'100 Day Dream Home': Want your own aesthetic style for your dream home? Here are 5 tips from Mika Kleinschmidt
Every new episode of '100 Day Dream Home' comes with a range of wisdom from Mika Kleinschmidt that's sure to help you spruce up your own home. These tips are usually clear cut design elements that can be adapted almost instantly. This time, however, Kleinschmidt drops a different kind of master class. In the latest episode, we saw her help Don and Natalie find their very own style. If you're struggling to find your home aesthetic, here are some handy tips that are sure to help you out!
Sometimes, it's about finding your favorite element
Don and Natalie were on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to couples on this show. While some of them are painfully particular about their vision (like Julia from the previous episode) Don and Natalie didn't have anything specific planned whatsoever — except for the fact that they wanted to incorporate Natalie's rustic hutch into the decor.
This piece of furniture became the focal point of the house — the Kleinschmidts used it to help design various elements such as the color scheme of the entire home, plus the kind of decor that should go in.
Work backward
When helping Don and Natalie in this episode, we saw Mika Kleinschmidt dig in deep in order to understand just what the couple want, considering they themselves had no particular preference in how they wanted their home to look and feel. Kleinschmidt was quick to realize that the inspiration tours were doing more harm than good — she instantly picked up that Natalie was feeling overwhelmed.
Kleinschmidt's process is very systematic — she usually shows clients different homes based on their tastes and then picks out different elements to create their homes. Seeing how Natalie and Don responded to the first two homes, Kleinschmidt strategically picked out the next. Even with this home, she had them see the bathroom first, as opposed to the entire house, to make it seem less daunting.
If you find yourself overwhelmed when findings your style, narrow it down to looking at smaller elements, as opposed to the big picture. This will help you gain enough pieces to build a solid mood board or aesthetic.
References go a long way
Kleinschmidt's inspiration tours are an essential part of every episode and in this episode, we get a glimpse of just how important this segment of the show is. References help you piece together a full, concrete idea. While most couples know what they want, Natalie and Don had no idea what so ever. Kleinschmidt then picks out three completely different spaces for them to see, in hopes of narrowing it in.
While the couple seems like they don't like anything up until now, it's not all futile, because knowing what you don't like is just as important as knowing what you do. This process of elimination finally helps Kleinschmidt narrow in a single-story design with a lot of texture and muted notes — Don and Natalie agree that this is definitely what they want.
Merge to make it work
After showing the couple counter and tile samples, Kleinschmidt was quick to realise that the more options she laid out, the more indecisive the couple got. So she started small by getting them to pick color preferences with cabinets. Seeing that Don picked the deep espresso color and Natalie went with the light grey, Kleinschmidt helped them narrow in on the tiles by encouraging them to go with different colors across bathrooms, as long as it was from the same palette.
This helped her streamline their decision making. Finding a style can often leave you confused. Try focusing on maintaining a theme and merging elements into it, instead of crowding a space with conflicting styles.
Always add a pop of color
When Don suggested he wanted a green door, Natalie did not seem pleased one bit. Thankfully, Kleinschmidt swooped in with a deep blue-green colour sample, which she vouched as just the right colour to contrast the grey and stone textured exterior of the house. The couple agreed later on that this was a great choice, seeing how the front door is subtle yet stands out beautifully.
Adding a pop of color to break the monotone always gives a space a whole lot of character and is a quick way to brighten any room, corner, nook or cranny.
Catch weekly episodes of '100 Day Dream Home' Season 2 every Monday at 8 pm on HGTV.