We as humans are unique, we are special, we are one-of-kind.
But when it comes to our homes, why are we so quick to opt for that cookie-cutter, 3-bedroom house that is one of hundreds?
Herein lies the place of the custom home; the bespoke home.
What is a bespoke home?
It is a home designed to your specific wants and needs. It is having each space crafted and tailor-made exclusively with you in mind. The design of a bespoke home is adapted to your lifestyle and interpreted through an understanding on your priorities or preferences.
Whether or not fully aware, we ask for customization all the time.
When ordering at a restaurant, we put in special requests such as ‘non-spicy’, ‘less sweet’, ‘vegetarian’.. to get our food exactly how we like it. We get clothes tailored because we know that would get us the perfect fit.
It is no different with our homes. When we embark on a journey to create a bespoke home, we are striving for that perfect fit. What we are getting is a custom-built, made-to-fit home that supports our habits, hobbies and tastes.
People spend large amounts of their time at home.
This has magnified further since 2020, as we started shifting towards working-from-home and hybrid working.
While as a people we discovered benefits to these new work arrangements - like wasting less time in traffic, saving money and more job satisfaction (to name a few) - this prolonged duration spent indoors unfortunately also exacerbated incompatibility issues of the buildings we live in.
Here is how bespoke homes can make a difference.
Space and Quality of Life
Let’s do a quick experiment:
Calm. Relaxing.
Think of a place when given these two words. Got it?
Our best guess is, it was a place set in nature or the outdoors. Why is that? Spending time in nature has been associated with happiness, mental wellbeing and cognitive benefits. Even taking a stroll through a city park has been linked to better moods and lower stress levels.
This teaches us two important lessons on wellbeing.
One, nature nurtures.
Two, the environment in which we exist impacts our mental being.
We associate an uncluttered home with feelings of calm, peace and relaxation. But to Marie Kondo your home is just the tip of the iceberg. To set the proper foundations of space, customizing our home seems to be the logical answer to our unique needs as individuals - and also as an appropriate response to the site specificity of buildings. It captures the right quality of natural light and catches breezes; frames views and creates connections to nature.
This is how our homes can impact our quality of life.
Adapting to Lifestyle and Habits
During the pandemic lockdown, we learnt what ‘cabin fever’ meant.
The hard way.
Without a conducive environment that supported our lifestyles, especially within this new normal, we faced challenges that affected our wellbeing and productivity
It was difficult to concentrate while working, we had trouble with motivation and the boundaries of work-life and personal-life were blurred.
The design of a home should first take into account the social unit housed within. This could mean the size of the household, its demographics and their relationships with one another. Living habits, nature of work and interests can then be examined to further fine-tune the spaces of the home.
The outcome of this process can manifest in a myriad of ways. It could be having a clearly defined home office or a dedicated playroom. It could be creating specialized rooms like a home library, or a gym, or a wine cellar, or - you get the idea. It could also mean a spacious open plan with full height windows.
There is no one-size-fits-all.
What matters is the result of having positive effects on users of the space.
The key to unlocking the full potential of this process is to first, understand the user before prescribing a solution. People before space.
Design Freedom : Personal Expression
The design freedom in creating and curating a bespoke home allows full personal expression - not dissimilar to using fashion, art or music for self-expression.
Homeowners can communicate their individuality through architecture - building their dream home.
There is full control over spatial quality, colour palette and material selection.
Be it terrazzo tiles or timber floor boards, painted walls or laminate wall panellings, full height windows or strip clerestory windows. Every detail (yes, down to door handles) can be custom selected, reflecting your unique personality, style and taste.
This complete flexibility in choice also improves budget management for the project. It can help focus and allocate funds on more important spaces or features; while cutting back and saving on the others.
Who ever said dream homes cant be build on a budget?
This wonderful journey begins with self discovery. Without fixating on a pre-determined end in mind, the possibilities and potential of the outcome is endless.
The Bottom Line
The design of our homes is so important.
The influence it has on our lives is undeniable, whether good or bad.
In this manner, a bespoke home can improve your quality of life, facilitate your lifestyles, and be extremely functional - while being exclusively.. Yours.
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