You’ve painted the walls, the flooring’s down and you love it, the furniture’s been installed… on paper, the job’s done, but in reality, something might still feel unfinished. And that something is more than likely the finishing touches, which are basically the small decisions that tie everything together and make a space feel complete and how you really want it to be.
The problem is that it’s easy to overlook these final steps when you’re managing a bigger project, but the truth is that they matter more than you might think, and that’s because they make the room feel good and even make it functional. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more.
Details Pull Everything Together
Most of the time, it’s not the biggest, brightest, or boldest feature in a room that makes it feel like it’s all come together in the right way – it’s the smaller things that might not seem like much, but that are really necessary. We’re talking about trims that match various colours or pieces of furniture, for example, or getting just the right tone of wood to match the floor, and so on.
These probably aren’t massive changes, and it might be that no one even notices you’ve made them, but they’re the things that create a nice sense of balance, and when you go into a room that’s been thought about, you’ll actually feel it because someone paid attention to the details.
You Don’t Have To Be Extravagant
The good news is you don’t have to have a big budget to finish a room well, and some of the biggest updates are technically small ones. That could mean something like a fresh coat of paint, some better handles, newer light switches, and so on. As we said, it’s small things, but they’re important nonetheless.
And a lot of these things can be found quite easily either online or in person. In fact, when it comes to paint and decor, checking out Shaves is always a good idea – you’ll be able to browse for whatever it is you need, and you might even see some things you didn’t realise you wanted (or needed) but once you spot them, you know they’re exactly right for your home to finish things off nicely.
It’s About Making The Right Choices
You might think you’ve got to be great at interior design or have a fantastic eye for detail to get the right look and do the right thing, but although that would be helpful (and asking professionals for advice can’t hurt), the most important thing is that you need to make the right choices, and that means thinking things through first.
To start with, it’s good to think about where the eye naturally lands when you enter a room and that’s the area you’re going to need to work on. Perhaps there’s a focal point like a fireplace, or maybe a feature wall (or a wall you could turn into a feature wall). Basically, knowing what’s going to work best in the space can change the whole design for the better, so always make sure you’ve thought things through and make the right choices for the right reasons.
The Emotional Impact Of Small Upgrades
There’s actually also an emotional side to all this, and that’s something to think about as well – after all, we all want our homes to make us feel good, not bad. The fact is that when a space feels finished, it also tends to feel calm, and it feels welcoming. Plus there’s a fantastic sense of satisfaction that you’ve done it (whether you physically did the work yourself or not).
And it’s just going to be really hard to feel totally at home in a room that still has painter’s tape stuck to the edges or a doorknob that doesn’t quite work, for example. Those are the things you’re going to end up focusing on, and that’s just upsetting, especially when everything else looks great. Once those jobs are ticked off, however, your space feels ready for you to enjoy it, and you probably will.
Every Room Needs Attention
When it comes to the finishing touches in your home, you might assume you just need to focus on places like the living room or bedrooms – they’re the rooms you probably spend the most time in, after all. But what about your other spaces like hallways, landings, cupboards, and so on? You might not see them all the time, and you might not spend much (if any) time in them, but they still need to look and feel good because otherwise they’ll bring the feel, look, and tone of the rest of the house down.
So giving these spaces the same kind of thought that you would give to other rooms makes a massive difference to your everyday experience – a tidy hallway, for example, means you’ll always come home to a positive place (and it’ll probably be easier to find your keys). Remember, you’re not making these changes to impress people (or at least, not just to impress people), but to make your home feel better and even feel more like you, so it’s worth thinking about these things carefully.
Finishing Touches Can Change With You
The best thing about all these details is that they’re so easy to change and update as your taste and style evolves – maybe you fall in love with bright colours one year, but then you decide that you prefer neutrals the next. Well, you can change the small details to show that. Or perhaps your family grows and you need things to be a bit more practical. Again, you can make those changes really easily.
In this way, you don’t have to be worried about making a big commitment about anything you choose – the main stuff will be in place, and you’ll be able to make the small changes that make all the difference as many times as you want. It’s really the ideal way to improve your home exactly the way you want to.