We’ve been helping customers design beautifully practical furniture for their home since 2005 and over the years we’ve shared a thing or two about creating a well-functioning home. It’s why we talk a lot about purpose as well as style in our initial design meetings.
More often than not, the idea for a new piece of furniture has come about because the customer is looking for a solution to a specific challenge in their home. It could be a bedroom that’s too small or a space that needs to be used differently. Whatever it is, function is usually at the heart of things.
Here are our top 7 tips for making your home work better for you and everyone who lives in it.
Feel the Flow
When you know change is needed but you’re not quite sure where to start, focus on the layout of your home first. Spend time thinking about how your space functions and how you move around it.
One of our recent projects was for a family who wanted to use their furniture to improve the flow and give each area of their busy downstairs a specific purpose. They wanted to divide the space between the entrance and the kitchen and they also wanted to create a piece of furniture that would provide seating and loads of storage for coats, hats, shoes, scarves and other bits and pieces that were regularly left on the floor by the door.
We designed a corner bench to provide seating, to separate the space and most importantly to include lots of clever storage to keep all the clutter hidden away.
Practical doesn’t have to be boring and we proved this by using oak and ply to give everything a modern minimalist feel.
Be Imaginative
A well-designed home is one that multi-tasks. Often one piece of furniture can play different roles. It can even be something else in disguise.
Confused? We can explain. One of our most interesting projects in recent years has been a request to create a storage box that could quickly be transformed into a comfortable chair.
This customer does a lot of entertaining and also enjoys crafting so needs plenty of places to store materials.
Our circular box stool is a handy storage stool which quickly converts into a comfy chair with a curved back when she is having people over.
Tackle Awkward Spaces
Most of us have a tricky corner in our homes that we don’t know what to do with. Instead of leaving it bare or allowing it to accumulate junk, why not design some bespoke storage and put it to good use?
Attic spaces, with their awkward corners and sloping ceilings, are notoriously difficult to utilise properly.
We helped one of our customers create a bespoke home office with furniture which looked fitted but was actually freestanding. There was even space for meetings.
Plan in Storage
A well-functioning home is organised without appearing to be. From planning your kitchen cupboard space to fitting out your bedroom, a little bit of careful consideration goes a long way.
Never has this been truer than when fitting out a boxroom as a children’s bedroom. The space may be small but the amount of stuff that needs to fit in is immense.
Our cabin bed design was created just for this problem. It’s a solution that makes every inch of the space work hard. Better still, it takes account of the fact that children grow. One minute they’re zooming toy cars on the carpet and the next they’re wanting a desk to study for exams. This modular solution has that covered.
Use Walls Wisely
Walls are often a forgotten resource. Some well-placed floating shelving can add style and storage in one fell swoop. Go a step further and you can create a whole wall-mounted home office on a bit of spare wall.
We designed our wall-mounted home office for exactly this situation. We had a spare wall in the kitchen and we needed somewhere to work that didn’t interfere too much with the flow of the home.
Using contemporary ply and linoleum to fit in with our kitchen design, we suddenly had a desk and somewhere to store all our files and folders without eating into our valuable space.
Choose your Materials and Finish
While we’re on the subject of function, we should just mention that the materials you choose and the finish for your wood furniture will make a huge difference both to looks and durability.
In the project we’ve just mentioned, we used linoleum to make sure everything could be wiped clean easily. This is a kitchen after all and there are lots of sticky fingers about.
In the corner bench storage project we talked about above, we used oak and ply finished in oil so that it would be hardwearing and easy to maintain.
Style is Key
When your home functions well and reflects your personality it will be a calm and happy place to spend time in. Creating something from scratch is a great way to add your own style to your interiors.
We work with our customers to design something that is completely unique to them. We involve them in every stage of the process so that we design the piece together.
It can be a rewarding experience to develop the furniture for your home with our designers and cabinet makers.
If you’d like to know more about bespoke furniture for a well-functioning home, give us a call on 0113 2567376.