When building a new home or renovating an older property, many make design choices based on how they’d like their home to look. Though this is undoubtedly an important consideration, it’s also important that the design of your home works for your lifestyle and schedule.
If you don’t want to spend lots of time cleaning, you should choose features that require very little maintenance. Here are five design tips for creating a low-maintenance home.
#1 Skip the Hardwood Flooring
While hardwood flooring looks beautiful and can increase the value of your home, it’s susceptible to scratches, moisture damage, and warping. It’s also one of the most expensive flooring options. To get the same look, consider installing engineered wood flooring instead.
Engineered wood has a base made up of several layers of plywood and a thin surface of real wood. The plywood base prevents the wood from warping and makes it cost effective.
With clean lines and a smooth surface, furniture grade plywood is also very easy to install. You don’t have to worry about spills and dust getting trapped in cracks, and in the event that an accident does happen, the wood surface is usually thick enough to sand down and refinish.
#2 Built-in Practical Storage
In addition to sweeping and washing, cleaning up clutter around the home is a time-consuming ordeal. To prevent clutter from building up, it’s important that all of your belongings have a thoughtfully designed home.
Get creative when designing storage solutions and consider the most practical, accessible places to store items you own. A closet under the stairs is a great place to keep large items you use often but are an eye-sore. Vertical storage is also essential for keeping your floorspace clear and making your home feel bigger than it actually is.
#3 Choose Features with Clean Lines
While that traditional, Victorian-inspired cottage look is charming, it’s one of the hardest to keep clean. Fancy design features are the perfect place for dust and grime to hide.
Even if you’re not a huge fan of modern design principles, try to implement features with clean lines when you can. The bathroom is a great place for this. A claw-foot freestanding tub might look whimsical, but it’ll take much more time to clean around and under it than a modern, walk-in shower.
#4 Pick Durable Materials
When purchasing materials for your home, whether it’s flooring, countertops, or cabinets, try to pick the most durable option within your budget.
A quartz countertop is the most durable choice, as it is less porous than granite and more resistant to scratches and chips. While marble might look beautiful, it stains very easily and requires lots of maintenance to keep it looking new.
#5 Install a Central Vacuum System
While following these design principles will reduce the amount of time and money you spend on maintenance down the line, no home is truly maintenance-free. In addition to increasing the value of your home, a central vacuum system makes cleaning easier.
Dust and debris is inevitable, no matter what type of flooring you choose. A central vacuum system only requires that you plug in a hose, eliminating the need for an expensive, bulky upright vacuum cleaner. They’re also more powerful than a traditional vacuum, so you’ll get the job done more thoroughly and in less time.
Published in: Home advice | Author: Ric
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