Construction Complete: How To Furnish Your New Luxury Home

The construction of your new luxury home is finally complete.

You’ve had your final walkthrough, given your home construction contractor a “punch list” and everything has been done, even down to the little cosmetic items like scratches on the living room door molding. All done! The day you have been dreaming about is here, you have received your certificate of occupancy from the County.

Now you can get down to thinking about making the house a home. During the final stages of construction, since you hadn’t made any decisions with regards to furnishing, you decided to go with neutral colors for the walls, with all white paintwork for the baseboards and trim.

Now, armed with the keys to your property, you look at a blank canvas and try to figure out how best to furnish your brand new luxury home—to make it stand out, yet make it above all else, your home.

As your premier luxury home builder in Los Gatos, Mehus Construction, Inc. has a talented team to help guide you through the process of choosing furnishings, wall coverings, lamps, side tables, furniture for the living room, bedrooms, family room, and any other room in the home.

We are here only to give suggestions, but as a home construction contractor with over 45 years' experience in building and remodeling the Bay Area’s finest luxury homes, perhaps together we can make your new home truly luxurious.

What makes a luxury home distinguishable from a “run-of-the-mill” home is the attention paid to detail.

Interior designers have known this for years, and make sure they are always up to date with the latest furnishings and accessory trends. For the interior of your home to be luxurious, not only must the furniture be of high quality, but the smallest of detail must also be correct—the correct shade of colors, the texture of soft furnishings, should all blend in with the overall look of a room. Even where you place the furniture can help give that look of luxury. Yet while the overall look of luxury is important, we are of the firm opinion that your home should be functional, and most importantly, comfortable to live in. After all, you are furnishing a new luxury home, not an interior design showroom, so following some proven guidelines for the rooms being furnished is a good idea. Here are our suggestions on how to furnish your luxury home.

Your Main Entrance.

First impressions count and no matter what size your entrance is, whether it is a small entryway or a grand foyer, you should furnish it in such a way as to make your visitors take notice.

If the foyer is not large, then a sleek mirror, which will give the illusion of a larger area, hung over a well-positioned console table with a long-stemmed floor lamp, or a pair of matching table lamps will provide ideal lighting.

If, on the other hand, you have a grand foyer, then a large potted plant, such as a Dragon Tree or Swiss Cheese Plant carefully positioned will generate an inspiring atmosphere. If tall indoor plants are not your style, then how about a beautiful tall circular fish tank filled with coral and internally illuminated. Talk about a “wow factor”. Of course, that will entail a bit of maintenance work, although there are companies who look after fish tanks for a modest monthly charge.

A Luxurious Formal Living Room.

“Luxurious” can mean different things to everyone. It can be used to describe something that is costly, one-of-a-kind, or of exceptionally high quality. In fact, according to Merriam-Webster, the definition of luxurious is: “characterized by opulence, sumptuousness, or rich abundance: of, relating to, or marked by luxury”. No matter what it means to you, to create your luxury living room, it must be furnished with high-quality items and reflect your personality.

The living room has been, to all intents and purposes, the room earmarked for daily living, although in a luxury home, a family room is where the family will gather and spend time together, leaving a formal living room, often located near the front of the home, ideal for receiving guests.

Your formal living room, therefore, should embody the style of your home and should be furnished with that in mind. The formal living room in any luxury home is the one room that should be given the most attention.

Since this is the room where you intend to receive guests, comfort should be foremost. Sofas, armchairs, and a few coffee tables arranged tastefully around the room will give the room an elegant look regardless of its size, so that when your guests sit down, they will feel relaxed and comfortable.

A Relaxed Family Room.

Your family room, where you gather together and relax, is usually located in the middle of the home, with possible open plan access to the kitchen area. Since it will be in use on a daily basis, the furnishings should be chosen, not only to be luxurious but also to be able to withstand constant use.

Choose furniture that is not only comfortable but can be easily cleaned. If you choose to have carpeting in the family room, select a hard-wearing type, for example, a looped Berber, which comes in many attractive styles and patterns. Tile flooring is always perfect for a high-traffic family room with select scatter rugs strategically placed in open areas.

The family room is often the place for watching TV. If you have an entertainment alcove in the room, then that is the ideal place for a large screen TV with a surround sound system. However, you may have chosen to have a bonus room included in the design of your luxury home, which you can use as a media room.

The Media Room.

You can transform a “bonus room” into a media room by paying attention to a few simple details. Whether you are an avid sports fan or a movie buff, your media room should have the following common elements:

Sound-absorbing furnishings: Soft, cozy sofas, plush carpeting, and drapes assist in deflecting sound reflection from the sound system.

Adaptable Seating: Sectional seating that can be split and repositioned, are better than a couple of rows of “theater-styled” seats, especially if you have friends over for the big game and decide to make it a social evening. The seating you choose should be comfortable with, if possible, built-in cup holders for that “all essential” beverage. A reclining chair or sofa will give that extra touch of luxury to the room.

Round it all off with the latest large screen Smart LED 4K UHD TV, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray player, and a state-of-the-art home audio system.

Formal Dining Room.

The table is the centerpiece of any formal dining room. Whether it is round, square, or rectangular, a mahogany table with a decorative inlaid top complemented by stylish matching chairs will be the focal point in the room. If you have cathedral or vaulted ceilings, then either one or a pair of low-hung chandeliers centered over the table give the room that finishing touch.

Depending on the size of the dining room, you could add contrasting side tables with a couple of elegant candelabra complete with tall, slender candles bringing a gentle glow to any dinner party.

If you have chosen tile flooring for your dining room, then a well-positioned rug, large enough to cover the area of the table and chairs will go a long way to prevent anyone from sliding on the floor when they sit down or leave the dinner table.

Master Bedroom.

Your bedroom is your sanctuary. In your luxury master bedroom, the centerpiece is the bed, along with an armoire and nightstands. Do not be tempted to have a bed without a headboard. In a luxury bedroom, a headboard is a must. It can be wider than the bed to accommodate the nightstands or match the width of the bed.

Position a soft rug under the bed, so that a third of it extends beyond the perimeter of the bed, to give you something warm to step onto when getting out of bed.

Pendant lighting with decorative shades will give ample lighting to the whole room, but bedside lamps should give off a soft glow, not a bright, glaring light. Choose lampshades that contrast the room’s décor, which should be in warm, soothing colors if you want a restful night’s sleep.

If your luxury master bedroom has a tray ceiling, then a beautiful, beaded chandelier will give the room an opulent feeling positioned above a comfortable sitting area complete with a small table and loveseat.

Guest/Family Bedrooms.

Furnishing your other bedrooms is where you can express your style and make each bedroom welcoming to guests and family alike.

Each room can be decorated in a different theme, by using different pastel colors and furnished with beds of various kinds, like a sleigh bed, low poster bed, or for a touch of luxury, a round bed or an upholstered panel bed. Accessories such as night stands, armoires, dressers, and mirrors can be selected to match the theme of the bedroom.

A side chair and perhaps a desk or bench at the foot of the bed will give guests a feeling of being able to use the room not just for sleep. Even close family need somewhere they can call their own and not have to impose on the home’s common areas.

Having a bedroom with two beds means that you should pay attention to symmetry. Rather than having nightstands on either side of the beds, maybe the solution would be to have one nightstand long enough to be used by both occupants.

Whatever style you choose for the guest bedrooms, they should be clutter-free, as it’s been said, “Less is more.” Adding some tasteful throw pillows can create a cozy, welcoming, and luxurious room.

Luxury Home Window Treatments.

Just as windows can vary in size and design from home to home, there are also numerous different kinds of window treatments. The four main kinds are curtains, blinds, shades, drapes, and shutters. Given such choices, it is no easy task to decide which to use on a particular window.

The first thing you need to decide is what you want to achieve in using a particular window treatment. Do you want to stop the morning sunlight from coming into your bedroom or give your living room a look of elegance? Whatever the reason, we will try to shed some light on the different options for your luxury new home.

The phrase “Window Treatment” refers to the internal decoration of a window and surrounds. It can include not only how the window panes are covered but also covering the whole window, like a curtain.

If your main goal is to enhance the room, then to give a room that elegant look, your window treatment should be of the highest quality. Select an exquisite window collection with drapes that have a luxurious sheen, matching panels, valance, and either matching or “rope effect” tie-backs.
Coordinate the color choice with that of the chosen room. Contrasting the color of the window treatment to that of the room will also give it a regal look.

For Your living room, full-length drapes suspended on an adjustable, contrasting metal rod with eloquent stacked square finials are ideal for your sophisticated luxury décor. Each window in the room should have the same treatment unless you have a dining area to cater for, in which case full-length curtains and rods would create the illusion of a separate room without clashing with the other windows.

Your family room may be best treated with full-length curtains, and depending on the window aspect, thick enough to give maximum privacy, yet sheer enough to let light in. Color-coordinated materials enhance the look of the family room, making it relaxing, and inviting.

The master bedroom needs luxury window treatments, to match the mood of the room. Consider having the windows hung with sheer drapes in pastel shades and covering them with full-length fully pleated curtains on a stylish curtain rod. During the day, the curtains may be tied back to reveal the sheer drapes, allowing daylight to flood the room, but keeping the interior away from inquisitive eyes.

Alternatively, Roman shades, combined with soft, rich-looking drapes, add a calming luxurious feel. One particular type of Roman shades comes in a wide variety of fabrics and colors with light-filtering and room-darkening properties combined. These shades have a sheer, light-filtering front panel with a room-darkening back panel that both roll into a single roller. Once you completely lower the front shade, you can control the rear panel to give you the ideal amount of light during the day and darkness at night.

When all is said and done, at Mehus Construction, we fully appreciate that furnishing your new luxury home is a matter of personal choice, but with our 45 years of experience as a luxury home builder in the Los Gatos area, we hope our suggestions have given you a little inspiration on how to make your dream a reality.

Call us today at (408) 395-2388 and allow us to help you.