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If you’re planning an upcoming kitchen renovation, odds are your “Wish List” is filling up fast. If I may interrupt for a minute, however, I’d like to talk about one of my favorite features in a well-designed kitchen: the breakfast nook.

Breakfast Nooks: The Kitchen Design Feature That Keeps on Giving

Whether you’re designing a traditional farmhouse kitchen or are a modernist to the extreme, a breakfast nook will enhance your kitchen experience in multiple ways. In addition to being a cozy place to hang out, breakfast nooks provide added seating for social functions, extra ambient and task lighting and a great place for kids to do their homework while you prepare dinner.

Use an available corner. Typically, breakfast nooks encompass a corner space if you have one. The 90° angle of the walls makes it easy to design comfortable seating, and the open space on the other side can use a space-saving bench (in smaller kitchens) or attractive chairs for additional seating. If possible, I also recommend adding a window if you don’t have one already. It’s a great way to gain extra natural light in your kitchen – always a bonus – and will provide a view outdoors, providing hours of contemplation as you watch the seasons and the world go by.

Avoid the permanent seating option. Typically, breakfast nooks are built into the corner, as I mentioned above, or can be added to the backside of a kitchen island or peninsula. In these cases, at least one of the sides includes bench seating that is permanently attached to the floors below. I recommend avoiding that option and using temporary bench seating options instead. Your interior designer can help you look for portable bench seating that fits your space or can design custom seating to fit. Either way, you have something you can take with you when you leave and more flexibility during social functions.

Make those benches a storage space. As long as you opt for bench seating in one or two sides of your nook, I recommend making them storage space. You can either use hinged seats that open up, or create cabinet spaces on the front side of the lower bench. Either way, extra storage is always appreciated, keeping serving platters, seasonal dishware or specialty cookbooks out of the way when not in use.

Match the table with the space. If your nook will be rectangular, use a rectangular shaped table, or go oval if you prefer curves. If the nook’s a square, make the table a square as well. This makes for a cleaner and more congruent look. Your nook can take an arched shape, which will lend itself to an oval or circular table. The only exception to the matching shape rule would be in smaller kitchens or nooks, where a round table will keep exterior corners from bumping thighs or little heads as they pass by.

Splurge on cushions and accent pillows. Another reason to design custom furniture for your nook bench seating is that you should have full control over the plushness of the cushions. The more comfortable your cushions and accent pillows, the more you and your guests will enjoy the space.

Adorn it with a stunning fixture. Make your nook a showpiece and then top it off, literally, with a stunning light fixture. Pick something that draws the eye – like a chandelier or an eclectic sculpture-esque light and then add a dimmer switch so it can serve as both task and ambient lighting.

There is a wide gap between having a design style and realizing it. The having and knowing are the first steps. However, I’ve worked with plenty of clients over the years that had oodles of scrapbooks or online ideabooks with very specific examples of what they wanted, yet their current design reflected little – if any – of it.

This is a common occurrence for younger homeowners or homeowners that have done such a good job of being frugal and non-wasteful that their house becomes a hodge-podge of free hand-me-downs, thrift store finds and items that are in “decent enough” shape to keep around.

5 Tips For Making Your Design Style a Reality

Does that sound familiar? Then perhaps it’s time to turn over a new leaf so you can bring your coveted design style into fruition.

1. Know what your design style is. Do you even know what your design style is? Sometimes, I peek into an ideabook only to view a mish-mash of “tastes”, rather than a consistent or cohesive theme. This could be a sign that you’re eclectic or a transitionalist OR it could mean that while you appreciate great design, you haven’t really found your own, personal design yet. If you suspect you suffer from the latter, read, What’s Your Interior Design Style, and begin honing in on the colors, styles, textures, shapes and finishes that inspire you at the core level.
2. Consult with an interior designer. Consulting with a professional interior designer does not mean you have to hire one. You can pay a professional designer as a consultant while you narrow your style preferences down to one that exemplifies your taste and lifestyle. If you’re new to this process, an interior designer will also help you come up with a realistic budget, i.e. XX-dollars for new furniture, XX-dollars for new textiles, XX-dollars for new furnishings and accents, etc. If you choose to work with the designer now or down the road, great. If not, your money will have been well-spent helping you to solidify your tastes- and creating proportioned budget – so you can implement a new design on your own.
3. Out with the old. If you suffer from minor-hoarding tendencies, an inability to get rid of anything with sentimental value (even if you don’t like it), or an aversion to discarding items that are functional (but not stylish) – it’s time to buck up and purge your home of anything that doesn’t serve you. Typically, de-cluttering involves making three separate piles: trash, donate, sell. In this case, you are going to start by making ONE pile – the discard pile – and you can sort that out later. Move through your home and put anything you don’t LOVE in the discard pile. FYI: I’m not joking when I say this step may require sleeping on a mattress on a floor and sitting in a virtually empty living room furnished by camping chairs and a card table for a month or more. The point is, you now have a clear, free and unencumbered space in which to begin realizing an interior design style that truly represents who you are.
4. Start exploring. Now it’s time to begin exploring stores and online sources to find the big-item furniture pieces that will comprise the “bones” of the design. If you’re re-doing your kitchen, you’ll be looking at cabinetry options as well. Now that you know your design style, it will be easy to speak with customer service reps, who can steer you towards options that fit your niche. Just make sure you stick to your budget. Take digital picture of everything you genuinely adore. After a while of doing this, you’ll have a stock pile of photos you can review to whittle down to your favorites. These will be your future furnishings and accents.
5. Have fun with paints. Don’t rush into paint colors. Yes, it’s true; walls can be repainted. But who wants to go through the trouble if you don’t have to more than every handful of years or more? Better to take your time, paint huge swatches of cheap plywood or wall patches and live with them for a while. This will let you know how they your color options hold up to different lighting, or on this wall/room versus that wall/room. It will also help you to learn how very different a wall of paint looks than a small sample of paint appears. Not rushing into paint colors will be the best gift you ever give your newly designed homeself, because the reward will be a new paint palette that you love, one you won’t regret in a day, a week, a month or a year.

Once you’ve moved through these five steps, you’re ready to start taking your new interior design process in earnest. Again, never hesitate to enlist the help of a professional interior designer along the way to lend an opinion, to provide recommendations or to orchestrate your remodel for you so you can enjoy a stress-free process.

While the general structure of a western home – floor, roof walls – haven’t changed much in the past several hundred years, the internal spaces continue to morph and evolve over time.

From one- and two-room structures, to homes that had formal parlors or outdoor kitchens, the living spaces included between a home’s four walls are directly related to the period in which it is designed and built. Leaving some to wonder, family room vs great room, what’s the difference and which do I have?

Open floor plans affect the way we think about our living spaces

In an era where energy efficiency and automated heating and cooling are the norm, we no longer need to divide houses up into small, easily heated or shut off spaces. Instead, we have the opportunity to open things up, build bigger for cheaper and have access to other conveniences that free up our home’s interiors.

The open floor plan is a prime example of this. Within the open floor plan concept, you may notice that living spaces are noted, or named, differently on different sets of plans or in various real estate listings. Knowing the difference will assist you as you design – or re-design – your living spaces, and especially if you plan to list your home in the near future.

Is there a difference: family room vs great room?

Yes, there is a difference when it comes to a family room vs great room. One is very specific, and the other is a more all-encompassing space, often comprising the totality of the communal living spaces in a home.

A family room is a casual space designed for the family who lives there

Before we had the addition of “great room,” larger floor plans started dividing common area living spaces into two different spaces: living rooms and family rooms.

The former is a more formal space, one that has the newest, nicest and highest-quality furniture and furnishings, and where important or less familiar guests are directed upon their arrival. The idea of a formal living room is a luxury because it offers a place that is always clean and “put to rights,” since – in most cases – kids and pets aren’t allowed in there as often.

Family rooms, on the other hand, are designed to be casual. Perhaps the family uses the old couch from the living room in the family room. The television lives in the family room, as do some toys and the scuffed coffee table that can handle spilled snacks or the inevitable art projects. Kids and guests alike are a little less reserved in the family room, which makes is a more comfortable space overall if you’re going to spend any amount of time there.

Often, the family room is located adjacent to the kitchen because it provides close proximity to refreshments and allows parents to keep an eye on the kids while adults prepare for, or clean up after, mealtimes. In an open floor plan where a kitchen connects to the family room (a common design feature), homeowners need to be thoughtful about their kitchen colors and finishes, likewise with the family room’s, because there are clean lines of sight from one to the other.

A great room is all encompassing

And that brings us to the great room. The great room is the heart of a home built with an open floor plan, where a single space contains the living room/family room as well as the dining room. Obviously, there will be free-flow and continuity between the various living areas, so you’re relying on furniture pieces and area rugs to define spatial boundaries.

Also, as you can imagine, the formal living room area (if there even is one) will not be quite as formal in a great room belonging to a family with three kids because it’s nearly impossible to isolate it from the other living areas. Other features you may find – or choose to include – in a great room include a home office space, the household library or a child-friendly play corner that houses the children’s favorite toys or arts and craft supplies.

Of course, the entire great room is exposed to itself, so the overall backdrop is typically more neutral, with different, complementary colors and patterns being used in the various sections within the whole. Accent walls can come in handy here to create more definition between spaces, as do thoughtful furniture arrangements.

As a professional interior designer, I’m always happy to talk you into remodeling. It can prevent the sale of a home you love, add usable square footage to a small space and will re-energize an outdated or bland home design. At the same time, I am the first one to admit that remodeling or renovating a home should only take place when the owners have a clear set of goals or a vision for what is about to take place.

3 Examples of When Remodeling Your Home is NOT a Good Idea

Believe it or not, there are times when my recommendation to clients is,”take a pass on the remodel this time around.” While creating beautiful and functional living spaces is a passion of mine, so too is leaving behind a design that is truly suited to my clients’ needs and will serve them well in the long-term. The following are three examples of when that simply isn’t possible.

You simply don’t have the budget for it. A cheap or poorly executed remodel is akin to a cheap or poorly executed cosmetic procedure. It’s so worth it to save a little longer so you can afford the professional who can do the best and most lasting work for you. If you want a $50,000 kitchen remodel but you only have $25,000 to spend, you will wind up going cheap in all the wrong places, which leads to a kitchen that is frustrating and can’t hold up to daily wear-and-tear. Instead, I am happy to consult with you in order to design temporary fixes that will help you enjoy your current design a little longer while you prepare to save and/or finance a remodel that brings 100% satisfaction.

It won’t add enough value to your home. If you plan to age-in-place, remaining in your home for the next several decades, resale value is less of an issue. However, if there is any chance you will be selling your home in the next decade, you want to think very carefully about your remodeling plans. While its a rare remodeling project that will recoup 100% of the investment, the right interior design will definitely add value to your home. However, if the scope of your project can’t come close to being returned to you via a future home sale, I highly advise scaling your design back a bit so it makes financial sense.

You’ve remodeled your home more than once in the past 10 years. Just like the shopaholic is convinced that world peace is possible if he or she can just find the right wardrobe combination, I have met a few serial remodelers in my time. Sometimes, clients approach me to remodel their homes and, when I arrive for the consultation, I’m greeted by a beautiful, obviously fresh remodel or renovation that completely suits their needs. This raises a red flag for me. Are you just trying to keep up or compete with neighbors or friends? Do you find yourself bored and remodeling or redecorating is something to fill the space? Either scenario can result in an empty or vapid design experience, which is unsatisfying and always a challenge for the designer-client relationship. If you have invested in multiple remodels in a relatively short period of time, it might be time to meet with a designer who can implement a timeless design that you can redecorate more frequently and easily as your tastes and current trends continue to cycle.