If you know us, you will have heard us wax lyrical about spatial planning. It is Studio Dean’s ‘magic sauce’ and is what sets us apart from other interior design studios. We make spaces work, beautifully from the architectural bones of the property and to do this properly takes a heck of a lot more than a lick of paint.

WHAT IS SPATIAL PLANNING?

We’re so pleased you asked. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we will begin...

Spatial planning redesigns the layout of your home to make the most of your space and make your home work perfectly, for you. It accepts no compromise and generates the absolutely ideal environment for you and your family to live your best home lives, every single day.

Spatial planning is bold and idealistic. It knocks down walls, moves doors, reroutes pipework and flips houses upside down and back to front - if that will make your home work better for you. Do you wish you could eat your cornflakes overlooking the gorgeous view to the south of your house, but your kitchen window faces west? Spatial planning makes your dream come true and you will enjoy those cornflakes 100% more every single day.

‘That’s a lot of investment for a bowl of cornflakes’ you may say, but Studio Dean’s spatial planning doesn’t stop there. It takes away all the annoyances and the things that grind your gears about your home. Enjoy coming home, but hate wading through shoes in the hallway? Find yourselves looking at mountains of laundry on the kitchen table on a daily basis? Love your partner but wish you didn’t have to listen to their snoring every night? Think you need an extension to make your house work? We have ways to solve all of these issues, but often they are not what you expect. Giving up space to function is something we are huge advocates of.

A boot room keeps your home in order and the beautiful spaces stay beautiful

Moving the laundry room upstairs saves on your whole home being taken over by clothes drying

Creating luxurious, interconnecting suites means you stay happily with your partner but are well rested too

Repurposing dead space in your existing home in place of extending can unlock huge changes for far less investment!

These are just some of the things we consider when considering your layouts, we consider you and how your spaces can work better together so each day is filled with little smiles and sighs of satisfaction.

Spatial planning works for you, the real you, the everyday person and is about investing in your life within your home. It’s not just painting it a great colour and keeping the same frustrations there every single day. You can see some of our Northumberland , Edinburgh and Newcastle interior design success stories here: https://studiodean.com/our-work

WHY DOES SPATIAL PLANNING MATTER?

For us (and especially me, Cathy here), spatial planning matters more than any other aspect of interior design. At Studio Dean, we would rather work with a client on only spatial design than try to salvage a badly spatially designed house – there, I’ve said it.

Why? Because no matter how perfect the colour palette or stylish the fittings, if the flow of the house and the spaces you live in aren’t right for you, the house just won’t ‘work’. It takes a really thorough, architectural job to create the perfect home for you.

We know this may seem counterintuitive coming from an Interior Designer - we love the final finishes, right? Well yes, of course we do. I mean I can spend hours musing over lighting, fabrics, flooring, paints and hell I do love a cushion too, but that part is the icing on the cake, and if the sponge is dry and tasteless then the icing is irrelevant. It takes a while to realise the benefit of going as far as spatial planning when renovating a home. Just as you wouldn’t just plaster over the cracks, you shouldn’t ‘make do’ with decorating a space that is not fundamentally working as well as it could. It will look a bit prettier, but the things that annoy you will still annoy you in a different colour.

Investing in spatial planning and making your home work for you can give you a far longer life span in the home you are already in. Instead of moving, maybe you can spend the stamp duty on some clever spatial changes to create a house that you and your family will genuinely love forever.

WHEN SHOULD YOU START SPATIAL PLANNING?

Spatial planning is the very first step of your renovation project. Before you think about architects, builders or decorators, you need to call in an interior designer with a proven track record of spatial planning. Please note – interior decorators, soft furnishing specialists and in-store interior design services are all great, but they deal only in aesthetics. They won’t fundamentally improve your day-to-day life. Be sure to research and make sure the designers you appoint are focussed on interior architecture and spatial planning as well as aesthetics.

The right, architecturally-minded interior designer will look at the space you have, get to know you, your family and the needs of your lifestyle, and reimagine the space in a way that works beautifully for you.

Once you have agreed on a design, you can then collaborate with the architects, structural engineers, M&E specialists, contractors and any other specialists who will consult on their specialism. Or, we can also do all of this for you and suggest our network of trusted suppliers and experts.

Thorough interior design with spatial planning is short term pain for a significant gain. If you are renovating, you will always have the upheaval and have to empty rooms, lift floors, plaster, paint and fit new fixtures, but if you go the extra mile to move the door to exactly where it should be it feels like a different space. The long-term benefits far outweigh the extra work - it’s like getting a whole new house.

Spatial planning is not always about having a bigger house, but having a more functional house, tailor made for you, where every room works. It won’t be a mass-produced show home, it will be a home perfect for you.

HOW DOES STUDIO DEAN WIN AT SPATIAL PLANNING?

It has been a lifelong obsession of mine to make spaces work. I have never been able to accept what is there as the final answer and cannot help suggesting solutions and improvements to any space. From a young age I have been challenging why buildings were the way they are – it's just the way that I’m wired!

I feel lucky every day to be able to make this passion of mine the heart of the Studio Dean business and absolutely love it when I see a client realise how much better their day-to-day life will be in their home once we've reworked it.

My top tip is to spend time in the house for two weeks and record where you spend time. Put a tally chart up at each door and see which spaces you use or don’t utilise. Are they the best bits? Why don’t you use the other bits? Have you tried to make a north facing room into a day room – should it be a snug? How do you use them? Why do you use them? Is it because the other rooms aren’t working? You’ll find you are probably only using 30% - 40% of your home regularly. Let’s use all of it, every day!

We encourage our clients to stop seeing rooms as what they are now. The only thing that makes a kitchen a kitchen is a bit of plumbing. Don’t feel restricted. It needs to work for you and not the person who lived there before (or the plumber who didn’t want to run a longer length of pipe!).

For me the best bit is knowing I’ve created an actual home – not a show home, or a flip - a proper home for real life to be enjoyed, every day.

It is over and out from me on Spatial Planning for now, I hope this has helped explain how it can transform your home and your life!

Until next time,