Three Ways To Look At Design

By Kim Ward 

So you have decided that you can no longer live with the kitchen or bathroom that you have in your home and feel it's time for a redesign. You know you are ready for a remodel but before you call in a contractor you would love some basic background to how a design comes together.

Designing your space will be easy but before any plans can be put into place it's important for your designer or contractor to understand your personal needs. When it comes to design there are many aspects one must consider. There is flow, usability, storage, aesthetics, illumination, code compliance, and price.

These are all very important points that must be addressed along with a host of others but before you get too deep into the infrastructure of design you must first start with a broader picture.

There are three ways to view a room and they are emotionally, spatially, and aesthetically. Let's look at each.

Emotion is often the number one reason why people decide to remodel a space. Often there has been an emotional imbalance between homeowner and home that leads to years of frustration and longing for a remodel. Typically the homeowner has lived in a space they don't like for far too long because they are unsure of the cost to remodel, apprehensive of the remodel process or unclear how to create a space they will love.

As a designer, it's often necessary to visualize the end result and the emotion the design will invoke before you plan anything too specific.

A few months ago I met with a client who showed me pictures of a bathroom she found online. This client told me that the picture of this room made her feel happy and that's all she really wanted out of her new bathroom.

Designing to make one feel good and evoke a happy sensation is step one but there is more.

When a designer first enters a space instinctively they begin to analyze the flow and spacial aspects of how the overall room functions. Good design should create a feel-good emotion and great design goes beyond this and creates a functioning yet balanced space.

A kitchen may look pretty and make one feel good but if the kitchen does not function properly the happiness one feels when viewing the space will quickly dissipate.

When considering your remodel go beyond the pretty pictures on the internet and really give some focus to how you intend to use your space. Be mindful of creating bulk in one area and give plenty of attention to walkways, prep, and work zones.

A properly designed kitchen or bathroom can be spotted easily. They seem to flow even when there are people within the space.

Once you have the feel-good of the design nailed and you have created a design that fits with the space and works with activities being performed it's then time to consider the aesthetics of the design.

Aesthetics to consider are texture, balance, form, color, and proportion. The challenge here is bringing all the aspects of emotion and spacial together with the right products and placement of products.

One area often overlooked when working on aesthetics is illumination. Lighting is such an important part of any remodel and can make the difference between good design and great design. Thought should be given to both the look of the fixtures used as well as how much light, placement of light, and kind of lighting is needed.

The remodel process can be intimidating but if a good design plan is created before the hammer swings you can be certain your remodel will turn out great!

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