Dear Marc

I am in the market to buy a new home. My husband and I want to buy a house we can design to reflect our personalities. My husband and I both work long hours, so the time we spend at home together is very important. This is our first home purchase, so I’m not sure what to look for in our new home. — Cheryl

Dear Cheryl,

Have you ever walked into a friend’s home, seen its design, then turned to your husband and said, “This can’t be Jill and Ned’s house; it looks nothing like them”? If so, then your friends were not true to their “life-style” when designing their home. Many homeowners try to replicate designs they have seen in another space without realizing those designs were tailored to the owner’s taste and lifestyle needs, not theirs. This is a recipe for disaster, because you end up with a space that is not functional for your family’s lifestyle needs.

It’s important for a space to adhere to the homeowner’s needs. A successful design is not a pretty space with no function. Successful design is based on the integration of furniture, accessories, and a set colour scheme that reflects the homeowner’s style.

A homeowner’s style should be defined by her way of life, hence the word “lifestyle.” For instance, if a professional couple with no children has a spare bedroom that’s never used because all their family and friends live close by, then turning the spare bedroom into a home office would best reflect their lifestyle needs.

To determine your lifestyle needs, look at your schedule and your activities in a single month. Do you spend your time at home constantly entertaining large groups of people? If so, then look for a floor plan that allows guests to access the key areas of the home’s public areas (foyer, living room, and dining room) without passing through the private areas of your home. If you’re a casual entertainer, then you can look for an open-concept floor plan that incorporates the kitchen, dining room and living room in one space.

For more formal entertainers, consider having a separate formal dining room that can be accessed without passing through the kitchen. This way, you can entertain your boss and her husband without them seeing your dirty cookware sitting in your kitchen sink from preparing your five-course meal.

As you and your husband both work long hours, also consider the maintenance of the home. Is the flooring to die for, but will take three hours to clean by hand every week? The maintenance of your design should reflect the amount of time you can allocate to the tasks. There’s no use having tons of small accessories that will need dusting every week if you won’t have time to dust them. Believe me, your space will not look flattering covered in dust, no matter how much money you spend on your design project! Instead, choose a few accessories you know will be easy to keep clean with your busy schedule.

Choose a design that best suits your lifestyle so you can proudly open the door after a long day at work and say “Honey, I am HOME!”

Marc Atiyolil is the editor-in-chief of Home Trends Magazine. To submit a question for Marc Atiyolil, visit MarcAtiyolil.com.