The home has always fulfilled many different roles within our lives, and since the COVID-19 lockdowns, new hybrid and flexible working, and families who want to integrate elderly family members, our homes have evolved to create flexible spaces, leisure suites, home offices and intergenerational living.
Everyone is different, and family member’s needs can vary significantly. Our homes need to function for different uses by different family members at once. Whether you are into your health and fitness, you run your business from your dining table, or if you are a skilled home chef you will be aware of what doesn’t quite work for your lifestyle or needs.
Take some time to analyse what works and does not work about your home…what do you love, and what could be improved?
- Make a list of everything you want your house to do for you.
- Make a list of the existing rooms or spaces.
- Look at both lists, and allocate a room to the function.
- Identify if there are any spaces which don’t have a function, or if there are functions without a space.
- Then be super critical about what works about your house, and then what doesn’t work.
Think about how you use the space, how you move through the space, how you enter the property, how you go about your everyday activities, who uses the space, storage, even pets is there anything that annoys you, or you wish you could change? Are there rooms you don’t use? What is the reason for this? Are there spaces which are too dark, not enough storage or not open plan enough for how you want to live?
You may want to create a home fitness suite, move an elderly relative into your home, create an open plan kitchen dining living space, or accommodate working from home. What may have worked before, may no longer work for you or your family.
By analysing your existing home, you can create a brief for what you want to achieve. Each of our projects at ZMA are bespoke to the client’s requirements, which makes each scheme unique. We ask our clients for a wish-list, a budget and then we do the rest. You may want to re-design your property to improve the connection to the garden; convert your garage; create an annexe; home office; create additional bedrooms or incorporate a hobby such as a new swimming pool, home gym, games room or equestrian facility. You may even have additional out-buildings or land that we can assess the feasibility of utilising to create your required accommodation.
