Feeling at home is a sensation where your specific style and lifestyle is in complete harmony with your surroundings. When it doesn’t meet your needs, the only way to feel at home is to adapt it to your own requirements.
There are a number of reasons why the harmony in your home can be upset. Life can become more dynamic, the work process becomes an integral part of the functions of the home, several generations living under the same roof and no matter what you do, you can’t tear your child away from the computer. Each of these problems has its own solution, and only an experienced interior designer can offer you the most appropriate approach to deal with your specific problems.
A number of common problems can be solved by changing the interior design
For a number of people to coexist in one home, the rooms have to be allocated in such a way as to enable all members of the household to make full use of the accommodation. By designing a specific play area in the nursery, you can give your child the opportunity to discover a multitude of entertainments unrelated to the computer.
In recent years, homes have acquired a new function: many have been turned into offices. A new term has been become part of our lives: “home office”, something which combines both home and work in one. Today almost every job can be done from home, giving the home office the idea of serious potential and future development. How can we provide a pleasant, cosy and peaceful place to carry out our work activities?
The solutions to these and many more problems of your daily life lie in good interior design. Some homes may already possess the conditions for this, but in others it may be necessary to reconstruct a special work area. The interior designer will work with you to make your dreams come true, and help you obtain the space you need to live in harmony with your needs and preferences.
Here’s how this happens step by step.
Achieve your dreams in 5 steps with interior design
Interior design has its rules and different stages to support and facilitate the client’s path to achieving the dream home.
What do we have to do to make our dreams come true? What goals should we set ourselves and what are the decision-making stages?
The first and most important step in any interior design project is proper research. This research needs to focus not only on your needs and preferences, but also on whether your home is suited to meet them. In some cases serious changes might have to be made. This can require preliminary consultation with specialists, if you need to undertake reconstruction connected with modification of structural elements.
The second step in the design of the dream home is functional distribution. A range of possibilities needs to be explored, guidelines drawn up and changes made, if necessary. Then the functional zones and the distribution of the individual groups of furniture need to be defined.
This second stage includes a technical part. You will be presented with several options for the distribution of rooms and zones in the apartment and you can choose which option will be best for you.
The next stage is to prepare a conceptual design and 3D visualizations. In this way the interior designer can show you what your dream home will look like and what you can expect.
The fourth stage is the working project which includes refurbishment and construction activities. This includes the various technical drawings (electrical installation, lighting, plumbing, plasterboard structures, flooring, furniture and other details).
The fifth stage is the preparation of price quotes which include a list of materials and options. You can decide whether to work with the contractor’s design team, or you can choose your own team.
If you decide to choose your own team, bear in mind that the contractors are specialists in their own field and by accepting any of their proposals for changes, you run the risk of changing the initial design vision.
This last step in organizing the refurbishment works, material supplies and their quality, and supervision, falls within the obligations of the designer, but only if previously agreed and paid for additionally.
All this is prepared according to a timetable and a specific plan with objectives and deadlines.
The quote depends not only on the complexity of the project. In order to obtain a suitable quote, you have to establish what budget can afford and based on that, to then draw up and indicate the optimal options. The maxim of “cheap is always the most expensive” applies in full force to interior design as well. However, when it comes to a long-lasting investment in your home, compromises with quality should not be made.
Sustainable design in the home
The Danes have their own word for cosiness: they call it ‘hyuga’. For them, this is an entire philosophy that the environment determines the quality of life and contributes to personal happiness. Scandinavian countries are number one when it comes to interior design. Even the term “Scandinavian style” is widespread and clearly established in clients’ minds. It is characterized by compactness, functionality, simple design, but also by its distinctive natural materials. Natural motifs refresh the home and bring harmony. They contribute to maintaining a given line and direction in design. In this way, a distinctive style is built.
Recently, there has been a growing interest in returning to nature. The future lies precisely in sustainable design.
In order to ensure the durability of changes introduced by the interior design and to prevent future problems, it is imperative that you pay attention to the safety of your home. In order to breathe life back into old buildings, you sometimes have to replace old plumbing and electrical installations, to repair the roof, replace floor and wall coverings, in order to ensure that the efforts and resources you put into your home are not in vain.
An interior designer can make it incredibly easy to find the right approach to achieving lasting harmony in your home. Depending on your different needs, the designer can be an artist and designer, but also help to bring your project to a successful conclusion and guarantee your satisfaction. At each stage of the work, the designer will listen to you and help you formulate your needs and wishes with ideas and suggestions. They will be by your side to help you make the difficult decisions in the best way, while leaving the freedom of choice to you.