Beautiful home design starts on the INSIDE!
Home Design 3D Render (Linda Woods Design)
Hi Home Lovers!
I’m excited to share with you our latest home renovation & extension on the boards…
Modern Tudor on the Park.
Yes we’re showing off a little! But more importantly I want to demonstrate how essential it is to start your home design on the INSIDE first then gradually work towards the outside.
I’m approached by so many potential clients who started the home design process with an architect/building designer and the exterior design style is already cemented before we can have any influence. (Just to clarify - on larger scale new home and renovation projects we’re happy to collaborate, but as we offer full exterior design inhouse - it has to be a truly collaborative design process from the very beginning!)
Home Design 3D Render (Linda Woods Design)
From my perspective, having worked at all scales of design, this is back to front and leads to a home style inspired by the designer’s tastes, not the clients. Not for nefarious reasons, I just don’t think many people really understand how much their core design style starts from the inside and flows out - not the other way around.
So let me take you into our design process and how we work with our clients to really understand their core INTERIOR style first, before developing a complimentary exterior style. Which together forms their completely unique HOME-STYLE.
Before I go further, I need to confess that I’m an unabashed capitaliser of key words - the ones if I was talking to you in person I’d accentuate, draw out and wave my hands around to demonstrate their importance. That’s how I role!
Now where was I??
Here’s where we started - see the pic above. This is the existing old Tudor style home our client’s purchased and here’s where it gets tricky!
They purchased the home BECAUSE they loved the old world character. The question is HOW MUCH character really suits their personal design style? If we only made cosmetic changes and kept the Tudor panelling would this be too heavy and what sort of interior style would this compliment - would it have to be traditional? Or did we need a complete freshening, making the home lighter ready to receive a more Modern-Euro fitout on the inside?
On every project, our first goal is to create an Inside-Out Concept board - harmonising the client’s interior style with an exterior style. Creating a big-picture style view of how inside and out will work together. We go through a number of iterations with our clients until they say - “YES! That’s it.”
See the pic below for the Inside-Out concept that set the tone for the project!
Even to arrive at the Inside-Out Concept took extensive refining in our private Facebook group - back and forth. Questioning why the clients liked certain images, did they understand how a particular image would impact on the interiors, and vice versa - if they liked that interior style, were they ready for the impact on the exterior?
Beautiful homes are harmonious - the HOME-STYLE flows inside and out seamlessly. The best styles are blends of different design influences and the clients’ personalities and stories - but still one cohesive style.
Here’s a few clips from our Facebook group - showing how every design decision is made from an Inside-Out and Outside-In perspective. By engaging our clients as an integral part of the design team, and acting as their expert guides along the way, we ensure the final design is an expression of THEIR style and story.
“Beautiful homes are harmonious - the HOME-STYLE flows inside and out seamlessly. “
Through an extensive discovery process, we identified their HOME-STYLE as a blend of Classic Tudor with Luxe accents. I originally thought the accents were Country inspired as their love of the Modern Farmhouse style is what first drew them my design studio. But the more we investigated, there was so much love of rich, luxe finishes and together with the Art Deco accents through the home, we had to say goodbye to the country feel. You can only blend sooo many styles. The very nature of a Tudor home implies a country setting so this was enough.
While our clients loved classic rich interiors, the overall setting was always clean lines and a neutral backdrop. I knew we’d have to not just freshen up the exterior but lighten up the overall style of the home. The Tudor panelling had to go but we also had to cut back the heavy eaves and outdated bay windows… and obviously a re-roof.
If we hadn’t started with identifying our clients’ interior style first, most likely we would have fallen so in love with the old world character of the exterior, we wouldn’t have realised the extent of transformation needed to achieve a completely harmonious HOME-STYLE - flowing inside and out as one holistic style, blurring the lines between where exterior stops and interior begins and vice versa.
So if you’re about to embark on a large scale renovation or new home, be sure you stop and take the time to identify your interior style first. This will be a game changer for your home design and your architect/building designer will appreciate you have a clear vision and knowing what you love. This is the key to achieving a dream home inspired by YOU!
LINDA
XO
Home Design 3D Render (Linda Woods Design)
linda woods - interior designer
Would you like to work together?
Let me be your guide - helping you discover your personal Home-Style and creating your dream home!