Many buyers upsizing their homes are at a stage in their lives where the property into which they are moving may be their home for the next twenty to thirty years. If you are at this stage, there is a greater chance that as an upsizer you may be more willing to invest the time and money into styling your home interior to reflect your tastes and values, while making your daily interactions with your home as enjoyable as possible.
The first question that comes to mind for an upsizer is: how do we style our new home interior?
By this stage of your lives, you have probably accrued a few key items, treasures, and furniture that reflect your taste and are coming with you in the move no matter what.
With all that stuff in tow, do you leave it to your own good judgment or employ a stylist or home interior decorator?
Using a professional when styling your home interior
For interior design ideas, what makes a good stylist? First thing’s first: don’t confuse a stager for a stylist. A stager works with you to present your home to either a specific demographic or to as wide a range of people as possible when marketing your home for sale.
A stylist specializes in home interior design and works with you to meld bedroom ideas, living room decor, kitchen design ideas and every other aspect of the home to work together as contiguous home decor ideas, reflecting your tastes and values. Their aim is to help your home design represent current trends and technologies, while using historical design movements to influence every decision made. A good stylist always adds context to your home, whether historical or more contemporary.
The cost: in 2016, the average cost per hour for an interior designer in NSW was $77, with the highest average hourly cost found in QLD, at up to $100.
A stylist will either charge by the hour or for the job as a whole. Obviously the more a stylist/interior designer is in demand, the higher their cost, and for good reason. Interior designers often undergo years of study where they engage with the relationship between materials, forms, design eras, innovations and more, bringing an education in design and a creative instinct to your home’s décor.
An effective stylist or interior designer will relish the chance to establish your budget and create beautiful design within the confines of that budget. For this reason, you have the choice to either use an interior designer or stylist as a one-off or series of consultations, or as a project manager who sources pieces of furniture and materials for your home, while designing and implementing the entire process of your home’s interior.
Lastly, a stylist can even save you money by achieving strong design results with limited materials and using their knowledge of suppliers to get you the most from your money.
Steps towards styling your new home
Identify your values: how do you respond to objects in your home? Does a cluttered home create noticeable stress for you or do you feel comforted by many little items in your home? Some may argue that being surrounded by walls of books would seem claustrophobic for many people. However, a wall of books means more than just a design trend for many people, but a tie to their childhood and a comfort in the knowledge that there are thousands of stories surrounding them within the one room.
Trust your gut: avoid getting bogged down in what has been called ‘scientism’, which is valuing the perceived science behind certain topics, such as design, over your creative instincts. The science of design may dictate that certain shapes are conducive to certain emotional responses but this shouldn’t stand in the way of what you instinctively enjoy as a part of design. If your mind responds well to chaos, then design that doesn’t always make sense might suit your home.
A good interior designer will use your personality as a diving board from which to explore design ideas.
Thinking of styling your home? Check out more ideas on the view.com.au Pinterest page.
