Manage 4 Inner Design Errors I Made—And How I Fastened Them
It’s crispy to imagine that it’s been 13 years since we constructed our house in Austin. I’ve discovered such a lot via designing those rooms and permitting them to be my canvas for creativity and discovery—and the home has developed proper together with me. Adam and I shaggy dog story that the modest we predict that the entirety’s in spite of everything “done,” we understand some unutilized nook of the home that wishes an replace or smart refresh.
And actually, I wouldn’t have it any alternative means. For me, the most productive types of properties are ever-evolving, and via crafting a home that displays what’s significant to each and every people, we will be able to form a playground that empowers us to reside extra authentically, joyfully, and carefree. It doesn’t occur all of sudden—designing a house that we really love takes life.
Just lately I used to be having a look again at some impaired footage of the home from after we first moved in, and let’s simply say… it’s come far.
So, clutch a drink, get comfortable and keep tabs on the video underneath as I relive probably the most largest design “mistakes” I’ve made to life. And, the entire design courses that I’ve discovered to form our house what it’s nowadays.
Design mistake: Putting in too many built-ins
Once we labored with our architect to design our space, we determined so as to add integrated cabinets and cabinetry right through the places of work, front room, and kitchen. It used to be splendid for storehouse—however no longer so splendid for adapting and rearranging a room over life. Constructed-ins are good-looking everlasting, and no longer just about as simple to modify up as furnishings. A decade next, my tastes had modified and there have been sure built-ins that made the areas really feel too closed off and large. I sought after to discoverable issues up and provides a mini extra spaciousness to the rooms.
The medication: Take away built-ins and include a more practical aesthetic
In my home office, we demoed the built-ins and changed them with a easy desktop that maximizes the range and lets in me to restyle it with other furnishings and equipment as my style evolves. It additionally maximizes the sunny, and creates a way of spaciousness and ease that feels extra aligned with the place my taste is nowadays.
Design mistake: Designing the kitchen without any windows
This is probably my biggest design regret, since I spend so much time in the kitchen and it’s the one place in our house that doesn’t get a ton of natural light. To be fair, this design tweak would have meant reconfiguring the entire floor plan of the house. Our current kitchen doesn’t have any walls that connect to the exterior—but I wish that I’d prioritized a big kitchen window when we first started the process of designing our home.
The fix: Lighten things up with white plaster and less shelving
This “fix” illustrates that sometimes, it’s cost-prohibitive and/or unrealistic to really fix the issue, and you just have to go with the next best solution. Our homes will never be perfect in every way, and that’s totally okay. For this challenge, I brainstormed some affordable tweaks I could make to our kitchen that would let in as much light as possible.
First, we replaced our heavy stainless steel hood surround with a custom surround made of white plaster. It’s so much brighter and reflects any natural light coming into the space.
Then, we demoed some of the heavy dark wood shelving to open up the space and allow for more light to reach this back wall of the kitchen. We removed the top shelf and took out a panel of upper cabinetry. You can read more about our mini kitchen remodel here.
Design mistake: Putting a TV over the fireplace
When we built our house, we assumed we “had” to put a TV in the living room because… well, that’s what everyone else did! At the time, it was the only space in the house we’d designated for lounging, so it seemed like the obvious spot. However, this is also the area of the house that you see right when you walk in the front door, and our big flat-screen began to feel like an eyesore that drove my design eye crazy. I didn’t want a black box as the focal point in the main living area of our house.
Plus, in an effort to make the TV look more streamlined, we’d designed the wall with an inset alcove to house the TV and make it flush. But since it wasn’t sized perfectly for the TV we ended up buying, it ended up looking kind of awkward.
The fix: Throw out the “rules” and design your space how YOU want to live!
When I asked myself how I really wanted to use our living room, I realized that I wanted it to be a space to unwind, relax, feel inspired, and gather with friends and family. So, we redesigned the layout of the living room with the ones objectives in thoughts. We got rid of the TV and stuffed within the alcove, after plastered over it to compare the extra of the wall so lets hold a weighty piece of observation artwork.
Next, we transformed a little-used room with exercise apparatus into our people TV branch. It’s little and comfy—the very best spot for our people film nights.
Design mistake: Decorating too matchy-matchy
When I first started out in my design journey, I didn’t have as strong a sense of my own taste as I do now. And since I wasn’t as confident in my own design eye, I found myself following rules that I’d read about or see in other spaces. I thought that everything needed to be symmetrical, and that furniture in a room needed to match! The result was boring, predictable, and lacked any sort of real soul and character.
The fix: Infuse your home decor with a sense of play
Over time, I gained the confidence to play and have more fun with my decor. Adding texture, playing with asymmetrical compositions, going with what I liked instead of what felt so expected. Now my home feels more multilayered, textural, warm, interesting… and so much more me!
***
The biggest change to my home through the years? Instead of following trends, I start with deciding how I want to live and feel in each and every range. It’s helped me reprioritize the issues I buy, letting journey of the “rules” I as soon as adopted and in lieu hanging condolense and connection on the middle. Rather of simply some other Pinterest-worthy range, my bed room has turn into my sanctuary, the eating desk a playground for real-life connection. It’s a proceed that I do know will stock evolving, similar to me.
Leave feedback about this