Your home may be the same, but the way you live in it has probably changed. Sarah Wooten, interior designer with LL&A Designs, offers a fresh perspective on reimagining familiar spaces and designing a home that works beautifully for this stage of life.
How should I consider the design of my home? Should the whole house coordinate, or should I think about each room individually?
I always tell clients to think about the home as a whole. That definitely doesn’t mean every room needs to match or look the same. But there should be something that ties everything together, whether that’s similar colors, wood tones, finishes, or just the overall feel of the home.
I love letting different rooms have their own personality. Powder rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms are my favorite spaces where I feel like you can have a little more fun and do something unexpected or bold! You want each space to feel special on its own, but when you walk through the house, it should all just flow and feel like it belongs together.
How can I get some design help if I have a limited budget?
You absolutely don’t have to hire a designer for an entire project to benefit from professional design help. At LL&A we offer in-home consultations, and that alone can really help a homeowner establish direction, whether that’s starting with paint colors, talking through furniture placement, or prioritizing where to spend your money. Spending a little money on a professional in the beginning can actually prevent expensive mistakes later!
What are some of your favorite design trends or newer approaches right now?
I’m loving that interiors are feeling warmer and more collected again. We’re seeing more natural wood tones, warmer colors, natural stones, wallpaper, and pieces that feel like they’ve been collected over time rather than purchased all at once from the same store. My approach to design is creating spaces that have longevity. I would rather incorporate trends in ways that can evolve while keeping the larger pieces more timeless.
If I want to keep my larger house and change it after the kids leave, how should I think about that?
I think this can be such a fun stage of designing a home because you get to rethink how you’re using the space now. Just because a room served a certain purpose when your kids were at home doesn’t mean it still has to! Maybe an old bedroom becomes a pretty guest room, an office, or even a hobby space. A formal dining room you never use could become a sitting room.
I also think having a professional come in with fresh eyes can be really helpful at this stage. When you’ve lived in a home for so long and looked at the same spaces every day, sometimes it’s just hard to see them any differently! It’s also important to think ahead a little. Things like better lighting, comfortable furniture, more accessible layouts, and fewer obstacles can make the home work better for you long-term without making it feel like you’re specifically designing for aging.
How do you help guide people in deciding on a style that fits them?
A lot of what we do is really just listening and getting to know our clients and their wants and needs. Most people don’t know exactly what their ‘design style’ is, and they don’t need to! I always say let’s start with how we would like it to function because we can make anything look good. From there, it’s our job to pull it all together and give it direction. At the end of the day, we want our clients’ homes to feel like them — we just help bring it all together in a way they may not have been able to see on their own.
By Jessica Alyea | Photos Submitted
P.S. You may also be interested in this article: An Intentional Build – A New Philosophy For Later-Life Design
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