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 , A Baker’s Rack: Always A Favorite a little, bypass the fan-fare and talk about some specific concepts that will really make a difference in your life.

Matching your house , What to Buy from Broyhill Furniture to your lifestyle begins with an exploration of your needs and wants. Most home , A Baker’s Rack: Always A Favorite designers will have some type of "discovery process"Â that will help identify the basics for your home , TV Lamps of The 1950's - A Brief History design. It will start with the configuration of your lot and proceed through items such as privacy requirements, work areas, outdoor , How to Decorate Ethnic spaces, etc. Although this process is critical to your project, it rarely drills down enough to transform your design , Bar Stools and Counter Stools Complete Your Space into a home , Choosing Wallpaper Borders that will serve your needs for a lifetime.

Here are two keys of good home , How to Decorate Ethnic 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. , 7 Ways to Use Concentrated Fragrance Air Fresheners 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 , What to Buy from Broyhill Furniture designers focus on the use and space requirements of the rooms , Types of Curio Cabinets in the house. , Take The Clothes Off Your Rooms and Let Them Breathe This is good, but too little attention is given to the personal needs of the people actually living in the home. , Glider Rocker Cushions-All You Will Ever Need to Know Without performing a comprehensive assessment of the client's functional abilities, identifying areas of the home , Buying Down Alternative Comforters where modifications are necessary is often overlooked.

For example, the needs of a child and his / her ability to live comfortably in the home , Spring & Decorating - A Fresh New Look are rarely addressed at the design , Choosing Wallpaper Borders stage. It's necessary to evaluate the child's current abilities and design , Is It Time To Move? Change Your Home Into A House... Have It Staged! an environment , Feng Shui for a Small Apartment that works and grows , Glider Rocker Cushions-All You Will Ever Need to Know with the child. Some easy adaptive design , What to Buy from Broyhill Furniture elements would include adjustable shelves and rods in the closet. As the child grows, , Accent Lighting: How to Take Your Room from Now to WOW! 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 , Feng Shui Interprets Colors enable their use. Safety , Glass Coffee Tables also comes into play. A child trying to use a microwave placed overhead is a recipe for disaster! , Spring & Home Decorating - A Fresh New Look

Of course, the above example is very simple, but it illustrates the point that design , Bed In A Bag - A Fantastic Solution To Your Interior Decorating Needs needs to be done from the perspective of the individual and his / her ability to carry out daily routines in the home. , Accent Lighting: How to Take Your Room from Now to WOW! This is why a good designer , Rug - Snug as a Bug! will perform an assessment of the client and specify the needed design , Fruit Basket Delivery modifications.

There are a couple of tools , The Advantages of Memory Foam Pillows that a designer , How To Choose A Pot Rack For Your Kitchen can use to evaluate the needs of their clients. One of those tools , Are Candles Safe? 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. , Teen Bedroom Furniture 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 , Home Decor The Finishing Touch old or not, it is inevitable, and people's functional abilities diminish over time. A well designed home , Feng Shui Interprets Colors will easily adapt to these changing needs and allow people to stay in their homes , Rustic Furniture - from Grandfather's Log Cabin to My City longer.

Fortunately, "universal design"Â is beginning to take root , Feng Shui for a Small Apartment in modern home , Bed In A Bag - A Fantastic Solution To Your Interior Decorating Needs design. Ron Mace, Founder and Program Director of the Center for Universal Design , Portable Home Decorating: 11 Tips for Creating a Comfortable Home Even When You Move Often (NCSU), give us the following definition of UD: "The intent of universal design , Dining Room Furniture is to simplify life for everyone by making products, , Home Decorating On A Budget communications, and the built environment , Spring & Home Decorating - A Fresh New Look more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal design , Light Therapy for SAD: What Lights to Buy benefits people of all ages and abilities."Â Because the principles of universal design , Feng Shui for a Small Apartment are inclusive for people with disabilities, the application of UD in home , Choosing Wallpaper Borders design is appropriate and addresses many of the needs of people who wish to "age in place"Â.

Adaptable design , Home Decorating On A Budget is different in concept from universal design. , Take The Clothes Off Your Rooms and Let Them Breathe Where universal design , The Truth About Futon Mattresses benefits people of all ages and abilities, adaptable design , Home Decor The Finishing Touch allows the home , Carpets: 8 Tips To Extend It's Life to be modified for a specific need. An example of adaptable design , Accent Lighting: How to Take Your Room from Now to WOW! would be designing a two-story home , Choosing Wallpaper Borders with "stacked closets"Â (a closet on the first floor , The Advantages of Memory Foam Pillows 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 , Adjustable Beds item might be the installation of lever door , How to Buy a Used Adjustable Bed handles that are easier to use for people who have lost the ability to grip a standard round door , Valuable Tips For Memory Foam Mattress Pads knob. These lever handles also benefit anyone who may have their hands full with groceries and want to release the door , Decorating for Renters - Part 3: Quick Fixes latch by using their forearm or elbow, for example. Children also have an easier time using lever door , An Easy Living Room Interior Decorating Plan handles.

Distinguishing between universal and adaptable design , How to Create the Perfect Bedroom with NASCAR Bedding! 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 , Types of Wine Cabinets who will accurately assess your lifestyle and evaluate your future needs, pales in comparison to leaving your design , Feng Shui Interprets Colors to chance. The number one secret to good home , Feng Shui for a Small Apartment design is to avoid cutting costs at this stage of your project and find a home , TV Lamps of The 1950's - A Brief History designer who is an expert in assessing your needs and applying the design , Adjustable Beds criteria that will make your house , Decorating for Renters - Part 4: What to Buy for Your Apartment a home , Is It Time To Move? Change Your Into A House... Have It Staged! for a lifetime.

Thomas Hewitt is the President of Falcon Homes, , Discount Furniture Stores Inc., a home , Feng Shui Interprets Colors design company located in Albuquerque, NM. Thomas is an aging-in-place specialist certified by the National Association of Home , History Of Mohawk Carpets Builders and specializes in universal and adaptable design. , Do You Have a "Master" Bedroom? You Shouldn't! Tips for Remodeling Your Bedroom The company's website can be found at http://www.FalconHomesInc.com.

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