The perfect home would be a seamless blend of beautiful interior design and flawless function. Imagine how easy life would be if your surroundings were not only aesthetically pleasing but also cleverly practical. Your home is where you spend most of your time – even if that’s just sleeping – so it’s important to pay it the proper attention. Finding the balance can be tricky, especially on a strict budget. Here are some useful tips to keep in mind when figuring out the best way to keep your home stylish yet efficient.
One: Don’t Be Afraid to Be Picky
It should apply to almost everything you spend money or time on that being picky is a good starting point. The feeling of wasting money and having to spend more to correct any initial mistakes is hugely unpleasant. To avoid getting caught out, make sure to nurture a level of choosiness when deciding on each aspect of your home. Create a list of priorities that range from ‘would be nice but aren’t essential’ to ‘utterly immutable’. For example, the roof of your home is what protects you from the elements. Don’t risk your health and physical wellbeing – as well as the integrity of your house – by ignoring the importance of being picky. Find a trustworthy roofing company and don’t disappoint your future self.
Two: But Learn to Compromise
Being picky doesn’t mean being inflexible. Refer back to your list of priorities – do you really need the most high-tech secure front door when you live in the middle of the countryside? Or can you compromise and choose something with a little bit more style? Define your wants and needs so that the parts of your home you can afford to dress up are not made too basic or overly functional. The whole point of having a fire pit in the garden is for entertainment purposes, so let it be attractive as well as safe. Your stairway should have a banister to keep people from falling, but that doesn’t mean the banister can’t be a small work of art. Similarly, a smoke alarm doesn’t need to be gorgeous, and a handmade rug can serve a purpose in the room with the coldest flooring. Your home doesn’t need to be a smoothly running machine with frictionless surfaces for optimum efficiency. Then again, it doesn’t have to be a crowded storage unit for all your pretty yet useless ornaments. Find a compromise to strike a balance.
Three: See Purpose as Style
With such a wealth of art and design history to refer to, choice is abundant, and so many directions you can take when designing your home. The beauty of old brick fireplaces lies in their intricate yet purposeful design. Have a look at exposed copper pies or concrete kitchen worktops to see just how attractive your home can be without pushing too hard for a certain aesthetic. Learn to appreciate the beauty in practicality, and soon you’ll be seeing style everywhere you look.
