3 Tips to Make Your Home Feel Like a Model

Don’t Underestimate the power of lighting

After you’ve lived in a home a while, the light fixtures, so meticulously chosen when the home was built, can seem to fade away into the background. But what all good designers know and what builders incorporate into their model homes, is beautiful lighting, placed strategically to highlight the desirable features in a home. Lighting fixtures are a relatively inexpensive home update that can provide a lot of class. Be careful to maintain the same finish throughout the home when you update fixtures so your home doesn’t feel mismatched.

Don’t Crowd the Corners

Sometimes people are tempted to push their furniture to the edges of the room and even up against the walls in order to make the room feel bigger. I’ve even seen some home stagers use this method to try to create more floor space in a home listed on the market. Personally, I think it looks a bit tacky. And if you look carefully, you’ll see that professional decorators that work with new home builders make an effort to keep nice clean sight lines all the way to where the flooring meets the wall. 

Direct the eye upward

Notice how the decorators directed the eye upward in the two rooms in the image below by placing the shower curtain and the window curtains higher than normal. Most of us have a tendency to place curtains just above the window or just within our reach above the shower. But look at the difference when the curtains are placed all the way to the ceiling. This is especially stunning if you have higher ceilings in your home.

If you choose to use this method you will need to buy the longer curtains, and you will need to use a window curtain in the bathroom rather than a traditional shower curtain. I haven’t done this myself for everyday living and don’t know how practical it is but I imagine with a shower curtain liner on a separate rod you may be able to accomplish the look you desire with a little creativity. I would love to see pictures if you decide to use this method in your bathroom.

The pictures for this post were taken at The Creeks at Weston, an M/I Homes neighborhood. Did you know that M/I Homes will reimburse up to 70% of your relocation expenses? Read more…

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