Lifestyle: 9 Ways You Can Learn to Love Your Home’s Imperfections
Few people live in a perfect, finished pad, so don’t let a weird layout or wonky floor bother you. Learn to love your home, regardless
Jo Simmons
26 October 2015
Houzz UK Contributor. I have been an interiors journalist since 1995, writing several books on design and numerous features for glossy homes mags over the years. For Houzz, I cover decorating ideas and trends and interview designers and professionals for their insights. My favourite pieces to write, though, are Houzz Tours, as I love exploring and learning about real homes. Call me curious — or nosy!
Houzz UK Contributor. I have been an interiors journalist since 1995, writing several... More
Who lives in a perfect home? Not many of us. Real homes experience real life, after all, and that can leave its marks. In addition to the scuffs, wear and damage inflicted by daily activity, most homes have a few hard-wired imperfections, too: a narrow hallway, an awkwardly sloping ceiling, a door that won’t shut properly or a bath that takes three hours to empty… You can learn to live with, and even love, these domestic imperfections with a mix of practical steps and imaginative thinking. Here are some tips.
Big up odd lines and angles
Rather than attempting to conceal or mask any odd angles and sloping ceilings, celebrate them instead. There’s often no point trying to pretend a sloping ceiling is anything but, so draw attention to its swooping lines by painting the adjoining wall in a bold shade.
Discover how to make the most of sloping ceilings and walls
Rather than attempting to conceal or mask any odd angles and sloping ceilings, celebrate them instead. There’s often no point trying to pretend a sloping ceiling is anything but, so draw attention to its swooping lines by painting the adjoining wall in a bold shade.
Discover how to make the most of sloping ceilings and walls
Remember the source
Sometimes it really helps to think beyond the imperfection and focus instead on how it came into being. Did that sofa become threadbare thanks to your small children bouncing on it? Does that table leg bear the marks of a teething puppy, now grown up to be an adult dog? When your home’s scuffs, knocks and imperfections have a story behind them, it’s easier to feel positive about them.
Sometimes it really helps to think beyond the imperfection and focus instead on how it came into being. Did that sofa become threadbare thanks to your small children bouncing on it? Does that table leg bear the marks of a teething puppy, now grown up to be an adult dog? When your home’s scuffs, knocks and imperfections have a story behind them, it’s easier to feel positive about them.
Make a feature of a poor view…
Imperfections can be perfected with a little thought and imagination. So if your courtyard garden is small and bordered by brick walls, get out your paintbrush and add some colour – or even a mural, as here – and turn that boundary into a work of art.
Imperfections can be perfected with a little thought and imagination. So if your courtyard garden is small and bordered by brick walls, get out your paintbrush and add some colour – or even a mural, as here – and turn that boundary into a work of art.
…or draw a veil
If your home is inflicted with an imperfection that is beyond your control, such as a bad view you can’t fix, rather than bemoan it, see whether you can hide it. Sheer curtains or window stickers in a frosted finish will obscure a poor view without blocking out too much light.
If your home is inflicted with an imperfection that is beyond your control, such as a bad view you can’t fix, rather than bemoan it, see whether you can hide it. Sheer curtains or window stickers in a frosted finish will obscure a poor view without blocking out too much light.
Add some plants
The lush, vibrant colours of plants can work wonders in making any minor imperfections in your home look charmingly dishevelled and organic rather than scruffy. Outside, try growing trailing plants over wonky walls or peeling paintwork. Inside, add potted plants to give your home layers of living colour and prevent any imperfect pockets from attracting attention.
The lush, vibrant colours of plants can work wonders in making any minor imperfections in your home look charmingly dishevelled and organic rather than scruffy. Outside, try growing trailing plants over wonky walls or peeling paintwork. Inside, add potted plants to give your home layers of living colour and prevent any imperfect pockets from attracting attention.
Celebrate the memories
The life of a home – all the family dramas, meals, friends and daily activity that have played out within its walls – is just as important as its appearance. Smother a wall with photos taken in your house to remind you of the life you’ve lived in it. This is a great way to remember that even those pesky imperfections are central to your home’s role as a family HQ.
Find out how to take better photos of your house
The life of a home – all the family dramas, meals, friends and daily activity that have played out within its walls – is just as important as its appearance. Smother a wall with photos taken in your house to remind you of the life you’ve lived in it. This is a great way to remember that even those pesky imperfections are central to your home’s role as a family HQ.
Find out how to take better photos of your house
Look again
If you’ve written off sections of your home as unusable or unattractive, you could be missing a trick. Could you find a purpose for the places and features you dislike? You may think that tiny corner or cramped balcony can’t be used, but sometimes sourcing the right furniture or adding a lick of paint or some smart lighting is all it takes to transform an imperfect place into a useful and enjoyable space.
Check out 10 shifts in attitude that will help create a better home
If you’ve written off sections of your home as unusable or unattractive, you could be missing a trick. Could you find a purpose for the places and features you dislike? You may think that tiny corner or cramped balcony can’t be used, but sometimes sourcing the right furniture or adding a lick of paint or some smart lighting is all it takes to transform an imperfect place into a useful and enjoyable space.
Check out 10 shifts in attitude that will help create a better home
Change your vocab
Stop seeing that cistern that takes forever to fill, that narrow hallway or your sticky, squeaky window as a problem and call it an idiosyncrasy instead. We forgive idiosyncrasies in our friends and families, so why not in our homes? It’s a good way to humanise your home’s imperfections, helping them to feel warm and quirky rather than frustrating. They are your home’s individual little ticks and flaws and, as such, give it unique personality.
Stop seeing that cistern that takes forever to fill, that narrow hallway or your sticky, squeaky window as a problem and call it an idiosyncrasy instead. We forgive idiosyncrasies in our friends and families, so why not in our homes? It’s a good way to humanise your home’s imperfections, helping them to feel warm and quirky rather than frustrating. They are your home’s individual little ticks and flaws and, as such, give it unique personality.
Take pride
A beautifully finished house may be something to aim for, but there’s a lot to be said for a ‘real’ home that speaks of who you are, not when you last had the decorators in. So take pride in your home’s every detail: the good, the bad and the imperfect. Its small blemishes make it unique and are nothing to be apologetic about.
Get ideas for cranking up the style in your first kitchen
TELL US…
How have you grown to love your home’s imperfections? What do they say about you and your space? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
A beautifully finished house may be something to aim for, but there’s a lot to be said for a ‘real’ home that speaks of who you are, not when you last had the decorators in. So take pride in your home’s every detail: the good, the bad and the imperfect. Its small blemishes make it unique and are nothing to be apologetic about.
Get ideas for cranking up the style in your first kitchen
TELL US…
How have you grown to love your home’s imperfections? What do they say about you and your space? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
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I doubt that there is such a thing as a perfect interior! Often even people who have spent hundreds of thousands creating their ideal home confess that there are things they would have done differently with the benefit of hindsight, even though they love the end result. For those of us who are addicted to redecorating and redesigning our homes there will always be some project on the horizon and that's the way we like it... :)
The first photo of the bedroom would drive me to despair.. i will never have a room with a sloping ceiling... good ideas though, the orange plant would be my choice. thank you.