The importance of
space planning and design.
By Rowena Vaughan,
RJV Designs Ltd
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| 15 Year Old Kitchen |
A
client of mine recently walked into a now quite old (15 years) kitchen that I
had designed and said “This, this is what I want! A room that doesn’t date, that works well and
will take me through the next 20 years of life.” I have to say that I took this as a
compliment.
What
was so effective about this room? It
wasn’t the amount of money spent! 15
years ago most of the funds had been used
turning two flats back into a house – with all the plumbing, electrics
and internal works that entails. By the
time the clients came to do the kitchen, finances were tight. The
kitchen units are simple painted Shaker style, the appliances are just white or
chrome, the sink nothing special but the room and kitchen work. Why?
Because a lot of time had
been spent considering the room;
how it would be used and how the family’s life might change with the years and
planning for it. A well designed
property will retain its value and continues to look good through all the
trials and tribulations that family life will throw at it. An interior designer can’t organize a house
to self clean, but we can set it out so that keeping it tidy is easier.
Good
interior design is not just about the decoration, furniture and curtains. It is about the design, the space planning,
the ergonomics, the small and important
details that make a room work over the long term. Once this aspect of the interior is sorted
then the ‘fun’ part of the decoration and fabrics can be arranged.
Some
of the most important details to consider are:
- Lighting – lighting for different
tasks and being able to change and adapt the lighting to suit the purposes. Providing options and variables.
- Storage – it is an axiom with London
houses that you can NEVER have too much storage. Plan not just for now, but for future
requirements. A small child and their
primary plastic toy collection, morphs into one with a huge amount of sports
equipment.
- Sockets – in our electronic age,
with all our gadgets and gizmos you can never have too many of these and
placing them in accessible areas is equally essential.
- Flow – how people will move
around a room, a space, a floor. How
will a space be used for a party, children playing, just the family. All are different but need to be considered.
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| 2 Year Old Kitchen |
- Focal point – a room with a focal point
looks better visually – a picture window, a fireplace, a large picture all
these provide good focal points.
- Materials – what to use on the floor,
worktops, unit finishes.
I
could go on! But these are just a few of
the details to consider.
Good
design does not date. Well planned and
thought out houses, even if the
decoration is old and tired, will sell
easier and better than their hotch-potched and ill considered twin. A house that has been added to over the years
without an overall plan can often look a mess, even if a lot of money has been spent
on the property. An expensive bathroom
badly planned is an annoyance. An extension which increases the floor area
of the property but doesn’t add to the functionality of the house or room is a
shame. All that effort for little gain.
William Morris had it
right:
“Have nothing in your
house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
