Recently, Compass sales agent Cassidy Iwersen felt a shift in her conversations with home buyers: Most of her clients want—no, need—a house with a swimming pool, and they aren’t afraid to delay their hunt until they get one. “Once, it might have been a ‘nice to have’; now it’s becoming a ‘must have,’” says Iwersen. At least, it’s turned into a deal breaker for many living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that she works in, but she suspects others who experienced record-breaking temperatures this year feel the same. 

For the everyday homeowner, the draw of a pool is enjoyment: It’s an amenity a whole family can use. Some buyers with kids have admitted to Iwersen that having one even encourages their little ones to lessen their screen time. Adults feel the same way: “One of my clients with a high-powered job said, ‘There are only a few things that really help me decompress and where I feel really relaxed, and hanging out in the pool is one of them,’” she recalls. 

What does all that zen time translate to in dollar signs? If you’re shopping for a home with a saltwater pool, you might expect to pay more for it and see more competition from other buyers, according to Zillow’s latest research, which suggests homes with saltwater pools sell for 1.5 percent more than comparable homes without one. Fortunately, most people don’t appear to care all that much about what the pool looks like but rather what shape it’s in. Older ones that require significant repairs can drag down the overall value of a property. “I always recommend getting a separate pool inspection,” says Iwersen.  

And what if your budget doesn’t get you a place with a pool at all? Iwersen has witnessed many clients stall their searches as a result, but she is proposing an alternative solution: Commit to the house you love, and if it’s pool-less, build a 5-foot-deep plunge pool. While they aren’t necessarily that much cheaper to construct than your average inground pool (approximately $25,370), these tiny oases come with a ton of perks: You don’t have to have a huge yard to fit one (you can even put one on sloped terrain), it’s easier to maintain and clean, it requires fewer chemicals, and it won’t break the bank if you want to heat it in the cooler months. 

This time last year, Karen Larson, cofounder of Soake Pools, saw record-breaking sales, 15 percent of which consisted of pools smaller than 7-by-13 feet. According to customer feedback, plunge pools fit well into the ever-popular outdoor living concept because they leave more room for other features such as firepits, lawn games, and alfresco kitchens. Read on for some more perks to paring back. 

You Can Get One in a Matter of Months

Chapman Bullock, cofounder of Proper Plunge Pools, says half of its inquiries come from clients who want a pool within three months—a timeline that’s totally doable when the actual installation only takes a matter of days. “The traditional path is going to take [customers] 12 to 18 months,” he says. “People don’t want a construction site in their backyards for months at a time.”

You Can Order One on the Internet

Here’s a short list of a few designer-favorite sources for premade plunge pools:

• Plungie
• Little Dipper
• Proper Plunge Pool
• Soake Pools

You Can Now Turn the Temp Way Down

More of a cold plunge kind of person? Soake Pools recently announced the launch of its first plunge pool designed specifically for cold plunging. The basin is smaller, lighter, and more efficient than its counterparts. Measuring at just 4-by-4 feet, the compact unit is intended for sitting and comfortably fits one person to create a traditionally individual, energizing experience. In addition to selecting your choice of porcelain tile for the interior, there are three cover styles available: lockable wood roll, textured folding spa, or the power safety. 

It Might Boost Your Value, But It’ll Definitely Perk Up a Listing

During the pandemic, it was clear buyers were willing to pay more for a home with a pool—specifically, $27,199 more on average. Generally, though, adding a pool of any kind solely to boost the resale value of your home is a gamble because you might not recover the total cost of putting one in. “I’m cautious to ever say that you can expect to get that back because there are so many other factors when pricing a home to sell, but I do feel that it does add value in most cases,” notes Iwersen. With that said: The appeal is real. “[Pools] used to be buried in the listing photos, and now I see them as the first one more and more!” she adds. 

You Can Get Creative

The ultimate solution if you are on a tight budget and want a place to keep cool is to buy a stock tank and add a pump. The next best thing? An aboveground pool, which can range from $800 to $5,000. “I feel like people are getting creative with aboveground pools—connecting them to the house with a deck or building out a wood or tiled surround with steps so that they look more inviting,” shares Iwersen. 

And don’t sleep on other water features either. When interior designer Kate Fudim bought her North Carolina home in 2021, there was a tiered fountain in the courtyard—she started requesting quotes from contractors to convert it into a pool ASAP. After a number of contractors quoted her up to $80,000 to do the job, she learned they could simply dig trenches around the lower pool and drill through the bottom of it to add inlets for filtered water and a light. They installed traditional pool equipment, filled it with salt water, and—voilà!—the whole job took three workers three weekends to complete for a grand total of $6,900. “The upper pool is fun because we use our pool floats and lounge around,” she says. “The bottom pool is deeper, though, and it’s in the shade, so I find it the most comfortable.”

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Potatoes, hot springs, river rafting, and…soaring home values? Idaho is now known for all these things. Architecture Lab recently used data from Zillow to compare the average home value of 2013 and 2023 in every state to see where the most significant increases were. It turns out, the mountainous Northwestern state has come out on top. Idaho has experienced the biggest spike (171.03 percent to be exact), with 2013’s average value coming in at $159,567 and jumping to $432,476 in 2023. Here’s a look at the 10 states that have seen the largest leaps in home values, and what that average increase translates to in dollars. 

1. Idaho ($287,665)
2. Florida ($250,874)
3. Nevada ($294,686)
4. Georgia ($208,490)
5. Arizona ($285,003)
6. Utah ($344,212)
7. Washington ($396,512)
8. Colorado ($385,438)
9. Montana ($291,949)
10. Tennessee ($203,414)

When you think of homes in Idaho, you probably picture a cozy log cabin or traditional modern farmhouse, but looking back at some of our favorite projects in the state, we uncovered so much more than rustic charm. Here are four Idaho homes that have no shortage of clever ideas. 

The One With the Custom-Looking IKEA Pax Closet

Before Julia and Chris Marcum moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, they called this six-bedroom Tudor in Idaho Falls home. When the design blogger duo was quoted a cool $30,000 to have a walk-in closet built from scratch, they turned to IKEA’s beloved Pax system and pulled it off for a mere $3,000.

The One That Proves the Power of Paint

Kirsten Grove, Sam Salinas, and Bernadette Lindstrom, the trio behind We Three Design, brought this Nampa home’s 1902 character back to life, largely thanks to smart paint choices. The kitchen is swathed in Sherwin-Williams’s Rock Bottom, a moody green-gray that even makes the brick backsplash feel modern. In one of the bedrooms, they drenched the walls, ceiling, window trim, and medallion in Autumn Orchid.

The One With a Warm Welcome

Juniper Interiors opted for the ultimate first impression in this Idaho Falls home with white oak herringbone flooring and a steel arched door.

The One That’s All About the Vanities  

An important material for any mountain house is wood, but Yond Interiors didn’t go the expected pine route for this Sun Valley home. In the bathrooms, the firm introduced white oak vanities with elevated details like long integrated handles and prominent rails and stiles. The math is all making sense now. 

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Picture this: It’s a beautiful day. You know you should be outside, getting your daily dose of vitamin D, moving your body, reading a book, but you are also three episodes behind on your current favorite show. So you’re faced with a tough choice: Park yourself on the sofa inside or embrace the outdoors and tell yourself you’ll binge later that night. Not everyone has to make this compromise. 

If you happen to have an outdoor TV, you can enjoy the best of both worlds, and home buyers are acutely aware of this fact. New Zillow research finds homes featuring an outdoor TV command 3.1 percent more than expected, which translates to $10,749 on a typical U.S. home. That’s the highest sale price premium of all 359 features Zillow recently analyzed across nearly 1 million home sales in 2023. 

Properties with other desirable backyard amenities such as an alfresco shower, pizza oven, and bluestone patio also fetch higher than expected prices when those elements are mentioned in a listing description. But a TV that’s visible from your swimming pool or firepit? Now that’s the dream.

“When certain features or design styles are highlighted in a listing description, they serve as a signal to a buyer that a home is appealing and up-to-date,” says Zillow’s home trends expert, Amanda Pendleton. As a result, those callouts can help a home sell faster and for more money. 

Of course, securing an outdoor TV setup (whether it’s for yourself or in the hope of sparking a bidding war) is not as simple as plugging a screen into the side of your house. First off, your TV will need to be masked from the elements in the form of a covered patio or pavilion. If you don’t have the time or budget to build a protective structure, consider a lift cabinet that’s clad in weatherproof wood, like this walnut one on Etsy. For those who aren’t as picky about the screen quality, you can also invest in a TV that is specifically designed to go outdoors, such as Samsung’s Terrace series (the brand makes options that can withstand partial or full sun). Now you can click to the next episode with one hand and toss a football with the other.

The post Backyards With This Amenity Can Help Sell a House for $10K More appeared first on domino.

What if your wanderlust wasn’t limited to a 10-day vacation? In our series My Life Abroad, we ask expats from around the world what it takes to resettle thousands of miles away from home, plus how their new city has influenced their style. 

Who I am: Sophie Bell, founder of lifestyle brand Peppa Hart.

Where I used to live: Cabarita Beach, Australia. 

Where I moved: Seseh, Bali, Indonesia.

How long my family and I have lived in our current city: Coming up on two years.

Why we moved: We wanted to chase our dreams and needed something new and exciting for our family. We were working so hard and had a house on acreage that was a lot of maintenance, and we also felt like every weekend was the same. We wanted to explore and show our young children there is so much more to the world. 

So we put our home on the market and booked our one-way ticket to Bali. Our family and friends were shocked. We hadn’t been planning it for a long time, but once we had made the call, we knew it was exactly the right decision for our family. Bali has always been a special place for us. We were married here in 2013 and have holidayed here several times a year throughout our lives. 

We were craving adventure, freedom, and the ability to be on the ground in Bali working on projects we had been dreaming of for so long, like creating our own clothing and homewares, and building exciting businesses that we kept putting off because we were too busy. 

The logistics we needed to line up before we moved: Securing visas was the first step to make sure we would be able to stay long-term. We worked with Bali Solve to help us with our applications. We are on a Kitas visa, which allows us to be in Bali for an extended time. Once we arrived in Bali, we finalized all our paperwork in person and opened our local bank accounts as well. 

Schools were super-important to us—we looked at three and did a deep dive on them all to see which would be perfect for our children. We were so happy with the school we ended up going with; it’s an incredible international school with a beautiful community of families from all over the world, all sharing a similar experience. Our children have friends from Sweden, France, Spain, Brazil, the U.S., Singapore. They are learning so much about the world already.

How we got our stuff overseas: We took our personal items and anything that was super-special to us, but overall the bulk of things stayed with the home (we sold it fully furnished, including kitchenware and styling pieces). We booked the maximum baggage allowance, which was around 14 bags between the four of us. People were a little shocked when we turned up to the check-in with 14 suitcases and boxes, but that was our entire life packed up! 

We mainly brought clothes, our kids’ favorite toys and books, coffee-table books I had been collecting, and special homeware pieces like ceramics my mum had made for me. (She and my mother-in-law come over regularly to see us, so they have been lugging over anything extra we needed to get settled!)

Rent vs. own: Because we are not Indonesian, we can only do long-term leases or a Freehold. A Freehold is still a lease, but it’s a 99-year lease. We have a 25-year lease with two extensions, so we have the land for 70-plus years. During the term of the lease, the property is completely ours. We can build, renovate, or do whatever we want to that land. 

What our house search was like: Before we arrived, we booked a three-month, short-term villa in the area we thought we would most likely end up living. The plan was to look for land and build from scratch and rent during that process, but once we arrived we found that yearly rental prices were going crazy with people flooding back to Bali post-COVID. We couldn’t stomach spending an outrageous amount on rent for 18 months while we built, so we changed tactics and started to look for projects that were around 80 percent finished. That way, we could come in and add our finishing touches but move in ASAP. 

We contacted all the main real-estate agents in Bali and told them our requirements, and also signed up for Facebook groups that showcase real estate in each area. We were able to find a property in beautiful Seseh that had two villas, side by side. It has stunning rice-field views and is only 10 minutes from all the best restaurants. We put an offer on it and came to an agreement with the developer to be able to finish the project ourselves and move in within three months. Now we live in one villa and rent the other one out. 

My advice for anyone who wants to build in my town: It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of pros, but many hurdles, too. You need to tackle language barriers and completely different building materials, and the rules are very relaxed. But the beauty about building in Bali is you can get absolutely everything custom-made. 

My advice would be to definitely be here in person. Things move quickly, and if we hadn’t been coming to the site almost daily, the outcome would not have been as great. (If you can’t be here to oversee the build, then I would invest in a really amazing project manager.)

The biggest challenge with moving abroad: Missing our family and friends. We were so used to having my mum and my mother-in-law around a lot, so to not have them down the road is definitely the hardest thing. Now that we know we are here for the long-term, we’re working on getting them here permanently. Life would be complete! 

The biggest joy of moving abroad: The change in our kids has been beyond words. My son, especially, has just transformed being here. He is so happy and confident. And because you are away from your family, your friends here really do become like family. We travel together and help each other with kids and life.  

Monday through Friday we are in the school and work rhythm, but once Friday afternoon rolls around, it’s adventures galore. There are so many gorgeous islands nearby that you can duck to for the weekend. We are constantly doing little trips, which we would never usually do in Australia. 

The most surprising thing I’ve learned about living in my city since I moved here: How lovely an expat community is. Everyone really looks after each other and is so helpful in sharing information and contacts. We have made lifelong friends here.  

Where I found design inspiration for my space: I wanted the space to be pared back and easy to maintain because it was designed to be a holiday rental. (We also rent out our own villa when we travel for long periods of time.) I wanted everything to be sourced locally and custom-made to fit the space perfectly. Most items, from the marble tables to the dining chairs to the brass toilet roll holders, have been custom-made.  

If I were to move abroad again and could do anything differently, it would be: Not to rush into anything. Really get to know the area and properties you’re looking at. A lot of things look great online and then you see them in real life and they just aren’t. 

The best piece of decorating advice I’ve learned from living in my current city: Work to its strengths. The artisans here are so talented at working with wood, rattan, ceramics, and concrete, so utilize all the amazing skills they have in these methods. But always get a sample done to make sure they can achieve the finish you want, and only pay a deposit initially. Once you’ve seen the finished product and you’re happy with it, then pay the remaining amount.

The item I brought from home that brings me comfort: My mum is a super-talented ceramist, so I had to bring a bunch of her beautiful pieces with me. Each has its own story and meaning for me. 

The moment I felt like a local: Last year we did a two-month holiday in Europe, and when we flew back into Bali it really felt like home. It was a real moment where we looked at each other and were so happy, like, this is our life now.

We also flew back to Australia recently for a friend’s 40th birthday and we were wondering if we would miss Australia, but it was the opposite. It really confirmed for us that as much as we miss our family and friends, Bali is the place for us.

The post Here’s What It’s Actually Like to Move to Bali and Sign a 70-Year Lease appeared first on domino.

For a long time, if you wanted to list your home, the best time of the year to jump on it was early spring (specifically the first week of April) or right around Labor Day (ideally the Thursday before the long holiday weekend). If sellers timed it just right, they would have the best chance at securing multiple offers on their home. But a lot has changed since the pandemic. In 2023, Zillow’s chief economist, Skylar Olsen, clocked a shift: Homes listed in the first two weeks of June last year sold for 2.3 percent more nationwide, translating to an average $7,700 boost. In other words, early June was super-rewarding for sellers and—on the flip side—fueled competition among buyers. 

The old logic was that sellers could get more bang for their buck by listing at a time when their home would be on the top of the pile of listings and search activity was at its peak.

“Now, with persistently low inventory, mortgage rate fluctuations make their own seasonality,” says Olsen. Last June, rates pulled back slightly from 6.79 percent to 6.67 percent, which probably inspired buyers who felt they could afford to transact, boosting competition and sale prices. Going into this season, Olsen suspects to see a similar pattern, especially if the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates.

More competition equals more opportunities to get stuck in a bidding war. But as we’ve learned from home buyers in the past who have lived through it, the best thing you can do is be firm with yourself about your budget and make the process personal by writing a letter to the seller about why you love the house (or chat with neighbors—you never know who might put in a good word for you).

And if you really want to avoid the competition? Compass sales agent Cassidy Iwersen recommends looking at listings that have been around for at least a week. They might not be turnkey, but if you can look past sad wallpaper and dated carpeting, you could avoid a multiple-offer situation and have some negotiation power. 

The post Sorry, Buyers: The Most Competitive Time to Score a House Is Around the Corner appeared first on domino.

What if your wanderlust wasn’t limited to a 10-day vacation? In our series My Life Abroad, we ask expats from around the world what it takes to resettle thousands of miles away from home, plus how their new city has influenced their style. 

Who I am: Devon Liedtke, creative director and founder of namesake homewares brand Devon Liedtke.

Where I used to live: Houston.

Where I moved: Barcelona.

How long my family and I have lived in our new city: A year and a half. 

Why we moved: We are definitely a COVID statistic. After being together as a family unit for so long, we realized we wanted more time together and a more flexible work-life balance. We found ourselves staying up late, scheming our next moves and envisioning a different life. 

How our research panned out: Long conversations ensued with hours of exploring what we wanted, the fear of changing jobs, and the anxieties of the unknown. Untethered for the first time in our marriage, my husband, Taylor, and I started planning what life could look like for us. I found a website of 15 international schools in Europe, and Taylor emailed every one of them describing our family and asking if they had any last-minute availability. 

Twenty-four hours into our search, we found a great school in Barcelona. Taylor had studied abroad in Seville and always spoke highly of his love of the Spanish language and culture. 

Forty-eight hours in, we found a furnished apartment that we were excited about. However, at that time, I had never even been to Barcelona. We cashed in our remaining flight miles and booked a quick four-day trip to visit schools and the apartment.

On our last afternoon, over glasses of Cava, we decided this was the move for us and we toasted to our new adventure. When we got back to Houston, we put our house on the market, sold our cars and the majority of our furniture, and put the rest of our belongings in a storage unit. We booked one-way tickets to Barcelona for the new school year.

The logistics we needed to line up before we moved: Figuring out how to get a visa in a short amount of time was the top priority. Spain offers a lot of visa options, but each varies on the time to acquire it and the amount of paperwork. We started with the non-lucrative visa, which required a lot of information. However, there was such a backlog, that this option fell away after three months of work. 

In the end, we obtained a golden visa in Barcelona. This was a faster option and the paperwork was less substantial. We needed copies (and translated versions) of our marriage certificate, children’s birth certificates, proof of financial independence (basically saying that you can support yourself without the Spanish government’s help), proof of health insurance, and a Spanish bank account. We also brought our two dogs with us, which required proof of vaccinations (in particular rabies) and that they were microchipped.

What we brought with us overseas: We knew we wanted a furnished apartment, so we did not bring any furniture with us. The main thing was our personal items. We were quite the sight at the airport with five large suitcases and seven big black duffle bags of clothing, toys, and medicine.

Rent or own: Rent

What our apartment search was like: We didn’t know much about the neighborhoods in Barcelona, but we knew we wanted a different experience than that of Houston (we were really looking for a walking-oriented life). In Barcelona, Eixample is basically the city center, so we started in that area for our search. We have three kids and two dogs, so we had some bedroom requirements for the apartment, but overall, we were looking for a space within walking distance of our children’s schools, bus stops, grocery stores, playgrounds, shops, and restaurants. 

The biggest challenge with moving abroad: We definitely miss our family and friends, but as Americans, and in particular Southerners, we miss the small talk. It just doesn’t feel like a thing in Barcelona. There is no standing in line waiting for a coffee and chitchatting away with a perfect stranger. 

The biggest joy of moving abroad: The travel! To be able to jump on an airplane and go almost anywhere in Europe in two hours is amazing. We bring our children on every trip we take, and we love watching them take in new cultures, sights, sounds, smells, and food. The ability to open their minds to the world has truly been our greatest joy.

The best decorating tip I’ve learned from living in my current city: One thing I love about Barcelona is how every building’s facade, lobby, and floor is unique. There is such an emphasis on tiles, mosaics, and nature. 

The thing I brought from home that brings me the most comfort: My pillow. I am that person who can only sleep with their own pillow. It goes everywhere with me. And quite literally, it brings me a lot of comfort. This summer we went on a road trip to France and I left it in the hotel room. Halfway home, I realized I left it, and I made Taylor turn around and get the pillow, which added about four hours to the drive. He still holds it over my head! 

The moment I felt like a local: The first time I walked into the grocery store and ran into friends and stayed and chatted. It made me feel like I was back home. 

The post Here’s What It’s Actually Like to Move to Barcelona With 3 Kids and 2 Dogs appeared first on domino.

What if your wanderlust wasn’t limited to a 10-day vacation? In our series My Life Abroad, we ask expats from around the world what it takes to resettle thousands of miles away from home, plus how their new city has influenced their style. 

Who I am: Hannah Kirshner, food stylist and author of Water, Wood, and Wild Things.

Where I used to live: Brooklyn (my husband still runs a graphics studio in New York, so I go back and forth).

Where I moved: Yamanaka Onsen, Japan.

How long I’ve lived in my new city: Five years (but I first came to Yamanaka for a three-month apprenticeship at a sake bar in 2015).

Why I moved: In 2018, I signed a contract with a publisher to write my book, Water, Wood, and Wild Things, which is about the people literally making the town’s culture: lacquerware bowls, sake, rice and vegetables, traditional folk music, and contemporary art, too. That allowed me to spend the next year fully immersed in research. I became the first woman (or foreigner) to work at the town’s 14th-generation sake brewery; I followed duck and boar hunters; I learned to grow rice and carve wood trays. As I wrote about the community, I also became part of it, and I wanted to stay.

The logistics I needed to line up before I moved: I was able to get an artist visa to do my writing in Japan (anyone can buy a house here, but being a landowner doesn’t give you any more right to live in Japan—you still need to apply for residency). There’s very little English spoken in rural places like this, so I’m really proud of myself when I can manage a trip to City Hall or a phone call with my car mechanic by myself. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the friends and neighbors who patiently help me decipher the linguistic and social nuances of life in a rural village.

Rent vs. own: I rented an apartment for the first few years, but now I own a small compound of three buildings. Around the time Water, Wood, and Wild Things was published, I bought a 100-year-old kominka (farmhouse) for less than what many people spend on a used car. It came with a workshop building and a small plot of agricultural land. There was a little house next door that was vacant, too, and the owner sold it to me for less than $3,000. Now I live in the little house while I work on renovating the big kominka. Last fall, I also bought a little white kei truck, which is indispensable for frequent trips to the hardware store and dump (and a lot of fun to drive)!

What my house search was like: When I first came to Yamanaka, I saw the old house that my friend Mika Horie converted into a studio for paper making and photography, and right away I started dreaming of my own kominka project. Whenever I went jogging or cycling, if I saw a good house that looked empty, I would drop a pin on a map. I fell in love with the one I eventually bought, but it took years to find the owner and work out a purchase agreement. Then, while I was there working on the garden, I met the owner of the little house next door. I realized that buying the house and living in it while I renovate the kominka might make more sense than continuing to rent an apartment. 

How I got furniture to my new house: One of the things I like about my home in Japan is that it’s not cluttered with a ton of stuff (yet). I’m taking my time to bring things in my suitcase [from New York] little by little as I need them. Most of the tableware and cookware in the house was left behind by the family that lived in the kominka. Whenever I go to Tokyo, I buy good cooking tools in Kappabashi, the kitchenware district: I love the carbon steel pans from Kama-asa. For basics, from toilet paper to bedsheets, I order online from Muji. Even my refrigerator is from Muji.

My biggest purchases for the house were new tatami mats and an efficient Jotul wood stove. In the room with the wood stove, I laid a hearth of big black tiles made from the same material as Japanese roofing (I practiced my tiling skills in the bathroom first). The floorboards came from another century-old house my carpenter worked on, and with his help I refinished them with urushi, lacquer made from the sap of urushi trees. I splurged on a new wood stove because it’s less polluting than an old one. It’s my main source of heat, and I also use it for cooking sometimes and drying laundry. 

My advice for anyone who wants to settle down in my town: Instagram accounts like @cheaphousesjapan are great fodder for daydreams, but when you buy one of these homes you are not just getting property: You are joining a community. It’s important to take time to learn how to be a good neighbor in the specific place you live. 

I pay my monthly dues to the chonaikai, the neighborhood association. I participate in circulating the kairanban, a sort of portable bulletin board passed from house to house. I regularly sweep the street in front of my house with a coarse bamboo broom, and when elderly neighbors pass by on their morning walk, I greet them and make small talk. (Sometimes they bring gifts of homemade pickles or flower seeds from their garden, and later I’ll stop by with chocolate from America or homemade jam.)

I’m so lucky that I met a like-minded local carpenter, Kenichiro Kashida, who is really not just a carpenter but an artist and self-taught architect and general contractor. We share an interest in ecological design and blending traditional and modern techniques and materials—and he’s willing to teach me. I’m doing some of the renovation myself and relying on him for the really critical work.

Where I found design inspiration for my current space: The house has this great 1960s vibe—mint green walls, a sink with pastel mosaic tile—and I’ve tried to preserve that. The only new furniture I bought is a set of floor cushions from Sou Sou (the company’s founding designer studied with Marimekko). I like to take inspiration from the tea ceremony practice of bringing in a few seasonal flowers, so I’ll often go out and pick things from the garden or in the mountains and put them in the antique vases left behind by the previous owners.

The best piece of decorating advice I’ve learned from living in my current city: I love that with a futon, I can easily change where I sleep. In the summer, I put it in the coolest room downstairs with bamboo doors that let the breeze through. When I have guests, I move it upstairs to an unfinished room so they don’t have to deal with the steep stairs. On the coldest winter days, I sleep right in front of the wood stove.

Most of the rooms are divided by sliding doors. You can open them all up to expand the space for a party, or you can close down a small room to keep it temperature controlled while working or sleeping. There’s so much flexibility built into the design and furnishing of a traditional Japanese house. 

The thing I brought from home that brings me the most comfort: My dad’s wool blanket from college keeps me warm when snow piles up outside and winter wind rattles the windowpanes. 

The biggest challenge with moving abroad: Even as I am accepted into this community, I am a perpetual guest. This is not the culture I was born into, so I walk a tightrope of respecting local norms while staying true to myself.  

The biggest joy of moving abroad: Living in Yamanaka feels like going home to the kind of mossy forests and small farms I grew up with in the Pacific Northwest, while at the same time embarking on the greatest adventure of my life.

The post Here’s What It’s Actually Like to Move to Japan and Buy a Farmhouse appeared first on domino.

What if your wanderlust wasn’t limited to a 10-day vacation? In our series My Life Abroad, we ask expats from around the world what it takes to resettle thousands of miles away from home, plus how their new city has influenced their style. 

Who I am: Malcolm Simmons, designer and owner of Mas Means More

Where I used to live: Virginia

Where I moved: London

How long I’ve lived in my new city: A year and a half

Why I moved: I was offered an opportunity by my job to work in our London office for a few years, which I was happy to accept. Prior to moving here, I hadn’t ever visited the U.K., so I saw this as a chance to experience it all in a way that was truly authentic, personal, and intentional. 

The logistics I needed to line up before I moved: I currently own a 100-year-old condo in Arlington, Virginia, so my primary responsibility before I moved was making sure it would be occupied and taken care of during my time in London. I hired a local property management company to oversee landlord responsibilities, such as finding tenants and managing maintenance requests. It was the best decision I could’ve made—I can’t imagine handling those responsibilities from across the Atlantic.

Rent or own: I’m living in a rental flat.

What my apartment search was like: I’m lucky to say that my employer found my flat for me. I told them that I wanted two bedrooms to accommodate visitors and a space in which I could work from home, and they found me a pretty great option. 

How I got my stuff overseas: My company was gracious enough to ship all of my furniture and other belongings. Otherwise, I would have been left with a small selection of rental furniture…which, in turn, would’ve left my space with little relative comfort and personality. It took a while for my furniture to arrive, which meant my flat was empty for a few months (aside from a bed), but I’m happy that I decided to wait. It feels great to have my stuff and add new European pieces to my existing collection of furniture and decor.

My advice for anyone who wants to renovate in my city: I’ve challenged myself to think of ways to add character to my flat without compromising the structure or permanent integrity of the unit. My biggest success so far has been installing and customizing a “built-in” bookcase from IKEA that stretches from floor to ceiling using suspension rods. It capitalizes on the height of the flat and activates negative space that would otherwise go largely unused. 

In cases where someone can’t fully renovate their space, I’d recommend finding ways to emphasize unique characteristics. For someone else, it might be painting a pocket of the home, like an entryway or pass-through, in a saturated color. Personally, I’m not a fan of introducing faux design elements into a rental unit (think: peel-and-stick kitchen backsplashes or countertops). Work with the grain of the home as much as possible.

The biggest challenge of moving abroad: It has taken some time for me to find my place in a big city like London. It’s quite easy to feel a bit lost among the hustle and bustle of it all, especially as a newcomer (and doubly especially as a single newcomer). 

The biggest joy of moving abroad: As cliché as it sounds, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed living in the middle of such a global city. Being so easily connected to the rest of Europe has allowed me to explore so much more of the world.

Where I found design inspiration for my current space: London is overflowing with inspiration, from custom tilework inside tube stations to museums (the Victoria and Albert Museum is my current favorite). I tend to find the most inspiration in relatively mundane moments, like the collected nature of a crowded antiques shop or the well-designed interior of a new coffee spot. Design feels so satisfyingly cyclical here (what’s new is inspired by what’s old, which was inspired by what was new). I know that’s the definition of “trend” culture, but I think style in London is more classic because of its age and staying power. Or maybe it’s all just still new and exciting to me! 

The best piece of decorating advice I’ve learned from living in my current city: Two words about design that have been circulating in my head since moving to London are attention and intention. There is a comfort in the way tube stations use design to quickly capture commuters’ attention, from clearly labeled signage to (mostly) clear tunnels for large crowds of people. My graphic design background is showing a bit, but these elements can really be brought into any design conversation—including decorating—to help influence how we use design to positively affect our lives. Establishing intentional, consistent, functional systems is a great way to create comfortable experiences and harmony within any interior.

The thing I brought from home that brings me the most comfort: My large leather sofa from Article is where I spend most of my time and what brings me the most comfort in my home. It is comfortable enough to lounge on, and the design is classic enough to fit in my largely traditional flat.

The moment I felt like a local: When I naturally started calling it a flat instead of an apartment. Language is weird, innit?

The post How I Moved From Virginia to London Without Having to Sell My Condo appeared first on domino.

Just when Sarah Sherman Samuel’s interior design career began to take off in 2017, she made a choice that could potentially disrupt everything. Samuel and her family decided to move from their 1,400-square-foot bungalow in Los Angeles to Michigan in search of more space, less miles between them and family, and the opportunity to design her dream home. She found just what she was looking for in a 1980 postmodern house in her hometown of Grand Rapids, a city that has proved to not only be perfect for the Samuels but for first-time home buyers.

Realtor.com recently shared its list of the best markets for new buyers and Samuel’s town, where the median listing price is $260,000, cracked the top 10. The analysis weighed factors like the share of 25- to 34-year-old homeowner households, the number of active listings, the ratio of listing prices to gross incomes, and even the liveliness of an area to land on the following ranking: 

1. Irondequoit, New York
2. Benton, Arkansas
3. Winterset, Iowa
4. Newington, Connecticut
5. Council Bluffs, Iowa
6. Cheektowaga, New York
7. Grand Rapids, Michigan
8. Moore, Oklahoma
9. Mattydale, New York
10. Riviera Beach, Maryland

While Grand Rapids might not be the very top market, there’s a thriving design community there (one of its nicknames is the Furniture City) and, as we’ve learned from Samuel’s various renovations in the area, a ton of cool fixer-uppers. If you can’t yet envision yourself in the Midwestern hub, never fear. Below, we’re looking back at some of the designer’s most memorable Grand Rapids projects that prove you can do anything with a little potential.

That Time She Tiled a Screened Porch

After tearing up the green Astroturf to expose the decking on her porch, Samuel applied lavender tile from Concrete Love directly on top of the wood planks using Liquid Nails. 

That Time She Made a Bunk Bed Arch Out of Plywood

When her son, Archie, requested a dark green bedroom, Samuel went above and beyond by first building a bunk bed structure (complete with an arched threshold and velvet curtains from Amazon) and creating a circus-inspired ceiling that she painted by hand. 

That Time She Assembled Kitchen Cabinets in One Night

Samuel used her “phone a friend” card when she decided to add a kitchen to her downstairs guest quarters. Instead of assembling all of the IKEA frames solo, she ordered pizza and invited friends over. Everyone grabbed one cabinet to work on and, a few hours later, the hardest part was done. 

That Time She Used Flooring as Wall Paneling

The latest hack we’re stealing from Samuel comes straight from her new dreamy HQ in Grand Rapids. For a dose of warmth, she placed Stuga’s white oak floor planks on the walls around a built-in L-shaped bench. 

The post One of 2024’s Best Cities for First-Time Buyers Is Also Sarah Sherman Samuel’s Top Pick appeared first on domino.

Finding a starter home and growing a family are two big life changes on the minds of many millennials, and they’re looking for the perfect place in which to do both. According to Storage Cafe’s analysis of U.S. Census records, that’s not necessarily in sunny California. Approximately 2.8 million individuals ages 24 to 39 relocated to a different state in 2022, and a large chunk of them found their dream home in the South. Texas experienced a net influx of more than 75,000 millennials in 2022, making it the top pick for young professionals, followed by Georgia and Florida. Meanwhile, Gen-Zers, who are very comfortable with remote work at this point, are most interested in moving to Connecticut and Washington, D.C.—locations where people’s incomes exceed the national average. 

The draw for millennials moving to Texas probably goes without saying, but we’ll lay it out plain and simple: more bang (er, square footage) for your buck. The migration route from California to Texas is a popular one, especially because the real-estate market is 62 percent more affordable, translating to a potential savings of $440,000 in home acquisition costs, note Storage Cafe’s analysts. Overall, California saw an outflow of approximately 346,000 residents due to domestic migration in 2022. 

So what does it mean to move to Texas and find your dream home? Below, we’re looking back at three home tours that show just what that can look like. 

A Former New Yorker’s Victorian in Austin

This Victorian home’s layout reminded Kim West not only of the London townhouses of her childhood but also the ones she and her family had more recently lived in when they were in Brooklyn. The choppy footprint was a big draw for the Supply Showroom cofounder: With all the little rooms, she could really explore pattern mixing. Today there are a grand total of 13 different wallpapers in her house. 

A Graphic Designer’s Mid-Century Oasis in Dallas

Sometimes it’s not finding your dream house that matters, but identifying your dream aesthetic. Kaitlyn Coffee’s goal when designing her Dallas home was to make it look like a quirky lady redid her house in the late 1960s and no one had changed a thing since, hence the red-striped barstools and white terrazzo countertops in her retro kitchen. 

A Creative Director’s Charming Tudor in Waco

“Squeaky stairs and uneven floors are charming to me,” says Hilary Walker, who recently renovated a 1922 Tudor-style home. But just because Walker lives in Waco and is the creative director of photography and styling at Magnolia doesn’t mean she felt compelled to stick to the modern farmhouse look that has become a mainstay in the area. Instead she opted for saturated paint colors, like the dark blue-green color in her bedroom that she swears convinces her the home is cool inside—even when it’s 100-plus degrees outside. 

The post Millennials Have Spoken: Living in This State Is Officially Cooler Than California appeared first on domino.