The Simple Home - by Moire

As both Silk and Chintz will attest, I like to keep things simple.  I tend to start my design process with a simple idea, then I simplify it some more, then I strip it back to it's bare bones to see just how simple I can make it.

My favourite way of simplifying a home is to have 'stations' for activities throughout the space.  When you think about your home in terms of 'stations', I bet you can come up with many that you had never even thought of before.  For example, the TV, sofa and coffee table together form a station for relaxing with your favourite beverage and watching TV; the bed and side tables form a station for relaxing and sleeping; and of course the most obvious is the triangle of fridge, stove and sink, your food preparation station.

My first step is to start with a stripped bare floor plan of the house.  If an existing one is not available, some basic measurements around the perimeter of each room can give you the basic shape of the floor plan, accurate enough for this exercise.  Sketch this out on a piece of grid paper.  Draw an arrow into each room and at the blunt end of this arrow list all the activities you use this room for.  For example, your list for the living room could read: watching TV, chatting to friends, answering e-mails on laptop, embroidery and sewing and writing letters and cards.  Your kitchen list could read: preparing and cooking food, everyday family meals, kids crafts, family calendar, pet feeding, paying bills & filing.  

Of course everybody's list will be different, even people who live in the same house will do different things in different rooms.  Therefore it is very useful to make a number of copies of the basic floor plan and get everyone in the house to do the exercise for themselves.  Gather all the information onto one master plan and look for areas which everyone uses for the same purpose and areas that different people use for different purposes.  This will be the basis of your 'stations'.

Over the next few weeks I will be introducing hints and tips for creating stations in your home for many of the purposes you will come across.  In the meantime, try out the above exercise, and see if you can identify your own stations.

Moire