I am a living, breathing example of breaking all these expected and traditional housing rules!

When designing Cypress, our home, all these confining and ill conceived common housing plans went straight out the window.

And you know what? People love Cypress! Most cannot put their finger on it exactly why and I so appreciate and enjoy listening to their comments. I wish you could too because it would so help in your understanding that most housing rules were and are meant to be broken.

Why do we keep doing the same thing over and over again?

Come on…let’s break some rules!

Fixtures as sinks or cooktops in islands? No no not for me.

Inadequate counter, storage, & mud room area from garage for all our stuff? No no no not for me.

Designing Cypress in a denial of future needs?…no no not for me.

Having an upstairs at our age? Yes yes for us. (future elevator space is available)

Having a separate living quarter for us? Yes yes for us.

Taking over 5 years to finish while living here? Yes yes for us.

Having a home accessible to any age or any stage? Yes yes for us.

Being “discussed” and deemed as crazy by family and friends for buying and undertaking a major restoration of a trashed 1930‘s home at our age? Yes yes that’s us!

So I know about breaking rules and if truth be known, I have been doing this most of my life never quite really getting what others were expecting and accepting.

My poor black-and-white engineer husband has heard me say dozens of times, “Honey, living with me will never be boring!”

So what does breaking rules in our homes have to do with most of you?

This is a pretty simple and easy answer…our homes are mostly not meeting our needs most of the time. I hear and see it over and over and over and over again.

Why then are our needs not being met in our homes? Well, one of my zillion theories is this:

WE MANIPULATE OURSELVES TO OUR SPACES INSTEAD OF MANIPULATING OUR SPACES TO OURSELVES AND OUR NEEDS. THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEMS START!

So just start thinking about what is not working in your home. Think about what is functional and what in your home makes no sense at all.

Will builders and architects listen to our needs as our needs are changing drastically? I’m not talking about aging issues. I’m talking about living issues.

And as interior designers, will we be listening…really listening to your needs and bringing to the table solutions to meet your needs?

It’s time to say goodbye to cookie cutter house plans and “just pretty” rooms.

Get ready, get set to break out of all those old rules. You will be in very good company because as the song says, “Times are a changing”