How To Update An Older Home

Older homes bring a lot of character and history and can be both fun and challenging to decorate. It’s quite different designing an older home as opposed to its newer counterpart. You have to keep into account certain permanent architectural and design elements that were integrated into the space many years ago.

The first step to your design project is to take inventory of all your furniture, accessories and current colour scheme. Take a good hard look at your pieces and see if they have a common colour scheme and/or design style among them. The pieces that do not follow the main colour scheme should be set aside for storage or donation to family and friends. This is a great way to take an objective approach to decluttering your space. If you look at your emotional attachment to each object, you won’t be able to prioritize the accessories.

Once you have a common colour scheme, stick to it in the design of the entire space. Choose a neutral colour for your walls which translates nicely with the colours found in your colour scheme. Neutral colours can be anything from shades of white, brown or gray.

Once your wall colour is chosen, you can then select fabric for your furniture reupholstering project. I would suggest using a solid or subtle fabric pattern on the sectional. You may select a vibrant patterned fabric for your accent pillows to add a little flair to your design. This way, you will be able to change the look of your sectional as the trends evolve simply by replacing your accent pillows.

Once you have your fabric and colour scheme set in place, you will want to look at the room’s layout. Homeowners have a tendency to overlook the layout and flow of a room and concentrate only on the esthetics of the space. In order to have a successful design, your space must be functional. If you place a chair in front of a door and your family members trip over that chair as they are entering your living room, then your design is not functional!

To create function in your space, find the focal point. Your furniture should revolve in conversation areas around your focal point. Create a scaled drawing of your space using graph paper and explore your different furniture layout options.

There are many different options when it comes to designing a space. The key is to design a space that is not only esthetically pleasing but also functional.