The Secrets of a Good Home Design: Moving Beyond the Obvious

Article by: Thomas Hewitt

This article is not your basic primer on selecting your "dream home"Â. Nor does it contain the list of "items to ask your designer"Â - these things can be found on any designer's website or Google search. As important as those items are, what we are going to do here is drill-down into the design , Cheap Living Room Furniture a little, bypass the fan-fare and talk about some specific concepts that will really make a difference in your life.

Matching your house , Canopy Beds: Something Beautiful to Lie Over You to your lifestyle begins with an exploration of your needs and wants. Most home , Modern Furniture 101 designers will have some type of "discovery process"Â that will help identify the basics for your home , Simple Decoration Tips design. It will start with the configuration of your lot and proceed through items such as privacy requirements, work areas, outdoor , Cheap Living Room Furniture spaces, etc. Although this process is critical to your project, it rarely drills down enough to transform your design , Monsoon : Home Care Tips into a home , Goose Down Comforters - Warm, Cozy, and Lightweight that will serve your needs for a lifetime.

Here are two keys of good home , Log Interiors and Log Home Interior Design Ideas design that must be addressed up-front: a) assessing the homeowner's current needs; and, b) anticipating the future needs of people living in the home. , Decorating Ideas to Make Your Living Room more Livable Before you say "Yeah, yeah"Â¦I've heard this all before!"Â let's take a closer look at what "current needs"Â entail.

Almost all "discovery processes"Â used by home , Cheap Furnishing And Decorating Ideas designers focus on the use and space requirements of the rooms , Home Lighting - Important but Overlooked Aspects in the house. , Decorate Yourself Happy: How to Decorate For Everyday Pleasure/Joy This is good, but too little attention is given to the personal needs of the people actually living in the home. , Horizontal Blinds – Enjoy Real Wood, Vinyl, Or Aluminum Without performing a comprehensive assessment of the client's functional abilities, identifying areas of the home , How to do Wonders with a Ceiling Fan where modifications are necessary is often overlooked.

For example, the needs of a child and his / her ability to live comfortably in the home , Horizontal Blinds – Enjoy Real Wood, Vinyl, Or Aluminum are rarely addressed at the design , French Furniture, The Style We Call Louis XV stage. It's necessary to evaluate the child's current abilities and design , Simple Home Decoration Tips an environment , Cheap Living Room Furniture that works and grows , Decorating A Child's Room with the child. Some easy adaptive design , Decorate Yourself Happy: How to Decorate For Everyday Pleasure/Joy elements would include adjustable shelves and rods in the closet. As the child grows, , A Look at Computer Desks for Children the shelves and rods can be moved to better accommodate their reach. Appliances present a similar situation as it is necessary for the controls to be accessible. Front mounted controls on washing machines and dryers , Bathroom vanity is sure to exite the creative renovator enable their use. Safety , Bathroom vanity is sure to exite the creative renovator also comes into play. A child trying to use a microwave placed overhead is a recipe for disaster! , Boring Decor? Use A Room Divider To Add Interest

Of course, the above example is very simple, but it illustrates the point that design , From Soiled to Stunning: How to Clean Leather and Fabric Upholstered Sofas needs to be done from the perspective of the individual and his / her ability to carry out daily routines in the home. , Treat yourself and your windows. This is why a good designer , Bathroom vanity is sure to exite the creative renovator will perform an assessment of the client and specify the needed design , Indoor Fountains: Enhance Your Interior Decor with Wall Fountains! modifications.

There are a couple of tools , Conquer Your Fear of Color: Choosing Paint Colors with Confidence that a designer , Log Home Interiors and Log Home Interior Design Ideas can use to evaluate the needs of their clients. One of those tools , Fabrics for Displaying and Protecting Collectibles is the Comprehensive Assessment and Solution Process for Aging Residents (CASPAR). CASPAR was designed for healthcare professionals to evaluate their client's ability to carry out routine activities in the home. , Characteristics of Contemporary Platform Beds This is also useful in determining the requirements of people who have disabilities.

Anticipating the future needs of individuals may prove a little trickier, but we can start by understanding the process of aging. Whether we like to think about growing , Log Home Decorating Tips and Ideas old or not, it is inevitable, and people's functional abilities diminish over time. A well designed home , Kids Room Furniture: Five Pieces Every Kids Room Should Have will easily adapt to these changing needs and allow people to stay in their homes , From Soiled to Stunning: How to Clean Leather and Fabric Upholstered Sofas longer.

Fortunately, "universal design"Â is beginning to take root , Decorate Yourself Happy: How to Decorate For Everyday Pleasure/Joy in modern home , Amish Furniture A Piece Of American Pride design. Ron Mace, Founder and Program Director of the Center for Universal Design , Bathroom Vanities and Bathroom Shower Stalls Look Fresh When Decorated With Ceramic Tile (NCSU), give us the following definition of UD: "The intent of universal design , Conquer Your Fear of Color: Choosing Paint Colors with Confidence is to simplify life for everyone by making products, , How To Make Use Of That Space Under Your Stairs communications, and the built environment , Cheap Home Furnishing And Decorating Ideas more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal design , Modern Furniture 101 benefits people of all ages and abilities."Â Because the principles of universal design , Teen Bedroom Furniture are inclusive for people with disabilities, the application of UD in home , Amish Furniture A Piece Of American Pride design is appropriate and addresses many of the needs of people who wish to "age in place"Â.

Adaptable design , Bathroom Vanities and Bathroom Shower Stalls Look Fresh When Decorated With Ceramic Tile is different in concept from universal design. , Amish Furniture A Piece Of American Pride Where universal design , Mini Binds are the Easiest Window Blinds to Clean benefits people of all ages and abilities, adaptable design , Boring Decor? Use A Room Divider To Add Interest allows the home , Modern Furniture 101 to be modified for a specific need. An example of adaptable design , Boring Decor? Use A Room Divider To Add Interest would be designing a two-story home , Canopy Beds: Something Beautiful to Lie Over You with "stacked closets"Â (a closet on the first floor , Bathroom Vanities and Bathroom Shower Stalls Look Fresh When Decorated With Ceramic Tile directly below and aligned with a closet on the second floor) so that a residential elevator or lift could easily be installed in the future. In contrast, a universal design , Duvet Covers Really Set the Mood for Your Bedroom item might be the installation of lever door , 5 Ways In Which You Can Make Simple Changes To Your Home Decorating handles that are easier to use for people who have lost the ability to grip a standard round door , A Look at Picnic Gift Baskets knob. These lever handles also benefit anyone who may have their hands full with groceries and want to release the door , Horizontal Blinds – Enjoy Real Wood, Vinyl, Or Aluminum latch by using their forearm or elbow, for example. Children also have an easier time using lever door , Log Home Interiors and Log Home Interior Design Ideas handles.

Distinguishing between universal and adaptable design , Selecting A Carpet That Suits Your Lifestyle may seem difficult at first, but when one realizes that these principles have less to do about the installation of specific items and are more about a designer's perspective, it all begins to make better sense. And the designer's perspective is heavily influenced by a thorough client assessment.

Does this level of service cost more? Yes, probably. But a couple hundred dollars up front to hire a qualified designer , Log Home Interiors and Log Home Interior Design Ideas who will accurately assess your lifestyle and evaluate your future needs, pales in comparison to leaving your design , Home Decorating On A Budget to chance. The number one secret to good home , From Soiled to Stunning: How to Clean Leather and Fabric Upholstered Sofas design is to avoid cutting costs at this stage of your project and find a home , A Guide To Outdoor Lighting designer who is an expert in assessing your needs and applying the design , 5 Powder Room Ideas for Powder Room s criteria that will make your house , How To Make Use Of That Space Under Your Stairs a home , Conquer Your Fear of Color: Choosing Paint Colors with Confidence for a lifetime.

Thomas Hewitt is the President of Falcon Homes, , Simple Decoration Tips Inc., a home , Decorating Ideas to Make Your Living Room more Livable design company located in Albuquerque, NM. Thomas is an aging-in-place specialist certified by the National Association of Home , Decorating Ideas to Make Your Living Room more Livable Builders and specializes in universal and adaptable design. , Log Home Decorating Tips and Ideas The company's website can be found at http://www.FalconHomesInc.com.

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