A home is not a static thing, designed to stand the test of time without ever having to adapt. Our lifestyles change and, what’s more, the times change. New trends come in, technology advances and changes become more affordable and widespread. As such, if your home is feeling a little behind the time, then it might be your time to take some steps towards modernizing it. Here, we’ll look at how you can do just that.
Update The Lighting Throughout
One of the easiest places to start is with your lighting fixtures. Implementing new lighting can allow you to layer your lighting, with task lighting for those workspaces, like in your kitchen, and ambient lighting to help you better set the mood in each individual space. With modern lighting fixtures, such as LED lights and smart bulbs, you can also make your home a lot more efficient, not to mention easier to adjust even without having to get up to use the light switch. Dimmable lights allow you to customize the mood of a space on the fly, as well.
Make Your Home A Smarter Place
Smart lights are just one of the ways that you can make your home much more technologically advanced and responsive to your needs. With the help of a smart home hub, you can connect all manner of devices that can be controlled directly through it. Thermostats can help you adjust the temperature, cameras can keep you secure, and you can even connect things like mechanized blinds to a smart home. All of these can be linked so that you can control them through a smartphone app or even through a smart speaker.
Consider Taking An Open-Plan Approach
While not every space is going to be suited to it, open-plan living has become a lot more popular. It makes spaces easier to clean and move through, makes them feel much bigger, and maximizes the impact of natural light. You can look at making your space more open-plan by removing structural walls. When paired with a minimalist style of furniture, you can create a truly modern aesthetic, and things like flooring changes can still denote spaces used for different things, like the kitchen and living room.
Try New Flooring Options
Your choice of flooring (or lack of, if you haven’t changed it in a while) can do a lot to affect the look and feel of an entire space. If you’re getting sick of the same old carpet, for instance, then you might want to look into more modern materials, whether it’s real hardwood or more budget-friendly options like laminated. Smooth flooring has become more and more popular over recent years, due to its often long-lasting nature and how easy it can be to clean. If you want to make sure that your room doesn’t feel too bare or cold, then you can incorporate rugs to help soften it up.
Opt For Built-in Storage
Modern homes are often associated with a minimalist approach to decor and a firm stance against clutter. Incorporating storage furniture is one of the best ways to combat clutter, but if you don’t want a large piece of clunky furniture that stands out from the walls, then you might instead want to look at bespoke fitted storage furniture. From walk-in wardrobes to floor-to-roof shelving units, you can maximize your storage space while ensuring that it fits the existing architecture of the home.
Update Your Bathroom
There are a couple of rooms where an outdated approach is felt particularly keenly, and the bathroom is the biggest one, by far. An old-fashioned look can make the space feel a lot more uncomfortable, but an older layout can impact its practicality. With the help of bathroom remodeling services, you can switch out to new floors, walls, and fixtures, while incorporating energy-efficient fixtures and new technologies. A lot of people these days are switching out baths for shower enclosures, for instance. What your bathroom needs to better fit your needs depends on you and your family, but if you haven’t touched it in a few years, it’s likely in need of a change.
Target The Kitchen, Too
The other major shared space in the home, and one that helps you meet a wide range of practical needs, an outdated kitchen can be just as disruptive as an old bathroom. The kitchen’s practical usefulness is often down to its appliances, whether you need to replace some of your older models or implement some new hardware that could make cooking and cleaning much easier. Trending appliances like air fryers and slow cookers can make preparing meals for the family a whole lot easier.
Don’t Neglect The Exterior
It’s easy to focus on how the interior of the home helps you meet your living demands so that the exterior can easily go unnoticed. However, if you’re not getting much use out of your outdoor space, then that could be a clear indicator that it could use a garden transformation, such as adding decking or a patio, whether for simple outdoor relaxation or even al fresco dining. If you simply want a more aesthetic change, you could incorporate raised beds or a water feature to give it a whole new atmosphere.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a much more dramatic change, you could always get an outdoor living space designer to help with the revamp. They can completely re-work your garden into a new space and truly modernize your home.
Make Sustainability A Running Theme
Aside from evolutions in technology and space efficiency, eco-friendliness has become a major trend in home design. This can include using materials such as bamboo, recycled wood, or reclaimed for your flooring, walls, and furniture. Taking steps to make the home more energy efficient, such as upgrading your windows and doors, or adding solar panels to your roof, can help the room feel more modern while also improving your impact on the environment around you. A lower carbon footprint tends to come with lower running costs, as well.
A home takes work to keep up with the times. Leave it too long and you find it falling way behind both your needs and wants. The tips above can ensure that it’s able to meet them.
