Raising a family can imprint long-lasting memories on your home foundation. After your children leave the nest, you may feel unsure what to do next. This transitional period is a great time to reflect and redefine your home’s aesthetic to accommodate your needs. Explore these empty-nester home designs as you embark on your next chapter in life.
Repurpose Empty Rooms
Once your children move out, you may not know what to do with their bedrooms. You may leave them as is or want to explore other options. There are plenty of ways to convert these rooms to fit your changing interests.
Memorabilia Rooms
Memorabilia rooms are great for showcasing mementos such as diplomas, awards, letters, awards, or artwork. For travel enthusiasts, you can orient these rooms to showcase travel souvenirs or collectibles. Allow your memorabilia room to tell a story about yourself, but remember that general design principles in other rooms in your home can work to your advantage in this space.
Carefully consider the placement of your memorabilia to prevent clutter and maintain visual balance. It may be helpful to start with the largest pieces first. These pieces and accessories can serve as focal points and carry the heaviest visual weight. From there, consider layering and grouping objects while dispersing items of different textures, colors, shapes, and sizes. You can elevate the display by using custom shelving, shadowboxes, and frames to showcase your items. And finally, opt for relevant color palettes and patterns when choosing paint colors and window treatments.
Hobby Rooms
Empty nester home designs can benefit from hobby rooms as they offer a perfect space for pursuing your passions and meeting multi-functional needs. Whether you’re an avid bookworm or need a space to read and journal, hobby rooms can be renovated to serve any purpose.
For example, if you need a space away from everyday distractions, consider soundproofing with cork flooring, carpet installations, and underlayment behind hardwood floors and rugs. Storage is another must-have for your hobby room. Installing custom cabinetry and shelving ensures you have access to everything you need without unnecessary clutter. From there, you can experiment with hardware and room decor to match your aesthetic.
Lighting further plays an important role in hobby rooms. Beyond overhead lighting, you may want task lighting alongside ambient lighting with adequate windows. For task lighting, the details down to the type of lightbulb you use matter. For example, halogen light bulbs are best suited for painting over incandescent light.
Guest Bedrooms
Converting spare rooms into bedrooms can offer hospitable spaces for guests to relax. Redefining how you use the room allows you to experiment with stowed-away furniture and decor.
Similarly, there may be decor from your children’s bedrooms you want to keep and use to blend styles with new furniture, window treatments, and more. Or this may be an opportunity to repaint walls and apply a new finish to old furniture. For example, a darker finish would work well on a dresser to help it stand out in a room with a more neutral palette and provide contrast and depth.
At-Home Gyms and Wellness Spaces
Perhaps self-care is an important part of your transition into becoming an empty nester. Consider focusing your attention on creating wellness spaces. For smaller rooms, focus on allowing space for whatever equipment you use most. Then, consider mirrored walls, storage, and shelving to make equipment easily accessible. Displaying art, photos, and inspirational quotes may provide more motivation during your workouts.
For yoga or pilates enthusiasts, you can purchase blocks, straps, cushions, and stability balls to enhance your workout experience. Minimalist designs, alongside ambient lighting and built-in surround sound systems, can help create an immersive space to relax and reground yourself.
Bathroom Renovations
What may have met your needs while your children were at home may no longer apply once your children are out of the home. This includes your bathrooms, and now may be the perfect time to start thinking through bathroom renovations.
Bathroom renovation needs vary based on the existing layout. If your bathroom feels cramped, you can alleviate clutter by installing curbless showers with benches. For more spacious layouts, consider investing in jetted tubs and wall-mounted televisions for luxurious pampering.
Whatever the layout may be, neutral or soft colors can transform your bathroom into a sanctuary. Think calming shades of blue, green, cream, and white. You can then illuminate bathrooms with backlit mirrors and add sophistication with marble vanities. Additionally, consider storage needs and utilize unused corners for closet space or install wall-mounted storage near vanities. Mosaic or natural stone tiles can create attractive backsplashes with intricate patterns.
Refurbish Furniture and Accessories
After your children leave the nest, you may not have to worry about furniture stains or tears anymore. Having a kid-friendly home certainly doesn’t have to come at the expense of style and aesthetic appeal. However, you now have an opportunity to rethink the furniture and accessories in your home.
You can take old furniture and have it refinished or reupholstered. This means you no longer have to feel limited to kid-friendly fabrics like wool, microfiber, twill, and ultrasuede. Consider custom upholstery and complementary window treatments to fit the space’s style or opt for a new direction.
Incorporating elevated decor is the next step in rethinking your empty nester home designs. Sculpted bowls, vases, figurines, and statues alongside designer rugs and sophisticated paintings can further upgrade your space.
Embrace Empty Nester Home Designs
As you transition into your next stage in life, remember you don’t have to sacrifice style for function. You can explore experimental designs that may have felt inaccessible when your children were still living at home. Let us help you make the best of your redesign by contacting us today!
