. A rectangular rug emphasizes walls and can make a small space feel even smaller, but a round rug will increase your perception of unending space within the room. Circles also represent the concept of no boundaries, and it can bring this idea to dramatic life. You can emphasize it even more by adding a round table or ottoman to the middle of the rug.
• For multi-story homes, the walls next to enclosed staircases are frequently a missed opportunity. Instead of a wall running ceiling to floor, why not open the area up? It can become an open space to display art, or you can install shelving for books or knickknacks.
• If your new home has a sunroom, first and foremost, don’t block that sunshine with curtains. For a room with windows bordering two or three sides, it’s important not to obscure the views. To emphasize it, sunshine yellow is a color that will accent the room perfectly. Adding lots of glass will heighten the drama, just watch the light sparkle and refract in random and amazing patterns!
• Chandeliers can be a little tricky from a design standpoint since they’re often hanging in the middle of a room with no reference points to use to gauge for size. So what’s the right size chandelier for you? First, measure the width of your room in feet. Take that number, double it, and then convert it to inches. The number you get is the minimum measurement of your chandelier’s diameter. Remember that, while an oversized chandelier can be fun, one that’s too small will just be weird looking. Finally, be sure not to hang it too low, since you’ll want to actually make eye contact with your guests.
• One accent that’s sure to get people’s attention is to decorate with maps. Older maps were designed with both a degree of accuracy and an eye towards artistry, and sepia tones or hand colored designs can become an eye-catching centerpiece for the room. You can choose maps of the area you lived in, other areas to bring back memories, or legendary urban areas like London, Rome, or Paris to add a dash of class to the space.