How to turn a house into a home

Most people are choosing to build homes with quality rather than quantity in mind. They believe that when it comes to comfortable spaces, bigger is not always better. You see such houses as you drive through your neighbourhood and suburbs -huge houses that look like roofed boxes. They all look the same, despite the slight differences in colour and in the variety of bushes hugging the foundations.

Some of us turn away from these “cookie-cutter” behemoths, wishing for something else - something that is difficult to define and something that actually defines who we are. What are we searching for? What a lot of people think they want is something they can name, which usually equates to spaciousness.

Personal choice
What is missing though is that we don’t have language for what we really want, what makes our hearts feel like we are home. It has to do with details - how we are able to put the details we want in a space. For some prospective home owners, the search for a home becomes a difficult and confusing task when armed with only one defined tool- room sizes. They plunge into plan books and browse the Internet, trying to find the seemingly indefinable or want a copy of somebody’s already done house plan.

The basics
The idea of a home doesn’t reside in square or room sizes although it will matter eventually; it resides in the details, the quality of light and the way the space wraps the tailoring of a house. I strongly believe the concept of proportion has been abandoned.

Our homes and the rooms within them have gotten larger and larger, taller and taller, until we walk into them and, like Gulliver in the land of giants, feel completely overwhelmed! A house should be proportioned to our human scale. Making your new house a home involves defining what matters to you in the long run. Start with the notion of comfort. Only you know what makes you comfortable. For me it is a space that “nestles” the activity within it.

Creating space
Consider a moderately high ceiling, or perhaps a window seat or a nook. Move next to what you enjoy about your present home. Pay close attention to the spaces that you use every day; you will want those re-created in your new home.
Then look at the spaces that you use only two or three times a month. To avoid building a new home with similar underutilised spaces, you can either find a way to accommodate their functions in the everyday spaces, or build them to serve double duty. For instance, some people prefer a dining room that also functions as a reading space or office space. Also, line the walls with books.

Small wonders
Gather the family for lunch on Sunday brunch. Create spaces for travel souvenirs, family heirlooms and objects d’art. Sometimes it takes a conscious effort to abandon the idea of the home as a show piece and let it be simply an expression of your family’s history. The living room is the site of rambunctious sibling interaction. That same room could be a pleasant retreat for adults. Sure, it needs to be hardy, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be delightful.

Consider your window placement. Where are the views? From which side does the sunlight flow? Think about what will be in the room. Wouldn’t a “nestled” furniture group be inviting? Perhaps the television should be placed in its own nook so that it doesn’t dominate human activity in the room. But you are not yet planning room configurations are you?

You are contemplating on a house plan and you might not even be sure that it is exactly the best choice. Try altering your perception slightly. Think of the pre-drawn house plan as the beginning of a great house.

Floor plan
A floor plan is like a map of a city. A map doesn’t tell you what a place is going to feel like; it tells you how to get your feet from one place to another. Every floor plan can change, but some lend themselves more readily to the kinds of changes you may desire. Look for a plan that doesn’t have formal spaces, but rather spaces that can be used for both formal and casual functions. Many floor plans can be modified spaces from one room to another. Beyond this, much of the work is up to you. Decorate to suit your taste. Make use of a comfortable loveseat instead of an expensive couch.

Finally, don’t let a particular architectural style block your imagination. The philosophy of comfort transcends style; your interpretation is what matters. Your home is yours, remember? Make it your own smaller wonder.

Mr Nuwamanya is a partner with Creation Architects
josephnuwamanya@gmail.com