We all would love to have spacious, clean and beautiful homes. Some of us try to convince ourselves that our home is the best it can be, while some of us always try to improve something or the other to make it look’more nice’! We may not be spending a lot of time at home these days due to busy work schedules and weekend is normally the time to’get-away’ somewhere.
But coming back home has always been a very comforting factor. Be it after a busy and tiring day or after unpleasant encounters, we all look forward to coming back to the warmth and comfort of our homes. It is not all that difficult to make our homes look and feel’nicer’.
All it takes is a little effort, some patience and some planning. Here are some simple tips to improve our most preferred place on earth!
Space
Our finance, city and sometimes even preferences might have given us small homes, which would have made us wish many a times for more spacious rooms that could look bigger and also help us move easily. Here are some tips to make rooms look larger than they actually are -
Put all possible furniture against the wall. You can even put the coffee table against the wall and move it to the centre only when need arises. This way, the room will seem not only larger but also you will get more space to move around.
If the rooms open out to another room(eg. Living and Dining), try not to place any objects at the point where they meet. This would make both the rooms look larger and not as two separate small rooms.
Replace small and multiple furnitures with large furnitures with less number of pieces, that would serve the same purpose. For example replace 5 single seater sofas with a single 3 seater and 2 single seaters. This avoids cluttering. If you want to retain smaller pieces of furniture that are not frequently used, stack them up neatly and if possible, move them to a less-used room, so that more space is available for you in the living areas.
Mirrors placed on walls would create an impact of a larger room.
Lighting
This is one major area of interiors that, when properly positioned, not only makes the rooms look bigger but also creates better visual impact.
Ensure that the living, dining and kitchen areas have proper sources of natural light. This would not only save on your electricity bills but would also provide more comfort than artificial lighting.
Always place lights on walls which face the room or covers the most used part of the room. For example, it is better to place lights on adjacent walls or on the walls against which the sofa or cot is rested. This wouldn’t affect the eyes and also provide sufficient light for even reading activities.
If there are any aesthetic objects which you think require significance, place a spotlight or a similar light focussing that object. You need not necessarily switch it on everyday, but it creates a good impact when you have visitors.
Do not focus any light on mirrors or place light on walls opposite mirrors. This could cause a glare and give discomfort.
Cleanliness
This the most neglected area mainly due to lack of time. If you live on busy roads, all your shelves and objects are coated with a layer of dust, which, as time progresses, accumulates and sometimes even spoils the beauty of the object. The effort required to clean up such a heavy mess is more, so all the more reason to postpone the cleaning. Here are some tips to ensure this doesn’t happen -
Get a duster(a soft brush better) and use this to go over the shelves and the objects everyday or once in two days depending on the dust accumulation rate. This will take very less time and also prevent dust from accumulating.
Have a time-table drawn up to clean the house. Stick to it as far as possible. If this is followed, the effort spent on cleaning up will also reduce as time progresses.
Ventilation is required, but it is not necessary to leave all the doors/windows open through out the day. As far as possible, leave the window/door facing the road closed so that the entry of dust is restricted.
Aesthetics
These are some areas that not only improved the ambience of my home but also made us very comfortable
Choose light-coloured curtains for living and dining and dark ones for rooms. This would make the living areas have sufficient light for activities and at the same not too dark to hinder movement. Dark curtains in rooms helps us during our afternoon siesta!
Try to match shades between furnishings, floor and the furniture. It could be varying shades of the same colour or different or contrasting colours that blend well. If you aren’t confident about choosing contrasting colours that blend well, stick to shades of brown that blend well with the(normally) wooden furniture.
Plants always add freshness. You could go for some varieties of indoor plants and place them in corners of your living room or alternatively opt for artificial ones that are easier to maintain.
Choose light shades for walls. Darker shades make the rooms look smaller. If the room is large enough you could think of patterns in the most prominent wall, but ensure it has sufficient lighting.
These were simple tips. some of which I have heard and some of which I have adopted.
Comments and more suggestions are welcome!