Rethink Your Space: How to Love Where You Live Now

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Rethink Your Space: How to Love Where You Live Now
Visual Weight 101: How to Balance Any Room
Here are Our 5 Favorite Looks from the New Pottery Barn Lilly Pulitzer Collection
Pocket Neighborhoods: Why Small Developments are The Next Big Thing

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Feeling a little envious after that HGTV marathon? Wishing your home was different after checking out your friend's new digs? It happens to the best of us. The caveat to paging through idea books online or binge-watching home shows is that it can make your space feel less than. The truth is that no home is perfect. Chances are the homeowners living in your so-called dream home wish they could make some changes, too.

The thing is, you don't need to renovate or rebuild your dream home. By rethinking the way you use your space, you can love your place now. Your home's pain points might actually be solved with clever organization and thinking outside the box.

Rethink your space and you won't have to wish your home away. Your dream home might be right underneath your nose — or at least under that old area rug. Here are a few ways to rethink your space and fall in love with your home all over again.

Edit your stuff

Displaying your stuff in a thoughtful way helps you love your space. Image: Beyond Time/Shutterstock

What feels like a cramped living situation might just be a case of too much stuff. Taking the time to edit your stuff can free up square footage and help you better streamline the rest of your home. Feeling overwhelmed? Start with the most doable space: your linen closet. Crack it open, dejunk it and assess how you use it. Is it really best utilized for pillowcases or could it serve a better purpose? What is now an underutilized linen closet could make a great pantry or craft space instead.

Once you've tackled that, move onto bigger and better things. Get rid of the stuff you don't use and keep the things that serve a true purpose. Stuff that is outdated, useless or in the way? Pass it on to someone who can give it some love.

Repurpose your rooms

Repurpose rooms for the way you live. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

You might not hate your home's layout; maybe you just hate the way your home is being used. Just because typical homes have a formal dining room doesn't mean that's how you have to use it. If you're only using your dining room for two big dinners a year, yet your kids' toys are all over the house, is your home really being utilized properly?

Think beyond the usual in how you purpose your rooms. A dining room might make more sense as a study. An unused craft room could be a great laundry space. That empty guest room? It could be better utilized as a playroom.

Stop thinking resale

Open concept rustic living room and kitchen

Don’t worry about resale value if you’re sticking around. Image: Breadmaker/Shutterstock

Resale value is definitely important, especially if you see your home as an investment. If you know you'll be staying in your home for the long haul, however, it's okay to stop making decisions based on resale value. Another homeowner might not love changes you make, but if it works for you and your family, do what makes sense. If you do decide to sell your home down the road, chances are you can reverse the changes or stage rooms differently. Trying to please everyone when you're the one living in your home can make you crazy. Style, rethink, design and organize your home for the way you live today.

Carve the space

Create zones for an open layout home. Image: Breadmaker/Shutterstock

Open concept homes are the biggest thing in home design, but they can make some things a challenge. Trying to entice a teen to finish homework in a noisy kitchen or trying to watch the game with a busy toddler can make open concept layouts feel hectic. If you feel like you have too many rooms doing too many things, try carving up the space.

Using things like bookshelves, furniture and even screens can help you divide up space in a non-permanent way. Then, you can assess and rearrange as needed to make sure your home is a place you love. A dedicated television watching space, a clear delineation between kitchen and living rooms — these small changes can help you relieve some of those pain points in a less-than-ideal layout.

Utilize every nook

Use up every inch of your home. Image: mavo/Shutterstock

Lusting after laundry rooms and romanticizing a reading nook in other homes can make your space feel like it's all work and no play. What makes custom and luxury homes feel special aren't always the main living spaces, but the little extras. By having room for specific activities, custom homes give families the most customized vibe.

But you don't need to start demolition to get the spaces you want. Just rethink your nooks and crannies. You can have dedicated — albeit small — custom spaces in almost any home. That walk-in closet can become a crafter's paradise. A mudroom can become your kids' command center. Even a stair landing can become a comfortable reading nook with a chair and lamp. You might not be able to dedicate entire spaces to your family's hobbies and lifestyle, but odds are you can find corners and crannies that work just as well.

Sure, watch your favorite home show for inspiration, but don't let it get you down. You might dream of a two-story fireplace and shiplap everything in your future home, but you can still love where you live today. Rethink your space, get creative and add touches that make your house perfect for you and your family and you'll gain a greater appreciation for the home you've made.

The post Rethink Your Space: How to Love Where You Live Now appeared first on Freshome.com.

Visual Weight 101: How to Balance Any Room

Posted: 20 Mar 2019 02:00 PM PDT

Why does this room feel so balanced? The visually heavy concrete wall is balanced by airy chairs and lightweight, interestingly arranged art. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Think about the spaces you love. Whether’s it a room in your own home or apartment, or something you fawned over on Pinterest, the room probably has a sense of balance. When your eye scans it, you can follow a natural flow. You pick out pieces that are anchoring the space and others that give it a feeling of openness.

Now think about spaces you hate, like the waiting room at the doctor’s office or the DMV. Sure, the poor lighting and stark decor don’t do these spaces any favors. But they also feel heavy and, put simply, blah.

You want to create a space that wows and isn’t at all reminiscent of the DMV. Fortunately, visual weight can help. Let’s take a look at this interior design tool.

When you want to open up a space, choose visually lightweight pieces, like those elevated on slender legs. Image: ParvinMaharramov/Shutterstock

What is visual weight, exactly?

Visual weight relates to the way an object attracts and interacts with our eye. In short, visual weight is how much your eye thinks a piece weighs. In most cases, this is pretty well tied to its actual weight. Solid wood items look visually heavy and are, in fact, heavy themselves. But visual weight and actual weight don’t always go hand in hand. Take, for example, a couch. If you put it on low, block legs or no legs at all, it will look very visually heavy. If, however, you mount it on taller hairpin legs, you can significantly reduce its visual weight.

This is a big part of why furniture is so important in a room. As some of the largest – if not the largest – pieces in a room, furniture is going to define the visual weight of the space. Too many sturdy, heavy pieces will make the room feel weighed down. Too many lightweight pieces that allow the eye through (like pieces in acrylic or with thin wire framing) and can make the space feel unestablished.

What gives an item its visual weight?

You might be wondering how to determine the visual weight of an item. Here are a few factors that affect visual weight:

Size: The larger an item is, the more visually heavy it will appear.
Shape: Shapes we’re used to, like squares and rectangles, usually appear heavier than irregular shapes with curves or unexpected angles.
Proximity: A large, heavy-looking item can be made to appear lighter by surrounding it with other objects. When standing alone, its visual weight will be more apparent.
Color: Lighter items generally appear less heavy than darker ones of the same size and shape.
Texture/Depth: Texture that adds a lot of shadow can make an object seem visually heavier. Similarly, items with more depth look heavier. For example, a deep bookshelf will carry more visual weight than a shallow one of the same size and shape.
Grounding: Items that are close to the ground appear heavier than those that are elevated and allow some light underneath them, like furniture on legs.

The heavy visual weight of the black cabinet is balanced by dining chairs on slender legs and a table in light-colored wood. Image: Iphann/Twenty20

Why is visual weight important?

We’re not just teaching you about visual weight so you can impress your friends at your next dinner party. Visual weight is key because it’s a huge part of achieving visual balance. Let’s go back to the rooms you thought about earlier, some you loved and some you hated. A big part of the reason we hate waiting rooms is because they’re filled with low, stocky chairs. There is usually very little to balance out that room (kudos to the people who at least put a potted plant in the corner). The result is a space that feels heavy and tired, where spending time makes you feel heavy and tired.

Now think about the rooms you love. They most likely have a good balance of visually heavy and visually light pieces, with plenty of space to let the eye travel between them. Interior designers think about visual weight when putting rooms together so the eye can scan the space comfortably, easily finding anchor pieces while getting relief from items with less visual weight.

In a wide, low room, the sizable lighting fixture, couch and fireplace serve as visual anchors. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

How do I use visual weight in my interior design?

As with so much of interior design, using visual weight to your advantage is all about finding balance. Basically, being aware of an individual object’s perceived weight can help you steer clear of issues like stocking a room with too much heavy furniture, making it feel cramped or forgetting to add a visual anchor.

When adding pieces to your room or rearranging the space, take into account the visual weight. Imagine your room is on a fulcrum. You don’t want to crowd all your visually heavy items to one side. Distribute them throughout the room and break them up with visually light items and open space. Balancing your room is the key to creating a space with good design. If you’d like to take a deeper dive into this concept, check out our article on how best to achieve balance in interior design.

Even if you’ve never heard the term “visual weight” before today, you probably already had a sense that it was important. Did this guide help you? Will you make any changes to your home now that you’ve learned more? Let us know in the comments!

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Here are Our 5 Favorite Looks from the New Pottery Barn Lilly Pulitzer Collection

Posted: 20 Mar 2019 10:00 AM PDT

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Pottery Barn is bringing you an early summer by launching their Lilly Pulitzer collab across all their brands: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen.

The Lilly Pulitzer brand celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and the new collection of bedding, textiles and home accents for Pottery Barn is sure to bring Palm Beach-chic to your home. Lilly was known to say, “It's always summer somewhere.” Here are five of our favorite looks:

Orchid Hampton

The Orchid Hampton collection features aqua and fuschia tones with layered prints and patterns. All images courtesy of Pottery Barn.

Shop the look:

Alotta Colada

The Alotta Colada bathroom collection adds Palm Springs whimsy to any bathroom.

Shop the look:

Poolside Paradise

Freshen up your outdoor furniture with some fun and vibrant textiles from the Lilly of the Jungle Indio Outdoor Lounge collection.

Shop the look:

Jungle Bedroom

Turn your bedroom into a resort hotel experience with the Jungle Lilly Bedroom collection.

Shop the look:

Seaside Safari

Elephants and turtles are part of the Seaside Safari collection.

Shop the look:

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Pocket Neighborhoods: Why Small Developments are The Next Big Thing

Posted: 20 Mar 2019 04:00 AM PDT

It was writer Howard E. Koch who mused, “You can be a good neighbor only if you have good neighbors.” Of course, you don’t get to choose the people who live around you. Still, a new type of development can help limit the chances of living next to a dud. Pocket neighborhoods are small developments of 12 houses or fewer that are specifically designed to encourage neighborly interaction. By structuring the development around common areas and purposefully keeping homes on the small side, these little neighborhoods can have big benefits. Before you consider whether or not a pocket neighborhood is right for you, get to know the next big idea in small developments.

Pocket neighborhoods offer shared amenities. Image: Konstantin L/Shutterstock

The Basics

The idea of these smaller neighborhoods was actually the brainchild of renowned architect Ross Chapin. His idea was to create smaller patches of housing that encouraged neighbors to interact with one another. And, since he hailed from California, it makes sense that he would crave less populated areas where neighbors had more day-to-day dealings. The idea caught on; today, there are hundreds of pocket neighborhoods all over the country.

The idea behind a pocket neighborhood is to create a central meeting place or shared space that encourages the neighbors to socialize. That’s also the idea behind the magic number of homes: 12. Chapin suggested that it was the ideal number of homes for a smaller neighborhood. By limiting the homes, it’s easier for neighbors to get to know one another on a personal level. It’s interesting to note, however, that several pocket developments can be linked together in one larger development. Each neighborhood would still be limited to 12 homes and still center around a shared space.

Gardens and walkways create a sense of community. Image: Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock

Why Cities Love Them

Larger cities love the idea of pocket neighborhoods for a few specific reasons. First, they can really use up forgotten space between commercial and residential areas. Second, they’re typically well-kept and can increase property values in and around the development. They may even be used to split too-large lots that are a hard sell for a homeowner or developer. While pocket neighborhoods might not be subject to the same covenants and restrictions as typical housing, they’re usually designed by a competent architect who knows how to make neighborhoods desirable.

Pocket neighborhoods are also a great alternative to other types of multi-family housing. Rather than apartments or townhouses, they offer the privacy of a single-family home with the amenities of a townhome or apartment development. Single-family homes are nearly always a better investment for cities — and homeowners, for that matter.

Homeowners love the amenities without the upkeep. Image: Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock

Why Homeowners Love Them

Homeowners really reap the benefits of pocket neighborhoods. The amenities designed to bring neighbors together are often those they might not be able to afford in a single-family situation. Think clubhouses with a pool, gazebos and parks, shared garages or storage units and, in some cases, even guest housing. It’s a great option for families that need amenities but might not require full-sized ones or the use of them year-round. Usually, a homeowner’s association takes on the care and upkeep of amenities, freeing up time and money.

Of course, there’s something to be said about the neighborly aspect of pocket neighborhoods. Sharing amenities creates a natural excuse to get out and get to know the people who live around you. If you’re missing that in your current home or neighborhood, this might be an option you’ll love. What’s more, you’ll score interesting architecture and a desirable location that doesn’t cost as much as single-family housing. Both the smaller sizes of the home and the shared spaces keep prices much lower than traditional development methods.

Pocket neighborhoods are just the latest in thinking outside the box when it comes to architecture. With urban sprawl making its way through the country, more and more families are looking for alternatives to expensive zip codes and large, pricey homes. The neighborly aspect of a pocket development is just the cherry on top. Just like Koch says, these developments can make for good neighbors.

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