HOME…The Place You Live

There’s a difference between a house and a home. A house is where your friends live, it’s somewhere you visit, somewhere you say “I’m going to go to a friend’s house.” But a home? It’s yours. It’s the place where you feel safe, the place where you raise your family, the space that is perfectly designed to not only your wants–but your needs.

The unsexy truth about investing in your dream home and planning to be there for the long haul is that you need to make decisions that are not influenced by the whims of time, but rather, prioritize safety, accessibility, adaptability, and low maintenance as the years pass.

Let’s start in one of the most vital spaces in the house. The bathroom.

If done correctly, a bathroom can be beautiful. It can be a welcoming space that you spend your time and start your day in, or a place where you can decompress from a long day with a nice long shower. The bathroom is a place that feels inherently safe – it’s calm, it feels private, and it allows you a place to step into your daily routine. While this is a pleasant thought, the bathroom consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous rooms in your home. One of the leading causes of accidental deaths in the United States is slips and falls and the bathroom is notoriously a perfect storm of elements for this to happen. Non-slip flooring, reliable waterproofing to keep the water in your shower and bathtub where it is supposed to be, and comfort height toilets are just the beginning of making a bathroom work for you.

During the process of a build or a renovation, the right designer and builder will take the time to get to know you and your needs for the space. Understanding where you are in your life and your overall goals with the house itself is a huge part of the process of design and if someone is not taking the time to understand that piece, it’s a conversation you want to consider having. Renovation or new construction on a home can be heavily influenced by those goals and whether or not you want to stay in a home and age in place. The modern shower with all the latest design innovations is fun in your fifties but might be a hazard in your seventies. Planning ahead is essential.

However, accessibility done right doesn’t have to be dull and ugly, in fact, it can be a beautiful design choice that you incorporate into your house. A place to sit in your shower doesn’t have to be a plastic white stool that you cringe at every time you walk into your bathroom. You can have a built-in shower bench that is the perfect height for you to sit and shower. A curbless shower entry providing a seamless threshold transition adds to the beauty to your floor and eliminates a tripping hazard, or a customized niche to accommodate your needs instead of hanging a flimsy wire rack to hold your shampoos, conditioners, body washes, and everything else you use to be your best and cleanest self.

The kitchen is another great example of a room that can be simplified while updating its appearance. Modifications like pull out shelves instead of deep cabinets, and drawers instead of base cabinets can make a huge difference.

Cabinet hardware is an easy way to upgrade and update your kitchen but choose carefully because complicated hardware can be… well…complicated and difficult to clean. On the other hand, easy to use hardware is always in style. Cabinets and drawers that slam are just fine until your children start to get older and can slam fingers. Or even worse, when they become angsty teens and want to slam them for dramatic effect. Those soft close cabinets and drawers might have seemed silly and unnecessary upon first thought but just think about it a little longer and you might have different feelings.

Your goal is to turn a house into your home. So choose the right designer + builder, consider your goals carefully, and make design choices that age just as well as you know you will.

Give us a call at Jil Young Designs if you’re looking for a design builder at 919-988-0045.

Jil Young Designs Built to You