With sunnier weather to enjoy at home, avoid the hassle of flights and enjoy the summer months holidaying at home. Follow your holiday style and discover how to recreate the mood from the comfort of your own home.
Chic city break holiday at home
Is an afternoon perusing an art gallery and cafe hopping more your cup of tea than a sunrise hike? If chic city breaks soaking up culture are your thing, our guess is that when it comes to your home you care about comfort but your home’s appearance is up there on your list of priorities. Whether you’re looking to undergo a large-scale renovation or a few tweaks to improve the space, read on for ideas for how to create a chic city break vacation atmosphere in your home.
Open-plan kitchen/diner
Open-plan kitchens with dining areas can emulate the sort of sleekness and elegance you might associate more closely with a light-flooded Copenhagen coffee shop. If you would like to reconfigure your kitchen layout and make it open-plan but you’re limited by space, an extension could be a fantastic option for you.
Depending on your existing property, this could be achieved with a side extension (if you have dead space to the side of your house and don’t want to eat into your garden), a rear extension (for example, with a terraced house that only has space towards the back of the house but not the side) or a wraparound extension (if you’re lucky enough to have unused space towards both the side and rear of your property).
Once you have enough room in your kitchen area, you’ll want to consider the ideal layout for your kitchen/dining space. One of the most popular modern kitchen layouts is to opt for a large kitchen island with high seating. This removes the barrier between food and drink preparation and socialising, making the kitchen a more Connected social space. Invite friends over and catch up over brunch or coffee fit for a city break right from your kitchen island.
Another layout that could help you recreate chic city break living at home is to have extra space for a dining table that you and loved ones can gather around on a summer’s evening. It’s subtly more formal than kitchen island dining and can encourage the kind of all-important family time that can be tricky to clutch when everyone’s schedules are taken into consideration. We’re particularly fond of the layout in the image below where the table arrangement leads seamlessly onto a lush garden through sleek bifold doors.
Fancy seeing how much a sleek kitchen extension could set you back? Try our Quick Quote Calculator now.
© Matt Gamble
Soak in the culture from your sofa
City-break lovers are notorious for short, packed out trips that tick off heaps of cultural touchpoints in one fell swoop. If you’re looking to save the pennies and holiday at home this summer or next, not all is lost. If you’re someone who’s collected relics from your travels, get a collection of favourite items from different places together and use them to decorate your space.
It’ll not only serve as a fond memory of a trip, there’s research to suggest that it could make you happier too. Yes, really. When we carried out our survey for the 2023 Happy Homes report, we discovered that those of us most happy at home felt that our homes reflected our sense of self – what we like, how we enjoy spending our time, etc.
If you’re a light traveller and haven’t been building a collection of eclectic souvenirs, you can still find decorative items that serve as emblems of your favourite trip. A fantastic example of this is the map wall art or city print collection by lifestyle store fy!.
Mediterranean escape holiday at home
While you may be hard pressed to recreate a true Mediterranean climate with a soft sea breeze and long warm evenings at home, there are certain tricks you can implement to give yourself that all-important sense of relaxation and luxury.
Mediterranean luxury bathroom ideas
Take inspiration from some of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful traditional bath trends and apply them to your own bathroom at home. One of our favourite ways of creating a bathroom that’s both practical and makes you feel like you’re on holiday at home is to select intricately designed tiles and get creative with your selection – the more colourful and eclectic the better! We love these copycat Mediterranean-style tiles from Bert & May.
In addition to creating a beautiful mosaic of your bathroom walls, introduce Mediterranean luxury into your home with eye-catching wooden elements. Rustic wooden stools provide a comfortable perch for you to luxuriate on while you’re drying after a refreshing cool shower or a useful storage space for bathroom trinkets or toiletries.
To enhance the sense of luxury and create an environment you can truly unwind in, opt for soft or natural textures for towels, sponges and dressing gowns. We love these simple, elegant towels from Piglet in Bed with subtle detailing, this Zara Home washed linen robe and this Body Shop natural ‘drench’ sponge.
© Veronica Rodriguez
Holiday-worthy patios for Mediterranean dining
For the short time of year that UK weather graces us with long sunny evening evenings and beautiful, bright summer mornings, a well-curated patio could truly make you feel as though you’re on holiday at home.
Muddy Trowel are the gardening experts looking to apply their knowledge to make the most of your garden whatever the space available. Get inspired by their completed projects and consider which of their plans might be most suitable to your outdoor area.
We love gardens with decking areas like these fabulous examples in Ideal Home – they’re fantastic for offering you a taste of the great outdoors while providing a serene dining area that’s perfect for summer dining. Complete your garden/patio area with an outdoor table and chair set that emphasises the summer holiday feel of the space. We love this luxurious set featured in IKEA’s creative ‘Mediterranean style oasis’ feature.
Calming retreat holiday at home
If your holidays are usually dedicated to exploring mindfulness, getting fit and taking it slow, we want to help inspire you with ideas for how to achieve this in your own home. Here are just a couple of ideas for your home retreat.
Holiday-worthy home gym
According to data obtained by our 2023 Happy Home report, having a dedicated gym room doesn’t necessarily have much sway when it comes to how happy we are at home. One factor that does make a huge difference, however, is how adaptable our homes are for different purposes. This can be achieved through keeping your living space tidy with plenty of smart storage solutions.
So, when it comes to creating a peaceful gym for a retreat-style holiday at home, we recommend choosing spacious cupboards that complement the interior design of your room. We also love storage chests that can double up as seats to keep gym equipment in and provide a comfy spot for unwinding once your workout is done.
Create a sense of zen
Channel a similar sense of peace you’d get at a calming holiday retreat in your own home with just a few simple touches. First off, fill your home with air-purifying plants that treat the air in your home while adding a vibrant stroke of nature inside. Explore this selection of air purifying plants from beards & daisies to find ones that fit with your home’s aesthetic.
Secondly, seek soothing scents to emanate from your home. According to The Sleep Doctor, some of the natural scents that have the most relaxing effect on people include lavender, geranium, ylang ylang and chamomile. There are plenty of ways to radiate these through the rooms in your home. We recommend natural scented candles, aroma reed diffusers or electric aroma diffusers.
Adventure seeking holiday at home
If seeking new, exciting experiences is your idea of the perfect holiday, you may be harder pressed than other holiday goers to recreate the magic at home. That being said, if outdoor escapism is your thing, all your home really needs to offer you is a place to return to and provide you with practical touches when you return to it. Whether you’re seeking adventure out surfing, hiking, bungee jumping or wild swimming, these unique home touches could serve your holiday at home persona well.
Outdoor shower
An outdoor shower for cooling down in summer or rinsing away mud before stepping inside could be the perfect touch for returning home after an adventurous day outdoors.
Equipment cupboard
Granted, this suggestion doesn’t elicit the same kind of excitement or luxury as mosaic tiling or a complete kitchen reconfiguration. But, if your brand of exploring and adventuring comes with equipment – whether it’s wellies, tent poles or a surfboard – you’ll love the gratifying practicality of this home addition.
If you’re looking to renovate or extend your home, book a free advice call with one of our experts today.
© Matt Gamble
© Veronica Rodriguez
