Ideas for renovating your home, from the kitchen to the bathroom

«First of all, to select very well the companies that will work for you. The… crafty ones have multiplied ». So here are the expert’s tips to restructure in serenity, making choices that resemble us and do not risk to tire us tomorrow.

The architect, arbiter and guarantee

To get away from (any and always possible) rip-offs. For live all the phases of a stress-free renovation. To choose the right materials when you don’t understand anything about materials. For these and a thousand other reasons, it is essential to get help from a good architect.

«Because he speaks both the language of those who renovate, the client, and that of the company. It acts as a buffer in the event of unforeseen events (and there always are) and takes into account everyone’s needs“.

The cover of the book by Patrizia Burato, published by Sonzogno.

In the book Burato helps you understand how to choose the one that suits you best. “He is a real referee, who has to work in contradiction with the company that does the work, checking the results step by step”. The owners who say “But I’ll go there, on the construction site!” they do not often know what they are going to face: a huge investment of time, a lot of stress and probable unforeseen events that one cannot cope with, not being in the field.

You save, of course, but not so much: “An architect can help you a lot, indeed, to spend less: in the choice of companies and materials“.

Tell me who you are, I’ll tell you which style to choose

“Many people get excited about houses that are not for them”, explains Burato: “Maybe they see a photo on the web and say: I want it!”. An architect also helps understand the implications of each choice and whether certain solutions are suitable for the owner.

For example: you have to choose between parquet and porcelain stoneware? «Consider that the former is a material that evolves with the house and its inhabitants: it will continually demonstrate the life that has passed over it. He’s alive, he gets ruined, he gets up, he reacts to contact with water, maybe he even embarks. Porcelain stoneware, on the other hand, is very resistant, hyper-technological and is able to reproduce any possible material. Only, it is not a continuous material: the joints will therefore betray the true nature of the floor ».

One of the projects carried out by Patrizia Burato (photo Paolo Fusco).

These characteristics may be enough to facilitate the choice. It depends, explains the architect, on the life you lead. Indeed more: often the right choices say who you are.

Who loves parquet, who loves stoneware

Let’s try, for fun, to make the identikit of who loves one and who loves the other? “Usually, parquet lovers like to walk around the house barefoot. They are people who appreciate good wine and dinners with friends, live life in a relaxed way and pay little attention to conventions; stoneware lovers are very precise people who pay attention to cleanliness, organized and super-reliable ».

The fundamental advice when looking for the style of your home is to look at a lot of them but then study with the architect those that resemble us and ours (it is useless to fall in love with industrial kitchens if you have to furnish a room two meters by two).

The final project is a team effort in which the owner, of course, has the final say. But where the intelligent owner listens to the advice of those who know best.

Kitchen with island, yes or no?

Kitchen with island: yes or no? (photo Paolo Fusco).

«For example, I often find myself arguing with owners who are in love with kitchens with island: it is the most desired kitchen by Italians. But in the homes of most of them it is not functional: there is not enough space. Many end up building a house around that island, just to have it. But they will soon realize that they are missing something, and they have something too much. Exactly, the island.

Skirting board: you can’t do without it

“Many do not consider the skirting board a problem simply because they do not consider it,” says the architect: “The others hate it, and I am one of them. But the skirting on the lower part of an interior wall of the room, the one that covers the joint between the surface of the wall and the floor, can greatly influence the aesthetics and style of a home “. Practically unavoidable element, it can be more or less high, more or less angular and of different colors: like the floor, like the wall, like the doors.

Lighting: background or accent

“I always tell my customers, many do not have the perception: a beautiful house that is badly lit is ugly ». So, save some money for lighting. “Banned spotlights recessed in places and ways that are indifferent to what is happening below,” says the architect. The good old chandelier? “It is only acceptable on a dining table. Or it must be a piece of furniture designed to amaze «for example in a jewel bathroom».

Spotlights and chandeliers are so-called accent lights: they specifically illuminate the areas where specific activities take place, such as eating, drawing, reading. Or they highlight certain objects. Improvising is prohibited.

The wallpaper and the old returning

«The old man who returns is a theme very dear to me», says Burato: «Some solutions of the past are back in fashion and are very interesting, especially when they belong to our history». For instance? The herringbone parquet, but the Italian one, not the Hungarian one. Or the Venetian grit: «Many of my clients in the restructuring phase have it removed, and instead many manufacturers are working to put similar solutions on the market. Yet, the wallpaper: it does not make “grandmother’s house”, not anymore. The new wallpapers are so beautiful and technological that they can be used in the living room or in the shower ».

Effect colored walls

Wall color can go a long way in the style of a home. For instance: the white, uniform over all, helps to give a feeling of greater space and airiness. To color the back wall of a room makes it appear shorter, coloring the side ones it “tightens” (effects of the so-called color blocking). “By coloring the ceiling or, better, the false ceiling is “lowered”with a comfort effect that I really like ».

(photo Paolo Fusco)

But the caveat is to make these color choices a bit extreme in small room: a study, a corridor, an entrance. In a living room it would be “too much”. «The color becomes dominant to the point that the rest has to be subordinated. And I don’t know how many people are willing to buy a sofa based on the color of the walls, usually the opposite is done ».

Sanitary: suspended or on the ground?

Another great dilemma. Burato jokes: «The suspended ones appeal to aesthetes and cleaning fans. Those on the ground only for those who do not believe that they can really be suspended without, sooner or later, falling ». Trust, and listen to your architect.

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