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Megan Morton’s tips for improving your home for the new normal

November 12, 2020 Leave a Comment

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By Australian interior stylist Megan Morton

Home has always been our refuge, but now more than ever before, the layout of our homes, backyards and communities has been placed under the spotlight.

Megan Morton

New research from Stockland, one of Australia’s largest residential developers, revealed the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed our expectations of home and neighbourhood. It’s no surprise that we are more likely to take better care of our mental wellbeing and physical health, the way we think about our home has shifted significantly. More than 80% of Australians are now more conscious that their home and environment is intrinsically linked to their wellbeing.

Space has always been an important factor to home design and satisfaction but with people spending so much time at home, it’s become vital. We’ve become less satisfied with at least one aspect of our current home or neighbourhood. The main grievance is a lack of indoor and outdoor space, with 62% of us more likely to consider space-related features than before the pandemic – such as in-home storage (44%), a separate study (40%), a private outdoor space (39%), open-plan living (36%) and a separate living area (33%).

Creating different spaces
With one in four people working from home, we know have to consider spaces such as the ‘Zoom room’ or work from home office. With this in mind, we should also consider a ‘zen’ zone for ourselves. A place to counter the activity and energy of a designated work space, where there is quiet and a time for reflection

We ask so much of our open plan areas that I like the closed rooms to have very obvious uses. Toy room, craft room, Zoom room. A custom build can allow for all of this possibility so you can look to the future – a toy room is a future media room. A future craft room is today’s nursery.

Be very diligent with your furniture. Choose items that can reflect the real use of the room and furnish it to match.

How to create a feeling of solace?
On a granular level, I think the first thing people can do is counter all the hard surfaces with soft textures. It seems a simple act but so effective. It’s a failsafe for every room. In the kitchen it can be mats, floor covering or a fabulous pendant light. In bedrooms it’s cushions and curtain trims. Living areas can be texturised with sofa fabric choices, throws and rugs.

How to create separation in the spaces?
I use a series of rugs and lights to lead the separation. I never use lights and rugs in the same open plan room, only in the front closed rooms. By swapping out you get to carve away space by swapping out the hero from floor to ceiling within the same open plan.

Top tips to harness light
Stockland’s research also revealed that we have a greater need for space and light in the home, as well as a desire to be closer to parks and green spaces.

Embrace natural light. No matter who you are and where you live, light control is so important as it can have a pivotal impact on mood. There are a couple of solutions to embrace the natural light. Firstly skylights will change the feeling of any room. Use only where you need as the idea is to use them to highlight a space. Another way to accentuate natural light sources, is by adding curtains over a beautiful window. Curtains need not be over the whole house, instead use them sparingly and show off the views you’re most proud of.

Bring the outside in. Mirrors are a great way to reflect the outside in. When you are dealing with straight lines, I prefer a rounded or archway mirror. Ensure you position your mirror to reflect a great view of the outside or garden. When we see green we know things are healthy and wonderful, to create this feeling in a home add elements of nature such as greenery or flowers to a room. This is an extremely simple but underused tactic.

How to make a home more liveable? 
Liveability is achieved through likeability! And likeability is won through understanding your own needs, then marrying your decorative preferences with your home’s existing foundations. All of this can be masterfully achieved when you build new.

There are so many new highly liveable communities where you don’t have to settle for less and that are meeting our changing needs in a post-covid world. I’ve been working with Stockland and have been impressed with how they have developed homes based around embracing the things that are increasingly important to people – such as more space, storage and light within the home, as well as parks and outdoor spaces.

For more on Stockland

Megan Morton’s top tips for styling a bedroom on a budget
By Megan Morton Look, all I know is that an expensive bedroom and an inexpensive one can share common goals. Whoever let money stand in their way anyway? Money can be…
Take 5 with Megan Morton
Each week we shine the spotlight on some of Australia’s best designers, artists and stylists and have them share with us what’s making them tick; anything from the best advice they’ve ever received to their favourite…

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Australian made bathroomware is seriously impressi Australian made bathroomware is seriously impressive!

The new @studio.xox ONLY sells Australian brands. Like @nood_co coloured basins, lead-free eco brass from @faucetstrommen and @lindseywherrett's  ceramic basins made by hand in Tassie.

And as for their Sydney showroom (they also sell online): WOW.

See and read more on the blog now via link in bio.

#interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop
#creatingbeautifulspaces #homestylingdesign
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#interiorinspiration #myhomedesign
I'm THRILLED to be an ambassador for the brand new I'm THRILLED to be an ambassador for the brand new @madeinaustshow in Sydney this August.

🦘🐨Forget every tacky association you ever had about touristy Australian made and prepare to see a showcase of the best of home, lifestyle, fashion and beauty made right here. If the pandemic has made you appreciate buying local even more, this is for you.

It's the first business to business trade event connecting retailers with Australian made products to champion our local makers🙏

Apply to exhibit or find out more at their website, via their bio, now!

Are YOU buying more Australian made post covid?

#madeinaustralia #australianmade #aussiemade #aussiedesign
Do I recommend a timber vanity top? A big fat NOP Do I recommend a timber vanity top?

A big fat NOPE! 💧 

Which is why we have recently covered ours with a Caesarstone top (thanks to @justinplace_sydney for the advice and supply) and the sweet RELIEF of not having to worry about this high traffic area anymore, I'm telling you!🤗

Doesn't matter what they tell you or how many times it's sealed, I'm not sure it's a great idea in a room which is so, well, wet!

I love having the warmth of timber in the bathroom and it's a beautiful piece, but timber on the top? Never again.

Ours probably lasted a year (if that) before it started to go downhill (and we want a good decade out of a bathroom, right?!). 2.5 years on, everything else in this bathroom looks virtually brand new and the water marked vanity top was really letting the side down and making me sad!

But I'm so pleased with this solution, I have to say! Took the plumber less than an hour to remove the sink, install the top and connect the sink back up. We didn't need to move the tap and it isn't too close to the basin.

The kids are allowed to brush their teeth and wash their hands (liquid soap 🥴) in here again and I can leave my hair straightener on there with gay abandon 😆

The reflective surface (which I can clean with whatever I like!💪🏻) brightens the room up too!

Next week I'll tell you what I really think of my brass tile trim too 😉

#interiorsaddictbathroomreno2 #interiorsaddictfamilyhomereno #timbervanity
Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than F Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than French onion?

I think not!

Grab the recipe on the blog this morning via link in bio.
Get to know me! I haven't done one of these in YE Get to know me!

I haven't done one of these in YEARS so there's possibly thousands of you who don't know my back story. Here's a few things you may not know about me!

✔️ I'm English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I moved here (just for one year) back in 2008😆 

✔️ I can't end the day without a bath, even if I get home really late or on a really hot day. It's a mental health thing and my happy place. 🛁 

✔️ Before becoming a blogger and running my own small business, I was a journalist from the age of 18. My favourite news gathering times were as a newspaper crime reporter (bit different to interiors!) 📓 

✔️ I once worked at New Scotland Yard in London 🚔 

✔️I had an interview at Oxford (didn't get in!) but chose not to go to uni at all after being offered a job on the local paper #universityoflife 😁

✔️ My mum died when I was 3, I have an excellent dad and one sister (younger) in the UK ❤️ 🇬🇧 

✔️ At school, my favourite subject was French 🇫🇷 and I was head girl 🤓🤓

✔️ I'm addicted to ☕️ , long hot baths and💄 (been wearing it since I was about 14!)

✔️ I'm not a phonecall person and will never ever pick up an unknown number. Ever. They can leave a message 😁

✔️ My favourite cuisine is Japanese 🍣 🍜 and Damian and I honeymooned in Tokyo and Venice 

✔️ I have zero design qualifications. I just started blogging about my passion, which is trying to persuade everyone to #heartyourhome That was 11 years ago...

✔️ My favourite tipple is a good GnT or🍷 

✔️ Cheesy as it sounds, 💁‍♀️being a mum is my absolute biggest joy in life 🧒👦

✔️ I will never give up my old school paper diary! Has to be A5 and week to view 📖 

✔️ My official surname isn't Bishop. I kept my maiden name for work after I got married but changed it for everything else. Often confuse myself!

✔️ I didn't get my Ps until I was 37 and I'm still a terrible parker 😯 🅿️

Hope you feel like you know me a bit better 😘

📸 @vanlowvanlow
Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 @nood_co coloured con Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 

@nood_co coloured concrete basins is a great Aussie business success story. Although co founder Matt Di Costa first found fame as one half of Matt and Kim on The Block, he hasn't relied on this to build his brand.

“We are very honoured to have been a part of The Block, and all they have done for us. I am, however, a believer in letting the product take centre stage,” he says.

Read our interview with Matt via link in bio now.

🙏Share your favourite colour basin in the comments!

#colouredconcrete #noodco #colouredbasin #blockheads #the block #bathroomtrends2022

Pic 1 by @naibudesign_ and 2 by @twostyleinteriors
I'd love to see more colour in Aussie interiors! I'd love to see more colour in Aussie  interiors! 🎨 

At the end of the day though, it's a matter of personal taste. I love pops of colour but it's not for everyone. 

We couldn't resist featuring this Canadian house tour today. The amazing Kelly Green  hutch (swipe) was an upcycled $200 find 🤗

Head over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest including one of the best playrooms we've seen in ages!

Project by @in.house.design
📸 @philcrozier
Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis o Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis on light and nature.

That was the brief for the conversion of a corner shop and a warehouse bakery into a luxury family home in Sydney's Newtown. And how about the library?!

Take the tour of this very special @annacarindesign project on the blog now, via link in bio.

Pic: @justinalexanderphoto
The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭 N The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭

None of us enjoy laundry (OK, there are a few of you out there who do. Weird!) but we have to do it. And often. So if your laundry bin can be as good looking, functional and space saving as this, then why wouldn't you?!

I've lost track of how many baskets I've thrown out because they've gone soggy or mouldy. They look pretty, sure, but they're not fit for purpose and they're often messy and overflowing.

Here's what I love about his @brabantia_australia one:

✔️ ventilation holes
✔️ no need to remove the lid for small items plus it hides your dirty laundry from view
✔️ easily removable and washable inner laundry bag that velcros back on 
✔️ corrosion resistant so fine in bathroom or laundry 
✔️ Brabantia make things as sustainably as possible
✔️ compact, sleek, European design
✔️ 10 year warranty
✔️ tall and skinny so takes up less floor in my tiny laundry

The Rolls Royce of laundry bins? I think so 👌🏻

TOLD you this was going to be exciting!

Now I need to know, do you have your laundry basket in the bathroom, the laundry, every bedroom? We used to have one in each bedroom but moved to the laundry-only situation which I much prefer (one for colours and one for whites). My boys know to put their used clothes in the bin in the laundry each night and they're 7 and 3!  #raisingfuturehusbands

#gifted
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About Jen Bishop

Jen Bishop is our owner and publisher and an experienced journalist and editor. Interiors Addict has been her full-time job for more than 8 years. She is married to Damian and mum to Sebastian and Charlie.

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