Understanding Transitional Style Homes and How to Create One
By: Architectural Visions
When discussing home styles, well-defined types of architecture usually come to mind, such as Colonial, Craftsman, or Victorian. However, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one of these styles, especially if you’re looking to give your home an update.
Here’s an overview of transitional home style for both exteriors and interiors to help you make your home more contemporary while still preserving its unique and historic touches.
Key Takeaways:
- A transitional style home is a mixture of classic traditional looks and modern contemporary styles
- A common feature of transitional style homes is combining warm and neutral colors with interesting textures
- Because natural light is an important element to transitional style homes, big windows are a popular choice
- Window styles like casement or glider windows are good options as their designs embrace the transitional home style
What Is Transitional Home Style?
Simply put, transitional home style is a blend between traditional design and a contemporary look. It’s a way to mix classic and modern elements to give homeowners the best of both worlds – perhaps to move away from outdated fixtures or make a home more attractive to new buyers.
An increasing number of homeowners are interested in transitional design style because it can reinvigorate an old house and create a brand-new look that fuses styles to reflect their personal tastes. The goal of traditional design style remodeling is to seamlessly blend two or more styles, rather than making one style prominently stand out or creating a combination that feels forced or awkward.
The Basics of Transitional Design Style
One of the most common combinations you’ll see with transitional design style is mixing warm and neutral colors with interesting textures. With this strategy, you’ll add visual intrigue to your home while still being subtle and creating a calm, unfussy atmosphere. With your wood, steel, and fabric textures, keep the hues light and simple with various shades of brown, tan, cream, and beige.
Simplicity and minimalism are prevalent in traditional style homes so that a central focal piece can really stand out. This helps achieve balance between two distinct styles so that you don’t overwhelm the room with too many details. Your focal piece might be a colorful piece of artwork, brightly colored curtains, or a piece of furniture that you reupholster in a fun color.
Big windows are another great way to embrace transitional design while adding a bit of luxury and inviting the outside world to the interior. Natural light is very welcome in a transitional home to illuminate your furnishings while also making a bold statement on the exterior of the house as well.
Considerations for Exterior Transitional Décor
One of the best ways to embrace transitional home style is to add oversized glass windows to your home in an asymmetrical way that gets more natural light into to the room. Casement windows give homes a sleek and modern look, while glider windows have a smooth and contemporary appearance.
Glass-pane doors also work well for making a traditional Craftsman home look more contemporary. For example, large scenic doors will give a classic style a more modern update while also letting in lots of natural light and providing balance between your indoor and outdoor living spaces.
Meanwhile, horizontal awnings can give a traditional-looking home a more contemporary look. To transform the outside of your home design into a more transitional style, you can paint the exterior walls and trim in contrasting shades for a bit of modernity and to establish clean and simple lines. Wide roof overhangs, concrete blocks, and industrial elements also make a home look more transitional. To accomplish this, you might install vertical siding or a metal roof onto a farmhouse cottage, for example.
Elements of Transitional Interior Design
In addition to keeping colors neutral and mixing textures in the interior of your home, you can add some sleek metal accessories next to classic furniture pieces. It’s easy to do this with a few modern lamps, mirrors, or pieces of artwork on the walls. Remember that transitional interior design is all about balance, so make sure that nothing in the room stands out too much or looks overwhelmingly obvious. This also means not placing too many accessories or décor accents to any one room. Instead, stick to one or two simple pieces that create interest and spark conversation.
Another great way to give a home a more transitional vibe is to update the lighting. Lighting has a huge impact on a room and offers an affordable and low-commitment way to change an interior space. Consider replacing an ornate or antique chandelier with a contemporary hanging light that is simpler. Shiny metal lamps, rather than lamps with patterned fabric lampshades, will instantly make a room look more updated and sleek. Gold, copper, and bronze are great choices for new lighting fixtures, and you can even mix metal finishes in the same room for a trendy look.
How to Introduce Transitions to an Existing Style
If your home currently has a very distinctive style, you might be concerned about making a big change that throws off the whole design scheme and doesn’t make logical sense. Therefore, it is often best to introduce small elements of a new style into your existing style rather than doing a full overhaul or a 50/50 split of the two styles right away.
To start, you might replace the door and windows on the front of your house, hang new curtains that have a solid tonal color, or update the seating in your dining room to get started. Consider starting to make changes to just the rooms that you spend the most time in first, such as the living room and kitchen. This might be as simple as adding an area rug to the living room floor for some texture or adding a modern tile backsplash in the kitchen. Then gradually introduce more diverse elements to the other rooms in your home and consult an expert about exterior changes that can tie it all together.
Although striking the perfect balance between styles might sound intimidating, the true goal of transitional style is to give your home a fun personality that is unique and reflects your own interests and tastes. Take some time to walk from one room to the next and observe the energy you feel in each space so that the flow between rooms feels natural and makes sense in your mind.
Shop for Windows and Doors to Make the Transition
Getting new windows and doors is often among the best ways to start transitioning your home, and at AVI, we’re here to help walk you through this process. We offer virtual online consultations with no obligation so that you can receive professional advice about window and door updates from the comfort of your home.
Whether you want to make your home look more modern so it’s more attractive to sell or make it more traditional to give it more character, AVI is your one-stop solution for residential window and door projects. We supply, install, and service modern, contemporary, and traditional-style windows and doors and have seven showroom locations so you can see the products for yourself in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Contact us to learn more!