No matter how much you love your current home design, there will come a time when you’ll need some change. Interestingly, there’s a growing trend of people transforming their traditional homes into more contemporary ones. If you also wanted to do it but have absolutely no idea how, then you’re in the right place.
In this article, we’re going to give you some advice about how you can make your traditional home more modern. Although unfortunately, there’s not much you can do with the exterior or the structure of the house (aside from maybe changing your current garage door – black garage doors are a very popular choice if you were wondering), nothing is stopping you from changing up its interior and making it more contemporary.
How to Modernize a Traditional Home?
There are plenty of ways to modernize a traditional home, so let’s just dive right into it.
01. Declutter, Declutter, Declutter
The first step to every renovation, no matter if you are just changing one thing or the whole house, is decluttering and getting rid of the items that you no longer use or need. Besides, one of the characteristics of a modern home is belief in the approach ‘less is more.’
Keep as many things hidden as possible – only leave those items that you use on a daily basis or that are more convenient when displayed than when hidden. If you can, invest in storage solutions, such as drawers or pretty containers.
02. Fix Your Walls
If your walls are covered in wallpaper, which is pretty common for traditional houses, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible. Removing it is pretty simple, but if you don’t know how to do it, here is a short instruction:
- Take a scoring tool, and create some holes in the wallpaper
- Fill a spray bottle with water, and use it to soak the paper – spray the water into the slits you made so that it can make its way behind the covering
- Wait for about 10 minutes, and scrape the wallpaper with a putty knife
Once that is done, you can fill in all the holes and imperfections the wall might have so that you create a smooth surface for painting. If needed, sand walls for a smooth finish.
03. Reconsider Your Colour Palette
When it comes to what colours are usually associated with contemporary houses, the answer is neutrals, white and black. Sometimes, those are accompanied by bright and bold colours so that they can create contrast and play against the neutrals.
There is a reason why such colours are usually picked for modern homes – when you have a neutral background, you don’t have to worry about whether the bold- coloured accessories will match. On the other hand, if you decide that neutral walls are not what you want, and you decide to paint at least one of them a bold colour, neutrals should be used everywhere else.
Want to know the secret of designers for colour themes? Here it is:
If you were thinking about also upgrading the exterior of your house, then painting it is one of the best ways to do it. You don’t have to limit yourself to walls – change the colour of your front door, garage door, window frames, and so on.
If you need some tips regarding designing colour scheme for your home, here we have an apt article for you:
04. Choose New Light Fixtures
In terms of lighting, there are three layers of lights you can make use of – ambient, task and accent. Ambient lighting, also known as overhead lighting, will work fine in every room, as it gives off just the right level of radiance.
Task lighting is a great choice for those who, for example, live busy business lives and often find themselves doing work at home. It provides intense lighting so that you can perform your office tasks at ease without experiencing eye pain.
Last but not least, the accent lighting helps highlight the design and style of your home – it is more decorative than functional. It is a good choice when you want to, for example, ring attention to a specific object in your house (e.g., artwork).
If you are in confusion for which lighting is best for your home, you must definitely check it out here:
05. Change Up Your Furniture
This is probably the most expensive part of every renovation. We get that, but the good news is that you don’t need to replace every piece of furniture you have in your house to make it more modern – there are several affordable ways to upgrade your current furniture.
For instance, a very popular option is using self-adhesive plastic sheets – there are plenty of designs available. Depending on your preference, you can opt for a monochrome one, one that imitates wood, one that resembles marble, and so on. Another popular and very simple idea is to paint the furniture.
Last but not least, you should consider looking at websites such as Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace – you will be surprised how many gems you can find without having to make a dent in your pocket.
When upgrading the cabinets or drawers, don’t forget about changing the hardware as well. Also, when taking care of the kitchen, don’t hesitate to change the material of the backsplash – what about marble? Or something crazier, like fused glass art? The choice is yours.
06. Upgrade Your Bathroom
Again just like with furniture, you don’t need to change every bathroom in your house drastically – usually, it’s the small details that make the biggest difference. For instance, instead of buying new tiles and spending thousands on labour, why don’t you just paint over the ones you already have? You can find special paint, not prone to damages caused by water and dampness, in almost every hardware store.
One thing we do recommend changing is the vanity sink. For a more contemporary look, choose one that mounts on the wall.
When it comes to the floors, a nice choice is using tiles in a different shape than a square – for instance, a rectangular plank or hexagon. Use the same tiles in the shower to achieve integrity.
07. Replace the Windows
This is one of the changes that affect not only the interior but also the exterior of the house – for instance, if you have single hung windows, you should consider changing them to casement windows.
While you’re at it, you might also want to select a more modern look for the backdoor. How about store front-style aluminum, insulated glass windows that go from the floor to the ceiling? Not only does it make your house look more contemporary, but the bigger the windows, the more natural light is able to enter your home.
The Bottom Line
It doesn’t matter how much one likes their home’s design, there will come a time when they’ll be craving a change – and that’s completely fine. It turns out that most people must have a similar viewpoint on this, as we can notice a growing trend of people transforming their traditional homes into more contemporary ones.
We hope that after reading this article, you’ll have an idea about how to modernize a traditional home – as you could see, although there’s not much you can do with the outside, you definitely don’t have to hold yourself back from upgrading the interior. After all, the most important thing is that you like your home and feel comfortable in it. Good luck!
Must Read:
Home Renovation: Important Things to Know!
Home Renovation: Economical Ways to Renovate Home with Style!
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