A WELL DESIGNED SPACE is life changing. Creating spaces in your home to support your wellness, your values, what you enjoy + your goals comes to life when you pair your essentials with your personal style/aesthetics. Curating spaces around how you actually live + want to live is truly the secret sauce.

Q: Why Does Design Feel Hard Sometimes?

Designing in your home is ever evolving and ever-changing. We cannot expect a room you designed 5 years ago to align perfectly with your life today. Tweaks must be made. This is normal and this should be expected. It doesn’t mean your designs weren’t good enough, it just means you’ve acknowledged that change is normal part of living in any home. Change is good. Change puts the wind back in your sails. Change can help you get out of ruts, habits you want to dissolve and live differently. Change helps you evolve your routines and create new spaces for you to enjoy and thrive in. Change pulls you out of your comfort zone and that’s how your life and home evolves. See my PORTFOLIO for interior design ideas you can test out in your own home.

Design Tips:

➜ OBSERVE - Slow down and assess your space. What’s working well, what’s not? Taking note of these things is the first step.

➜ EDIT - Any space, even ones that don’t need a lot of changes need editing from time to time. Remove anything in the space that is no longer used, loved, needed or would better serve your home in a different spot.

➜ DEFINE - Take some time to clarify what goals/vision you have for your space. Are you taking a busy, active space and wanting it to become a cozy, quiet reading area? Define exactly what is needed to make this space a reality for you. Write it down.

➜ SET UP ZONES - Create zones in your space based on what actions/activities you want to see there. Only allow things into each zone that support each action/activity and that will add joy/function to the space. Organize your essentials (your must have items) in each zone based on those actions/activities you want to do there.

➜ SHOP YOUR HOME - Before you run out to buy a thing, shop your home first. Move things around you already have. Pull things from different rooms in your home. Make swaps. Test things out. Think beyond how you’ve always used things. Give things a new purpose. I can guarantee you will find design solutions all over your home when you start to see your home with this new lens.

➜ LIVE WITH IT - Try out your changes for a while and live with them. Let them live through a fast-paced week, a lazy weekend, when you have people over. Then make tweaks as you go. Move things around. Try again. That’s where you’ll find your sweet spot with each space you create.

Design Myths To Be Aware Of:

➜ DESIGN IS EXPENSIVE - FALSE. Design solutions can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want them to be. You get to decide this. You are in the driver seat. Updating a space can be as simple as fresh flowers or herb you put in your favorite vessel from the garden, or swapping furniture/baskets/throw blankets out between rooms. When you need to invest in a certain piece of furniture, set money aside to get the best quality you can afford. Some of my best solid wood/mid century modern pieces have been found at estate sales for a fraction of what they’re worth and are of excellent quality. Creativity with where and how you spend your money will help your budget stretch. Also, not rushing into impulse buys will save you money every time!

➜ HIRING A DESIGNER IS OUT OF MY BUDGET - FALSE. It totally depends on your needs. Hiring an Interior Designer to run a construction job start to finish for a reno in your home will cost more money and will need to be factored into your overall renovation budget. But they can also save you a lot of money helping you make the right decisions for your life/space the first time. You can also higher a designer (like myself) for a one on one design consultation to help you create a plan for a space that you know isn’t quite right. Then you follow through with the plan with that quick bit of design coaching. This is often a more affordable way to get professional input in a short amount of time. You can check out my affordable design support options here: Mini Virtual Consult Service + Design E-Service

➜ I HAVE TO BUY THINGS TO IMPROVE MY ROOM DESIGN - FALSE. You could have a room full of beautiful things in a space and if they are not aligned with your goals/vision for the room of what you want to see happen then, the room will fall short. Often improving a room has nothing to do with buy things, it is about adjusting the space plan, removing/editing items that no longer belong or you’ve fallen out of love with, and refreshing the space with items your already own: swapping art, textiles, furniture, baskets/storage items, etc. can uplevel a space and breathe new life into space without spending a dime or by spending very little.

 
 

DESIGN GUIDES

 

digital / lifetime access / self-paced / simple steps

 
All Access Home Bundle
$79.00
Parents + Kids Guide To Decluttering
$35.00
Ask Me Anything | E-Service
$80.00

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