A sweet reader, Lynne, wrote in the other day and asked us this question:
…Anyway I love your spaces, and how they seem to flow. Every space you take on just looks right and your own renovation is amazing. I’m looking at spaces differently now because of you guys. They seem to flow really well and I think that is my biggest hang up with our own house. You are a big inspiration to me with my own ideas but I need help. I was wondering if you had any tips to share as far as what you would recommend on where to start… so I’d love to see how you handle flow in your spaces.”
Thank you so very much for your super kind words, Lynne! If any of you guys have been reading for a while, you know we say we don’t believe in the rules. It is your home, after all, and there is a great freedom that comes with embracing that theology. But we do apply specific elements over and over again when it comes to our approach for rehabs and design because there are reasons as to why they work.
Today we thought it would be fun to break it down. Make it flow: getting the most out of your home.
First things first: Let’s talk approach. I think that it helps to look at the home as a whole. We sometimes get caught up in one room and all things tunnel vision, without considering the rest of the spaces. Or even suffer from house attention deficit disorder… where we want to change all the things likened to a magpie without a cohesive plan. We get it. Trust us. So first things first, go in with the idea of changing your perspective. Zoom out on your vision, but also consider everything relationally. Here’s a few things that work when it comes to flow in the home.
1. Paint
While we do love the idea of making the most out of your space visually with the rehab element, that’s not always doable for certain situations. AKA not everyone can come in and do a full fledged renovation. We get it.
So start with paint.
Maybe you want to change the circa 2005 brown in your dining room. {Been there.} But rather than focusing on one space, sit down, and come up with a pallette for your entire home. Think of how it will work relationally with the rest of the spaces you want to change. Or the existing ones.
Maybe the previous owner painted all the trim cream and you want a crisper white to make it work with your new selections in the grey and blue department. Think through the choices you’re making, and plan for the future. Maybe mint green is a great choice, but not for the walls since you don’t want to limit yourself on a big scale. Think through what will last you for a few years, too. There’s nothing wrong with going classic on the walls, and playing it up on the other elements you bring into the space. In other words, you don’t want to limit yourself and your accessories down the line because of your commitment to wall color.
Here’s what we recommend: Choose no more than five colors depending on the size of your house, and carry it throughout your spaces in different ways. Maybe two main colors mixed in with fun accent colors. Consider symmetry. Consider repeating creatively. Decide on your approach, and apply it to your entire home. Maybe the blue on one wall, works great on your ceilings in another room. You’ve repeated the color but in a different way. And you don’t have to keep it to just the walls. A piece of old rehabbed furniture could work great with reinforcement in another space, as a nice reminder. Wood elements repeated throughout help balance color choices as well in the all things natural tones department. Think outside the box and then keep going.
Remember two things:
• Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your house doesn’t have to be either. {Unless you want to hire a crew to come in, which we totally get.}
• Paint is the most forgiving element, {unless you spill it on the carpet ;}} so there’s always that. You can change your mind, and that’s the beauty of all things color.
2. Flooring
Is a bit of a bigger commitment on the chaos and budget scale.
But the more uniform you can go, the better.
Flooring throughout the home can make your spaces seem bigger. They definitely help in the flow department. We see too many open spaces, where the floors were left to a hodgepodge of luck. Or a line was drawn down the middle with tile on one side, and then hardwood or even carpet. No rhyme or reason, and most of the time it’s an inherited situation from a bad builder choice or the previous owner. Or maybe the home owner felt pressured because of some advice from a friend.
Flooring can seriously break up the space when left with no intention behind it.
If we lived in a perfect world where budgets weren’t an issue, we’d say pick one element in your main living spaces, and if you can, carry it through. But hold your horses… and angry mob torches. We know not everyone lives in lala design land with endless money trees. There are other outside influences that will affect your choices. For instance, you won’t see us putting hardwoods in our basement rehab, and that’s because of moisture issues. We did however, carry hardwoods throughout our split level, because it’s a smaller home. Read: We were able to get away with it.
So here’s a few tips to stick with:
• Consider one cohesive element in open spaces. For instance, if you can, don’t break up the floors in an open room with more than one choice. We know this isn’t always possible. But it will help with flow. It may be a big game changer if it’s something you can change down the line.
• Keep it as uniform as possible on the same level of the house. So if you have hardwoods or tile in the hallway, and then carpet in the bedrooms… great! Just think about maybe losing the green shag in the master, the khaki in the kids bedroom and… it goes on and on. Keep the carpets as uniform as possible, for instance.
• Repeat tile choices a-la the flooring department in more than one area for smaller spaces, like bathrooms. {You’ll find penny tile in both our bathrooms upstairs and it helps to repeat the elements – you’ll notice a recurring theme with repetition for this entire article – Groundhog Day anyone?}
Can’t change your flooring right now? Use rugs to help camouflage. In the makeup world, it’s like distracting from bad eyebrows, with a good lipstick. Play up the elements you can control, to cover the ones you can’t. It helps. So use rugs that have a similar style, repeated in different spaces. For instance, if your style is eclectic, use fun prints in different ways throughout your home. Or if your home is mostly classic, find some gorgeous oriental influences to place in different ways. Keep the colors repeated {again with the repetitious elements thing} and you’re on your way to better flow in your home. People will enter and comment on how stylish everything is… rather than the eye sore than is three different flooring elements from one vantage point. {Again, been there.} But then again, who cares what they think?
This is for you.
3. Design elements
We’ve touched on this a little, but three things:
• Repetition. Yes. I’ve already said that. Use it. It’s your greatest tool. Maybe start small and choose certain elements you are absolutely in love with, and use them throughout your home. Wood elements. Or the color coral as an accent. Or stripes in a pattern. Use it. Let it reflect you and play with the different versions. When you have fun in your home, it reflects who you are.
• Weight. Furniture is a huge element, though we’re mainly touching on the bones of a house today. The weight of what you use in a space can seriously influence the way you feel about it. If you have a large and in charge piece, maybe don’t place it right in front of the window. But if you do, use glass. Or a lighter element to help it flow. Use colors to help it blend. Consider the relationship of everything and how they relate to one another. Leggy furniture can use something with a heavier base for contrast. And a larger sofa may be amazing, but help it out with a lighter choice, visually, of coffee table so things don’t feel so heavy. Let the shape of the space work for you, and not against you. Play with different finishes to help it flow. Your space will work for you and not against you when you experiment and give yourself time to decide if you really like something.
If not, move it. We can guarantee you’ll almost always find a home, even if it’s on craigslist with a new piece in it’s place. ;}
• Light. Let the light in through the windows. Let it in with great light fixtures that play well together throughout the space. They don’t have to match, they just need to go with the overall feel.
This is where it helps to have a plan. Light is a huge element that some people forget when it comes to the way their space feels. We adore our great room because it has windows from almost every side. But we also decided to keep them open or minimally dressed with simple linen panels where we could. We don’t want to hide how great they are. Natural light and fixtures are both your greatest friends if you play it up well. It can definitely change the way your home flows.
Space reconfiguration
We just couldn’t leave this one out, since it’s kind of what we do. If you’re ready to rethink your spaces, and take on a rehab, this point is for you.
Think through the way your different rooms relate to each other. Can you knock out a wall in between bedroom closets to free up more space, and open up the feel of the rooms? Can you change the way the bathroom backs up to the closet to give more space visually and smarter storage? Is there a wall you’d like to lose to open up more square footage? Even on a smaller scale: Can you change the shelving in a closet to give you more space?
It can be on a bigger scale or even a smaller one: When you start to look at your home in different ways, it can really change the way you feel about it… for the better.
We left this one as a bonus at the bottom, because it’s an entirely different thing to consider. And because we like odd numbers in our lists. #OCD.
As always, we recommend consulting a professional {who can help you with things like load bearing issues or local codes} before taking out a big wall in your home or making any huge changes. And be sure to check out our rehab and design services here – we’re expanding our business and currently taking new clients (here in Nashville and across the country) if you’re ready to take a fun step with your home… and love where you dwell.
We don’t believe in the dream home. We believe in your home.
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We wanted to touch on all aspects of current situations, budgets, and levels since we know that it’s such a broad spectrum. But we hope that more than anything this helps get those wheels turning for anyone who’s considering how to create better flow in their home. A lot to consider but well worth the change in how you feel about your spaces.
As always, let us know if you have any questions… we’d love to help!
Have an inspired day!
Rachel says
I love this. You guys always give stellar solid advice. Thank you so much!
Anna says
Absolutely lovely! These ideas are great
Bonnie says
I’m so happy to read that you are expanding your business. I know that everyone that uses your services will be blessed by the knowledge and experience that you have. I’m sure some of that has been learned through the toils and trials of your current rehab.
Anna D. says
As always, I’m totally inspired by your space. Thank you for this outstanding list of how to start when planning good design in a house.
The blog post reminded me of another kind of flow, besides visual and other sense elements, that is, function. A post about designing for good function – including designing for streamlined cleaning and maintaining – would be beneficial, too. The functional flow of a space supports the aesthetic elements, since there is an aesthetic to how one does things in a space, which enhances the visible aesthetics, if that makes sense (???). I think the two work together – aesthetics and function. Not only is your house beautiful, but it also has an eye toward how you are going to use the space and why. It is also apparent that the material dynamics in your house are very well-considered, like the hood over the stove and the tiles behind it. Things involving water, dust, smells, air flow, etc. Oh my!
Thank you again for sharing your house and well-considered, super helpful tips!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Very true, Anna! That’s an entirely different topic in itself but so interwoven – I believe in function as more important than form – nothing stresses me out more than a pointless element. While I love decor and design it has to have purpose. Especially for the people who live there. The two definitely go hand in hand – as everything is influenced by function as the primary origin. A great secondary post idea for sure!