When building your custom home, it’s the “custom” that makes all the difference. It’s about creating a personalized place that speaks to your tastes and needs, every day.
Often though there are ways to upgrade your home to even more perfect for you than you may first consider. Some call that luxury — whatever you want to call that, if you’re looking to elevate your home, here are some steps you can take:
Floor Plan and Decor
Of course, floor plans and the home design itself is personal and different to everyone, so it’s impossible to prescribe what will be perfect for you versus someone else.
That said, there are some good starting points that, while maybe not completely universal, are very often construction choices that improve one’s quality of life at home.
For example, take the mudroom: A well-placed mudroom near entry points with the right amenities enhances your home’s functionality — not to mention cleanliness! — and by doing so can noticeably reduce certain day-to-day maintenance burdens. Not only is that a “nice to have,” but this can genuinely improve your mental and physical wellbeing.
At the same time, a mudroom is a good place to keep other utilities, particularly storage like:
- Cabinets
- Extra hooks for lots of big (and likely wet or dirty) coats
- Durable seating for gearing up
- Even better if you can incorporate built-in storage here (ex. A fold-up bench)
Sure, these might be “luxury,” but they’re far from frivolous. When we talk about luxury, that’s what we mean: Additions and design that aren’t always standard, but improve your life in your home — whether by improving comfort, decreasing the burden of maintenance and keep-up, or creating an environment that just feels more like home.
The mudroom is just an example, but consider how other rooms can be designed to similarly have a positive impact on your life at home.
At the same time, what are some design-specific decisions that have the same effect? While this can be thanks to improved functionality like with a mudroom, it also includes style and design choices that simply help create an environment that feels personalized to what makes a home for you.
For some, this could include more “trendy” style choices like color drenching — coordinating all or most of a room to be shades of the same color as the painted walls and ceiling — but others might find a more eclectic or less rigid approach suits their tastes better.
Whatever your style, refer to these principles, which can help both elevate your home’s design and make it a more livable space within your design tastes:
- Establish clear “zones”: How can interior construction, furniture arrangement, and rug placement guide people in your home and establish different spaces’ functionality?
- Consider the balance of open spaces versus intimate ones: Open floor plans are more popular now than ever — but overcommitting to the concept can feel impersonal and jarring for day-to-day life.
- What are the focal points of these spaces? A century ago, homes were unified by necessary foundational spaces such as wood fireplaces, cornerstone dining tables, and others — modern design, fuel, and lifestyle has made it so this isn’t inherently true anymore. Still, especially in more open homes, you need to identify focal pieces that ground your space to make your rooms and home livable.
Keeping these in mind will help create a sense of cohesion and a foundation that promotes not just personal functionality, but also an environment that feels like home.
Kitchen and Appliances
The kitchen is a place where splurging a bit can make your life so much better. A kitchen isn’t just a place where you live, unlike other rooms, but where you work — after all, we all eat many times a day, and having the amenities and space to cook easily is a game changer (How many times have you heard people mention wanting more counter space?).
If we could pick one part of the house where it pays extra, it’s the kitchen.
Here are some upgrades that can improve your quality of life there:
Butler’s Pantry
A butler’s pantry is a walk-in pantry on steroids — an offshoot space from the kitchen that, along with additional storage, provides countertop and other space in which to prep. This provides not just additional storage, but more organized storage.
And because it goes beyond just being a walk-in pantry, it’s now easier to not just access your ingredients, but to actually use this space to work in such a way that doesn’t interrupt flow in the kitchen or adjacent areas. It’s also a great place to include cocktail or coffee fixings, or wine and beer storage. We’ve seen people get pretty creative here!
Essentially, a butler’s pantry combines walk-in pantry with kitchen workspace to be extra versatile and useful.
Personalized Design and Functionality Elements
Just like with the rest of your house, you want your kitchen to feel like it belongs with your vision. That means not just that the aesthetic and design elements feel like home, but that functional aspects of the kitchen are personalized to your needs.
Along with the style and coloring decisions, ask yourself what you want from your:
- Lighting — good lighting makes a huge difference in a kitchen! Don’t overlook this!
- Cabinetry
- Countertops
- Kitchen island
- Pantries — how would upgrading to a walk-in improve your experience?
- Appliances — which would you benefit from upgrading to chef-grade?
- Storage
Extra-Durable Construction and Seating
Kitchens sneakily take quite a beating. At the same time, gatherings often gravitate towards the kitchen. (Seriously, how is it that whether at a college party or a middle-aged wine club, we all love to end up in the kitchen?)
So how can you ensure your kitchen is well-suited to the different roles it will play?
First, we really recommend not skimping on the construction in a kitchen. Like we mentioned, kitchens are dealing with fire, ice, pounding, slicing, chopping, banging, hot oil — that’s a beating that you don’t want to go up against flimsy construction, because a flimsily-constructed kitchen will not come out on top in the end. Heavier duty construction will last and look better for longer while doing it.
On the other end of that spectrum, with the kitchen often being a gathering place, how can you build towards that? For example, a connected bar and seating can make it comfortable and social instead of isolated.
The bottom line: A kitchen will play many roles. Build it accordingly.
Exterior and Outdoor Spaces
For most of us, our dream home isn’t limited to what is within the walls. Especially in a place as beautiful as the Pacific Northwest, you want your outdoor areas to be a space where you’re equally at-home.
Here are some thoughts to keep in mind:
Kitchen, dining, and social amenities
Probably the most popular amenity to elevate your home’s exterior is an outdoor kitchen area — with grilling and prep stations — and other features associated with that: Dining areas and high-quality furniture for gathering are popular accompaniments. We also love seeing homes that take into consideration the exterior ambience with deliberate lighting design to foster that environment.
Landscaping and using the environment to your advantage
Beyond specially designed social, dining, and cooking spaces, also consider the landscaping touches:
- Which other activities will be happening outside and how can you create “zones” for them like the interior of your home?
- How would water, rock, and vegetation features help shape your outdoors to create the kind of space you want to spend time in?
In that vein, just coating your whole outdoors with grass creates a sort of personality-less, uninspiring space — you can “engineer” your space to create a personalized environment by adding garden elements and other flora. Not to mention, by doing so you’ll bring all sorts of butterflies, bumblebees, birds, chipmunks, and other friendly wildlife to your home. Who wouldn’t love sipping coffee on your patio while watching hummingbirds buzz around the outdoor space you created? Sounds like a lovely way to start the day (Or substitute “cocktail” for “coffee,” and you’ve got yourself a glorious place for happy hour).
Making sure it lasts — and is usable year-round
Like what we spoke about regarding kitchens, we recommend prioritizing high-quality materials for your outdoors, and ones that are harmonious with your architectural style and surrounding environment. This is a space that will be exposed to the elements — you want it to both keep well and look good beyond just move-in day.
Lastly: Consider covered areas and fireplaces or heaters.
Depending on where you live, the outdoors probably isn’t always comfortable 365 days a year. Take us, in the Pacific Northwest, we’re covered in drizzly rain from October to April, but with the right design, you can use your outdoor space year-round in comfort!
Energy Efficiency, Safety, and Automated Technologies
We’ll preface this by saying not every piece of new tech is suited to every person. That said, there are a lot of smart home features that can sneakily improve your convenience and comfort.
Tech like automated lighting, climate control, and cleaning devices can be things you don’t think you need, but once you have you realize how much they improve the little things in your day-to-day life. Along with tailoring your interior to your own tastes and needs, certain features here can improve energy efficiency.
For example, more energy-efficient ventilation systems and advanced insulation can keep you more comfortable and save you money each month. Reinforced, environmentally appropriate roofing can also keep your home more insulated and protected against extreme weather.
Similarly, there are a lot of newer technologies that can improve your home’s safety, especially for kids — and keep your home safe from kids and other things too. Take for example, child-safe outlets and tamper-resistant plumbing. Also consider fire-resistant materials and modern, state-of-the-art sprinkler systems.
The Bottom Line
In the end, a more luxurious home looks a little bit different to everyone. Think about what your dream home looks and feels like — then remember there are little ways to upgrade that dream, which you might not have even considered!
When in doubt, you can always check back here for more inspiration. Or, if you’re in the Pacific Northwest near us, feel free to reach out to our team, who can help you figure out which luxury design elements are important to your vision and then make that happen.
