Giving a space that signature touch is something that makes home really feel like home. Recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the underrated design elements they can't get enough of. Here's what they had to say:
1. "Color! Nowadays everything is either beige, white, or gray! Paint your walls a fun color, buy a colorful rug to match, throw pillows and blankets with different textures, and art that enriches your space. Color and texture truly make your home more inviting and less like a sterile waiting room."
2. "I like having my kitchen and living room combined with a countertop separating them. Modern kitchens in smaller footprint houses or apartments are often way too tiny, and if you open it up, you have so much more room."
3. "Second floor laundry (instead of basement)! Life-changer!"
4. "Unpopular opinion, but I LOVE a sunken or step-down living room. We have owned many different styles of homes, and my absolute favorite was our split-level. It was a less traditional floor plan, and the large living room was two steps down from everything else in the main floor. It was the ultimate party space. There was always room to sit and hang out or play board games on the long steps!"
—Anonymous
5. "I love skylights and French doors."
6. "Dark wood with wonderfully crafted wainscoting and crown molding. Basically, imagine the library of a rich British Lord, that aesthetic."
—Anonymous
7. "Creating inviting spaces with color, texture, and fabric. You should want to touch and physically be in the space. The best compliment I received on my house was that every place to sit looked like a good spot to read a book and relax."
8. "Walls. Give me archways. Let me give my rooms character and keep them separate. I don't need my kitchen and living room to be one big room; I can't relax in that kind of space."
9. "Loft spaces in any home/apt! I just love it! It's not really a place to find peace and quiet, but it's a great transitional space. Depending on location and size, you can put a day bed, make it into a small yoga/meditation space, game space, workspace, plant space, or greenhouse. It was the one thing my partner and I searched for when we were looking for a house, and we love it!"
10. "I love having books and curiosities around, sort of a 'turn of the century professor's study' vibe. I have lots of book shelves, cool rocks, leaves, artifacts, etc. As long as they're contained on a shelf or cabinet, it doesn't look cluttered."
11. "I'm a designer, and I just love when people do a non-neutral color for their kitchen cabinets. A nice medium to dark blue is beautiful! Just keep your countertops a bit more simple so they don't fight each other for visual attention, and it will be timeless."
12. "Pocket doors. So much space is potentially wasted in my home because I need room to properly open a door."
13. "I really love Victorian-era architecture. I wish more houses were made to look like that. It looks so much better and prettier than modern homes do. Modern homes these days all look the same and are so bland, but Victorian homes have such character, and I love it!"
14. "In our first home, we painted the entryway room walls a warm light pink. It makes everyone smile when they enter our house!"
—Anonymous
15. "I love the use of woods with the natural colors, different fabrics, and textures used. It's such a clean and natural look that seems so inviting, full of history, and culture."
16. "Tudor-style architecture: refined and romantic. Reminds me of my childhood in the UK."
—Anonymous
17. "Natural light! It make the house look bigger."
18. "Old houses [that] have a wide roof overhang. There is a purpose to this. It helps keep the sun out in the summer, the rain away from the walls, and then you can open the windows and have a draft."
—Anonymous
19. "A formal dining room! Everyone wants the open floor plan, but I absolutely love the dining room in our house. We sit down together as a family every night for dinner, and having a separate dining room keeps the focus on our conversation."
What other underrated home design elements belong on this list? Share your suggestions in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.