The time has come for us to start our home renovation and I have to say, I’m a little nervous. Even though I work with renovation projects day in day out, and have done for the last 20 years, it’s some how different when it’s your own home. When I receive a brief from a client I get into the mindset of the brand and create a look that is best suited to their tone of voice. You could argue that I should take the same approach for our home-build project but the problem is, I like so many styles and materials and fall in and out of love with things pretty quickly.
I am taking the same advice that I give to other people when they ask me the same questions, where do I begin! Start to look at the longevity of materials and think about which ones will stand the test of time, not only for strength but your taste. If I look back over the last 20 years of my styling career and ask myself what materials make me happy, the answer has always been natural materials such as wood and concrete, that happen to be strong as well. I cannot tell you the sheer joy I get by simply looking at an old piece of wooden furniture and it’s that character and happiness I want to carry through into the build project. The same rule should apply to you, what makes you happy? Bright colours, pastels, shiny surfaces? Start to collate this information in one place either as a pile of tear sheets, on a pinboard or Pinterest. I’m not too sure how I will incorporate all of my materials yet but I am sure I will persuade one of my trusty set-builders to come on site and install some bespoke features. I had thought about a large slab of wood for our dining table but my children are still at the age of felt-tip pens and messy play and I would resent having to live with a waxed cloth on the table every day, may be in a few years time.
With concrete and wood at the forefront of my design, I am starting to look at flooring options. I had considered concrete and shoot in many houses that have it, but whilst I adore the look of it my body finds it too hard to walk on. Stone, or stone effect flooring using porcelain tiles had also been discussed but I felt that it was too severe for some of the rooms, especially the play room. There is the option to cosy it up with rugs but it’s not the right for me. We discounted Carpet for the same reason, great for some rooms but not for all and a seamless floor was essential. By this, I mean an uninterrupted view of one flooring material allowing all the rooms to flow into one another, this greatly enhances the feeling of space. My next decision will be choosing the type of wooden floor; laminate, engineered or solid wood. I will keep you posted on that but in the meantime, here is a selection of wooden floors showing different shades and materials by Quick-Step (credits at the end). My next post is going to be 15 key steps to follow when starting a home renovation.
Picture credits: Laminate Impress ultra (photo by Jemma Watts) / Hardwood, Castello, wenge Oak silk 5 / Hardwood, Massimo, dark chocolate Oak / Laminate, Impressive, Burned planks / Hardwood, Massimo, frozen oak / Laminate, Majestic, woodland Oak / Laminate, Impressive, soft Oak natural / Laminate, Impressive, white planks / Hardwood, Massimo, winter storm / Hardwood, Palazzo, frosted oak, oiled.
This post was a collaboration with Quick-Step. All thoughts and comments are my own.
