Filed under: Your Home, Design, etc
Four designers offer insight on how to make your home a fun and lighthearted place for you and your family and friends.This week as we look at how your home can help solve your problems we're exploring how it can help you lighten up and have some fun. We reached out to the New York Design Center's new Access to Design designers to get their thoughts and tips on how your home can get you to be relax and kick back a little more. (You can also get great advice and find a designer at accesstodesign@nydc.com.)
Tony Calarco
Evelyn Benatar of New York Interior Design says to turn work into pleasure.
"A home office is a wonderful place to have some fun. It is a personal sanctuary that should put a smile on your face every time you enter. This home office was designed with just that in mind. There is a silver shag carpet, a large-scale pattern on the walls, and bright blocks of intense color on the drapery fabric and ottoman. The photo was taken by the owner's son and blown up into an edgy piece of artwork. This is the kind of office that is not too serious and encourages inspiration and creativity."
Courtesy of NVM Interiors
Nina Morton of NVM Interiors brings in bold colors and a touch of the unexpected.
"It's always a good idea to have fun in your home! Fun to me stands for Fantastic, Unique, and Novel. I like to mix color and whimsy in a space to suggest adventure and style. In this New York City playroom, the bright blue sofa and the yellow school bus are an example of what my sense of having fun is."
Courtesy of Glenn Lawson Interior Design
Glenn Lawson of Glenn Lawson Interior Design suggests switching things up regularly to make rooms interesting.
"Keep a radio in every room. Either keep them all tuned to the same station or make each one different to keep your ears fresh. Also, keep books and magazines in every room. You don't need a lot of them. Shuffle them and replace them every month or two to three weeks. Keep them fresh so you will be excited and want to read them. Make a conscious effort to rotate your paintings, accessories and pillows be it seasonally or every couple of months. It's guaranteed to bring a smile back to your face!"
John Chadwick of Interiors by John Chadwick believes that having fun is a family affair.
"One's home should always be a place where the family can have the most fun. First, of course, one must decide what their family considers to be fun. Ask your family what they consider to be fun and then create that fun environment in your home.
One option: The creation of a wonderful home theater doesn't have to be space consuming or terribly expensive. Consulting a good A/V specialist can provide many low-cost and efficient solutions for great audio/visual ideas. Those ideas combined with the talents of a creative interior design professional can provide a space where your family can spend countless hours enjoying movies together.
Another option? A home gym. It's a wholesome and healthy way for families to have fun together. Gym equipment has gotten both smaller in size and less expensive to purchase making it more and more appealing to most homeowners. Good space and equipment planning from a gym expert and appropriate interior design can create a home gym that you and your family will use and enjoy for years.
Then there's a beautifully well-planned kitchen, which can be the gathering place of any home where parents and children can be experimental and prepare nourishing meals or creative desserts...things that everyone in the family can enjoy. Beautiful appropriate design is the key here."