If you’re about to make the huge investment of a major renovation or building a new house, chances are you’ve been thinking about how you can design a home that grows with you. As our lifestyles change, so too do our needs from our homes. Whether you’re thinking of starting a family in a few years, or you’re at the other end of the journey and will soon be empty nesters, it makes sense to design a home that can grow and change with you over time.
A home that adapts with time can support your lifestyle, making everyday life feel more effortless, and even reduce costs such as avoiding the need to move house or pay higher costs to heat and cool a house that’s too large. So before planning your next renovation or home build, think about these simple but smart ways to create a space that evolves as your life does.
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1. Think about tomorrow, not just today
It seems obvious but in the excitement of a major reno or home build, we can put most of our effort into thinking about our current needs and not enough on our future needs. This affects everything from home layout to building materials.
To plan ahead, ask yourself a few future-you questions like:
- Are you planning on having kids? If so, having a play room that’s visible from the kitchen is a smart design idea
- Will you be caring for ageing parents or perhaps growing older in your home? Designing for wheelchair access, including wider internal doorways, offers flexibility
- Will you be working from home full-time? A comfortable home office with plenty of natural light will make a huge difference to your everyday
- Perhaps you’ll be retiring in a few years and should create space that will accomodate your hobbies.
We all have different needs, family dynamics and lifestyles. Take the time to think about what’s important to you and how you can design with flexibility to cater for future changes. For instance, a spare room can start as a home office, turn into a guest room later and eventually become a quiet reading nook or hobby room.
2. Invest in timeless materials
Just like in fashion, building products and design features go through waves of being in or out of style. What looks exciting today can start to feel tired in just a few years. That is why it’s always a good idea to use timeless materials that age well and go with a range of styles.
Natural stones, wood and quality fabrics are some great options that never go out of style. With a neutral base, you can easily refresh your home’s interior with colour accents in cushions, rugs, artwork and other decor without the need to change everything. Keep fixed materials, such as flooring and joinery, to quality timeless materials that will stand the test of time.
From the list of flooring materials that effortlessly suit almost every design style, premium travertine tiles are a top choice. Their soothing, earthy shades and vein-like patterns bring warmth and character to a space without locking you into one specific style. These tiles are a great pick for both indoor and outdoor areas and they look just as lovely in a minimalist space as they do in a more rustic setting.
3. Don’t rush the floor plan
This point ties in closely to ‘thinking about current and future needs’ but deserves a point of its own. Your floorplan determines the flow and functionality of your home. The best advice Gina’s architect gave her was to sit with the final floor plan for a week with it on her kitchen bench and just imagine moving through the spaces. Did anything feel impractical or were there opportunities to improve it?
Rigid room layouts often cause problems later. Try not to close off every individual space or go overboard with lighting and fixtures that will determine how a room needs to be styled. For example, rather than having a hanging pendant light in a reading nook, a floor lamp may be a better solution because over time that reading nook may also be a nursery nook or working from home area where a hanging light would be an obstruction.
4. Add smart storage
Storage is a modern day luxury and in our opinion, you can never have too much of it! Building smart storage from the very beginning will make your home feel more spacious, less cluttered and more functional over time. You can consider built-in wardrobes, under-stair drawers, floating shelves or ottomans with hidden compartments. Even a simple window seat can double the storage space. The more concealed and flexible your storage, the better your home will handle life’s little changes.
5. Long-term for outdoor spaces
Outdoor living is a big part of the Aussie lifestyle. So don’t treat your backyard, patio or garden as an afterthought. Instead, design these areas to shift with your life. Start with a clear plan of how you intend to use the space over time. For example, you may have dreams of an outdoor pool but cannot afford it right away. By knowing where you eventually install a pool, you’ll avoid planting trees or building a cabana in the wrong spot.
Invest in the basics like a strong foundation, good drainage and boundary planting that can offer shade and privacy. Outdoor marble tiles crafted from top notch quality are the perfect pick when it comes to picking durable yet elegant paving material for your home. Over time, you can add fire pits or outdoor kitchens, depending on your lifestyle.
We share plenty of ideas on how you can maximise your outdoor area in this article.
6. Consider your electrical plan
Sometimes the simplest things can have the biggest impact and a well-considered electrical plan is definitely one of those things! Ever gone to plug in an appliance only to find the nearest powerpoint is metres away?
When it comes to designing a home that can grow with you, it’s a big win if you don’t have to call in an electrician to alter the lighting or power needs of rooms as your needs change. As a simple rule, we always suggest having dimmer switches on lights — so that second living room can easily become a home cinema or man cave — and to have power points on either side of the room.
Even if you don’t have a need for certain electrical or lighting fixtures immediately or your budget won’t stretch that far, it’s far more affordable to make allowances for them than to retrofit solutions down the track. For example, if you’re building a back patio but can’t afford outdoor heating right away, still get your electrician to rough in so you can add it in a year or two when you can.
7. Don’t forget the emotional connection
Of course, what makes a house a home is YOU and the people who live there. Rather than aspiring to create a magazine-worthy interior, look for ways you can inject more of your personality into your home. Perhaps your family has certain traditions and these could be supported with a few clever design details. For example, if Christmas is big in your family, you may want to install a fireplace with a mantel so you’ll have somewhere to hang your stockings each year.
An in-built bookshelf where you can display family photos, travel souvenirs and handmade art that tell your story is a fabulous design idea that can adapt over time to reflect your changing family.
We hope these tips on how to design a home that grows with you has given you ideas for your next project. Our biggest tip is to consider your needs and how you’ll use the space now and into the future. Do you have other suggestions to add? Share them in the comments below.
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