#homerenovations Archives - Shiree Segerstrom

Posts Tagged ‘#homerenovations’

What Does a Healthy Home Life Look Like

What does a healthy home look like? I’ve created a fun little framework for you below, One Week to Planning Your Lifestyle at Home. But first let’s chat about a few things.

Does it have open floor plans. Is there generous window space with views of trees and other plant life. Are there optimized zones for connecting with loved ones (and yourself).

Is it filled with natural furnishings like bamboo flooring, low VOC paint and smart appliances that support a healthy lifestyle?

Or does it go more in-depth with sustainable “green” features like renewable energy sources, water efficiency and environmentally optimized building specs and materials?

Forget all that for a moment because here’s the thing: your home either supports or drains you.

Do you feel energized, relaxed and inspired at home? Does your home support a lifestyle that’s active, or one that’s tied to the sofa and flat screen television?

And if it’s the latter, that’s okay but it’s important to know that your results in life, whether fitness endeavors, financial goals, relationships, everything is tied back to the many actions you take on a day in day out basis.

Not the few, big things you do sporadically. It’s in the day-to-day actions. And that’s why it’s called a “lifestyle”.

What Does a Healthy Home Life Look Like

I love my home. I love relaxing here; working; taking excellent care of myself and my loved ones in a home that’s beautiful and supportive.

Every day I’m practicing Yoga in the den; making my big raw salads and fresh green juices; riding my stay-bike; or dancing barefooted on my rebounder to my favorite tunes; walking Riley along the bird preserve in back of our community; working reasonable, even enjoyable hours in my home office with a short commute upstairs; and other healthy activities.

I love how my home balances all of my endeavors from building multiple businesses, to coaching my design client’s, to entertaining family and friends.

The way it looks and feels brings me joy. I love how I’ve decorated it with heirlooms mixed in with new fabrics and modern lamps and how I’ve decorated it with items collected from extensive travels, both nationally
and internationally.

My home runs smoothly and allows me to fit so much more goodness into my days. I couldn’t take nearly as good care of myself or accomplish as much in a messy home without these systems.

I know the various tools to keep me on track, the fixtures, apps and appliances I require such as my Breville juicer; my pretty red VitaMix blender; my rebounder; my iPad (the mini is perfect for arthritic hands!); the Kindle app that holds all my health and business books, and all the other important things that comprise a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Home Life Check List

Monday

Pour yourself a cup of green tea, grab a fresh tablet and your fave pen, sit in your comfiest chair and dream for thirty minutes. What do you love and what don’t you love about your home? Write it down, no need to be specific just yet. Write down things like the sofa, the bathroom, and the window treatments.

You’ll go more in depth later.

Tuesday

Identify your style preferences like modern, farmhouse, contemporary, and your lifestyle needs like an at home self-care practice, or an at home business.

Be specific here.

Wednesday

Determine how your home is currently functioning and not functioning for you. It’s okay if these overlap with the other bullet points. Write them down anyway. Get really specific here.

Take special note on any of the things you repeat.

Thursday

Taking into consideration the things you’ve written down, grab your calculator and calendar and identify your next one to three decorating, remodeling or building plans. From there, build out your budget and timeline. Prioritize things that you can afford first. Spread out things that are too costly right now.

Take your time in writing these down.

Friday

Treat yourself to a pretty binder for your project today. Go to Pinterest for inspo. and start choosing colors, textures and styles that feed your soul, but that will also appeal to the other peeps in the home. Choose colors that are restful and styles that mix both feminine or masculine elements.

You can repeat these elements throughout your projects to build visual continuity.

Saturday

Now, for the big stuff.

Create one ideal floor plan per room. I like the Chief Architect app. If just buying furniture, do a furniture layout. If remodeling an entire bath, do the floor plans. When done correctly this one thing will enhance everyone’s sense of stability and security, and all changes will be built on this one firm foundation. Floor plans are super important and often overlooked.

Sunday

Review and refine your notes. Take your time. Staying relaxed will help you be more creative!

And there you have it!

I hope you get a lot from today’s check list. I know I enjoyed creating it for you. Before you go, check out the new download below for budgeting your next kitchen projects.

Bye for now,

Shiree’ xo

Kitchen Budget Design and Remodel Starter Kit

Manage your kitchen remodeling budget with clarity and confidence. The Kitchen Budget Starter Kit has simple, effective budgeting formulas, frameworks and tools for helping you build a kitchen remodel or makeover budget.

I’ve been designing homes for over 20 years, and I love helping you weave through all the challenges of building a beautiful, healthier home and lifestyle.

In this complimentary download you get …

My Good, Better, Best Kitchen Remodel and Makeover Budgets to help you know what to expect in advance.
The classic 50/30/20 Formula to help you determine how much of your own household income to dedicate to home improvements.
A list of potential products and materials you’ll need, and their price ranges.
Two timelines, one for budgeting and one for your projects.
And details on a premier service that I’m super excited to share to help you design, plan and implement your own kitchen projects!

Click here to grab your download!

For more on spaces for reconnecting with yourself and loved ones, check out “The Functional Home: How to Use all the Rooms in Your Home”.

Fall Home Refresher…High Impact Design Ideas that Make the Most of Your Home

light filled room with amber leather egg chair

Fall Home Refresher…High Impact Design Ideas that Make the Most of Your Home

A good, fall home refresher is something we all love, and these high impact design ideas will help you make the most of your home. Fall has always been the busiest time of year for the design trade. Many homeowners entertain during this time and want their homes to look wonderful and inviting
when company arrives for Thanksgiving.

I’ve put together a list of high impact design ideas for you to choose from to give your
home a noticeable, overall improvement. Any of these are great projects to
prioritize in the fall because, that’s about the time we start entertaining in our homes. Starting early will ensure you get your items on
time as well as help you budget for the expenses that come along in December.

Upholstery/Slipcovers

There’s no use making improvements if they aren’t noticeable. Recovering or
slipcovering your sofa and/or chairs is a high impact item. It’s also a
relatively cost-efficient improvement, meaning you get a lot of bang for your
buck.

Sofas

Sofas and chairs are large surfaces. If they are stained, the arms are tattered, or
if the colors are fading it will have a big effect on the overall appearance of
your room. Choose high-quality, well-designed upholstery and light weight slip
cover fabrics to ensure wearability and “lasting style”.

Window Treatments

Window treatments are another popular item for fall. Spring too. Heat, cold and
aesthetics are the main drivers behind this one.

There are a wide variety of styles and price ranges so it’s important to understand
your own budget and timeline.

I try and take some of the challenge out of the decision-making process for my
clients by sticking with timeless, classic styles. I feel simple window
treatments are almost always best. The exceptions are large, Victorian homes,
mansions or grand hotels.

Rule of Thumb

A good rule of thumb is to do floor length
draperies and sheers on traverse rods in the living room and dining room and in
the guest rooms do valances and wooden blinds or shutters. It’s a way to
control costs, ensure you get a classic look that doesn’t date quickly, and add
resale value to the home.

Custom draperies, shades and valances take several weeks (about five or six, barring
surprises) to measure, design, fabricate and install. Sometimes alterations are
needed (designers, installers and seamstresses are human) so you must also
allow for unforeseen contingencies. Shutters and wood or woven shades are
generally quicker.

Bedding

Custom bedding is a nice touch in the guest room as well as the master bedroom. Once
you’ve seen a really good seamstress’ work you’ll know the difference. Paying
for custom work is a waste if the workroom doesn’t do quality finish work. You
definitely get what you pay for!

I always do either a gathered or box pleated bed skirt. I like to do a duvet
rather than a bedspread, sometimes with a tiny welt around the outside edge or
a pillowcase hem. Duvets are basically covers for comforters. They both protect
the comforter and make it look pretty. Additionally, I like to do two
coordinating pillow shams with flanges and welts and two coordinating kidney
pillows with welts or fringe. Too many pillows on the bed are problematic for
spouses and guests.

Recent Project

One recent master bedroom project had a framed bed that we tucked the duvet into.
The duvet was done up in a pale greenish-blue texture, two pale taupe matelassé
pillow shams with a welt to match the duvet and two kidney pillows in a
beautiful pussy willow print with the same matching welts. We did a handsome,
lined woven shade on the window and a russet chenille upholstery fabric on the small
bedroom chair.

Another project, this one a guest room, had a duvet in a gorgeous, pale yellow and
coral “open” floral-paisley linen, with cream matelassé shams and bed skirt. The
architecture of the home is stunning, and I didn’t want to overpower it with too
many details. We kept it simple and elegant.

Right now, we are in the process of doing the second guest bedroom in another beautiful
fabric. This time a cream linen with a kind of latte colored, “open” floral. It
looks golden yellow at first glance then you realize it’s more tan than gold.
And we are doing bench and chair cushions for both rooms in a striped cotton
with contrasting welts.

Makeovers

With a price range of around $650 to $1,200, a home makeover using the furniture and
accessories you already have is perfect for getting your home ready for fall.
Having your furniture properly arranged, and pictures, lighting and accessories
artfully placed makes a huge difference in a room.

A hidden benefit is that once the makeover is done, it keeps you from purchasing
the wrong things for your home. In many cases, it saves you from buying new
things altogether.

Sofas/Love Seats/Chairs

Of the fall projects listed here, new sofas and chairs are one of the biggest
investments and therefore require some planning. Choosing the right style, size
and fabric will create long lasting satisfaction.

Remember my simple rules for sofas. If the space is small, choose a sofa without a skirt
Show the legs! Unless you’re buying an apartment sofa or love seat, three
cushions are best. No one likes to sit on the crack. If you prefer a solid
colored sofa, go with a heavy texture. If you prefer a print, choose a heavy
linen blend. Textures and heavy linen blends wear well and don’t show spots and
stain’s as much as other fabrics.

Most sofas are 84 to 97 inches wide. If the cushion quality or fabrics are cheap, it
will begin to show in a few years. Kiln-dried, hard wood frames are important
for long lasting use.

New Throw Pillows

A great way to perk up a tired looking sofa or chair is with new throw pillows. I
prefer down blend (although I’m looking into alternatives because of humane
issues with down). Two custom throw pillows require 1 ½ yards of fabric, two forms,
labor, and an extra yard to a yard and a half of fabric for welts sewn on the
bias. I usually do two to three twenty-inch pillows for medium to large sized
sofas, and eighteen-inch pillows for love seats. I like to do a tiny welt in a
contrasting fabric rather than pre-made trims. I also do brushed fringes. I
never get tired of brushed fringe though it’s been around awhile. For more

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed Fall Home Refresher…High Impact Design Ideas that Make the Most of Your Home. Thank you for stopping by Joy of Nesting today. Wellness Design is a vast topic.

Creating a healthier, more beautiful lifestyle in your home is easy when you have my pretty little download the Wellness Home Check List that gives you at-a-glance details on the many aspects of Wellness Design, so you can find them easily when you’re ready to start a wellness design renovation in your home.

Here’s that link again. Bye for now!

Shiree

For more on designing and styling your home, visit 5 Design Principles that Make Your Home More Restful.