How to make your vacation pad fulfil in design and function.
When you’ve got two or more properties, creating a distinction between them is important. While your home is a space used for the everyday, your holiday home should be a place where you can relax and escape the ordinary. Here are five tips for designing a space that invites relaxation and those feel-good holiday vibes:
Make low maintence choices
As you’ll only be staying in your holiday home for a few months out of the year, maintenance is the last thing you want to have to think about so make sensible choices when designing. Avoid book cases that will collect dust throughout the time you’re away, for flooring choose something that’s easy to clean. If you’ve got a property next to the beach you will want to skip fluffy carpets that will collect sand.
Be bold
You can afford to be a little more creative and fun in your holiday home! You should create place that feels different to your everyday environment. Go for bright colours that make you happy or hues that work with the location of your home, for example cobalt blue and crisp white work well anywhere in Greece. We love using fun art pieces that you adore but wouldn’t necessarily want in your daily family home.
Focus on the living room
If you’re sticking to a budget or if there are time constraints, concentrate on the place that you’ll be spending the most time in. Whether it’s warm days spent grazing with friends or cool nights spent sipping drinks over good conversation, it’s likely you’re going to be passing the hours in your living area, so focus your efforts here. A large comfortable sofa or top of the range cooker (perfect for hosting) will go a long way in helping you get into the holiday spirit.
The kitchen is key
Holidaying usually involves good food and company, so when you’re designing you want to make sure that there is space to enjoy doing this. An open breakfast bar or a large kitchen island make for great places to come together over food. If you are redoing the floor plan of your holiday home, ensure you prioritise enough room for the kitchen as, if done right, it will serve as the heart of your home.
Workstation
Before 2020, the idea of putting a desk in a holiday home was strictly off limits! However, after the pandemic, as designers we realised the importance of making your second abode, WFH (work from home ready). Put a desk area in a corner of at least one of the rooms, where you can install a panel to absorb noise, or create a small, enclosed room. While you might not be working during your vacation, if there was ever a lockdown situation again, you’d have another option to work the days away from.
