How Does Your Home Feel to You?

Welcome to my first interior design blog post. I look forward to sharing the challenges, adventures and inspiration that I experience through my daily dalliances in my interior business on the Gold Coast, Australia.

As I was preparing one of our homes for an open house today I reflected back on the time when we had bought it and how excited I was to have a blank canvas as my ongoing design project. It was the property that finally got me to take that step and study interior design and formalise all those hours and hours of pouring through interior design books and magazines from all over the world.

"Rivercrest Estate" is 88 squares on 1 and 1/3 acres of riverfront land with 7 bedrooms 6 bathroom 5 kitchens a pool house and lift, the list goes on. Although I am happy with the relaxed decorating style and layout of this beautiful home that has delivered us so many wonderful memories, as I wandered around today straightening beds, turning on lamps, potting plants etc. I couldn't help but be puzzled by all of the changes I had wanted to make and hadn't. I was looking at walls that should have been painted a different colour and hadn't been, tiles that should have been updated but never were. How did someone in my profession live in a home for so many years and avoid the desperation to make those obvious changes.

As we sat there in the afternoon and discussed the property with the 2 listing agents we commented on the "obvious cosmetic upgrades" that would be noticeable to prospective buyers but in the same breath they commented on how, irrespective of those, that the place just had a really special feel and was almost like a retreat.

They were right and had hit the nail on the head. I had spent many years thinking about different structural changes I would like to make while I was busy making changes to my clients' homes. The truth was though, the changes would be to change the way it looked. I guess deep down, a little like Freddie Mercury never wanting to get his teeth fixed in case it changed how his voice sounded, I was always worried that I would change the way the house felt. This home to me was more reminiscent of a European Estate with the the years of history embedded in every structural piece than a glistening Gold Coast mansion where the previous families cherished memories are carted away to the tip to make way for the latest bathroom tiles and fittings.

It really brought home to me why it had been so hard for me to let go of this home and agree it was time to move on and commit to living in our new seachange lifestyle in the little coastal town of Kingscliff.

As the kids, husband and dog all couldn't wait to get out of the door today and back to our new home I knew the "feeling" I was so worried about losing was as much to do with US as the house and would travel with us to wherever we were. I had also learnt a very valuable lesson in selecting any of our future homes, if the energy and "feel" is not right at the start, no amount of new tiles and upgrades will help that, but if the layout and energy is there at the outset you will enjoy living there from day 1 even before you make your first structural upgrade!

So how does your home "feel" to you?