6 Showstopping Home Features That Will Steal the Spotlight
Home is where the heart is, but contained within its four walls is something else: potential. Whether you own a rustic cottage in the Cotswolds, a PassiveHaus place right in the middle of the city, or something else entirely, your property has the potential to impress visitors as no other place can.
Dinner party guests might be delighted by your décor, for example – tastefully color-coordinated to match the textures of your furniture – or they may well enjoy the overall cozy vibe of the space.
But what if you could introduce an architectural feature – like a glass floor, a living roof, or complementary smart lighting – that could steal the spotlight entirely, leaving your dinner party guests stunned and talking about the evening for many years to come?
We believe that is entirely possible.
In this blog post, we want to explore some of these stand-out features, find out what makes them so impressive and help you decide how practical they would be when included in your next project or current home.
To start, we invite you to direct your attention downwards, to one of the most overlooked parts of your space – the floor.
Showstopping Feature #1: A Glass Floor
Often, the only time a floor is taken into consideration by your guests is when they take their shoes off (or don’t!) at the front door. After that, it’s taken for granted, like the air we breathe or Mariah Carey at Christmas.
Some people might splash out on timber flooring demonstrating their commitment to quality; others might opt for something cosier, like thick carpets and rugs. Whatever you choose, there is always space for considering a glass floor – our favorite feature in any home we’ve been to.
When we use the term ‘glass floor’, we mean a load-bearing surface that is completely transparent, allowing guests to step over it and peer downwards at something that you are particularly proud of.
That might be a wine cellar, stocked with expensive bottles tastefully lit, an ancient well that happens to be in the middle of your living room, or a balcony to prevent a wonderful view from being obscured.
The most impressive deployment of a glass floor that we have been involved with was the Roman Museum at The Newt in Somerset, whereby a glass floor was suspended above archaeological remains with very minimalist (and engineeringly technical) supports.
Showstopping Feature #2: An Indoor Water Feature
Plenty of studies have concluded that the sound of gently running water has the power to calm us down, make us feel more relaxed and reduce our stress levels significantly.
That fact alone should be enough for us all to incorporate some form of indoor water feature, but the installation of one can also provide a talking point.
We’ve all been to dinner parties where the conversation dries up, and we find ourselves talking about the weather, traffic on the roads or the difference between a pilsner or a lager.
With a water feature, you have a conversation topic ready to go and can get used to hearing the phrase “I could listen to the sound of running water forever” – although hopefully your guests don’t actually put that to the test and instead choose to depart at the appropriate moment.
In our modern, comfortable homes, it is all too easy for a disconnect to exist between the inside world and the outside one. A custom water feature – like a large waterfall, for example – can blur the boundaries in a really delightful way.
If you have the space, you could also put some fish like goldfish or guppies to keep the interest going – long after you have frown used to the running water.
Showstopping Home Feature #3: A Living Roof
For this showstopping home feature, you will need:
- An interest in plantlife;
- A flat or sloped roof that can take some weight; and
- An elevated position from which you and your guests can admire it.
A living roof is an area that is covered with plants, shrubs, trees and/or mosses, depending on your tastes, the level of environmental exposure and the shallowness of your substrate.
Many people entrust the installation of a living roof to qualified, experienced professionals, but you can create one quite simply with some decking boards, old plastic compost bags, and some compost.
What makes the living roof so special is that, unlike a piece of art or a patch of wallpaper, it changes throughout the season but always brings with it the many health and happiness benefits of plants.
Usually, a roof is an ecological desert, providing very little benefit to wildlife. With a green roof, it is space that is being put to good use, as well as looking aesthetically amazing.
Showstopping Home Feature #4: High-Tech Lighting
The experience of a room can entirely change depending on the lighting that you deploy. Warm light from stylish lamps can make your living room feel cosy – perfect for a post-dinner whisky in a Chesterfield armchair – whereas bright natural light through a window is likely to make you feel productive and creative.
Instead of having one room for one type of lighting and another for another, you could consider high-tech lighting that is easy to program and sets the mood just right for your dinner party or get-together.
Imagine this: your guests step into the dining room to be welcomed by the utterly beautiful sound of Spiegel im Spiegel, written by Estonian composer Arvo Pär. Matching the piano and strings are lights that very subtly and gently pulse to enhance the listener’s experience. Then, as the evening progresses, your colour of light quietly changes in response to the audio level in the room or simply with the passing of time.
We will admit that this feature won’t steal the show, but it will ensure the spotlight shines in the right places at the right time.
Showstopping Home Feature #5: A Suspended Fireplace
Humans have an affinity with fire that is tricky to fully understand. With a suspended fireplace, you can capture some of that undefinable magic in a stylish pendular feature that almost calls to your guests, inviting them to take a seat in the surrounding comfy chairs and relax.
Depending on your particular tastes, the fireplace could be suspended out of reach (and out of danger of hitting your head) when not in use, brought down only when you’re ready to entertain and let it steal the show.
Alternatively, if a suspended fireplace isn’t for you – or you predict that the style won’t be quite so popular in a few years’ time – you might opt for a more traditional fireplace that uses high-quality materials for an equally impressive appearance. In our humble opinion, a fireplace is a must-have for any home!
Showstopping Home Feature #6: A Reading Nook
Did you know that 1 in 2 UK adults don’t regularly read? For many, the reason is not finding something that they actively want to pick up and turn the page, but for a large number of people, the real reason is that they don’t have a dedicated space that is both comfortable and free from distractions. The reading nook solves that latter problem in style.
Imagine pouring yourself a mug of something hot and settling down to your favourite novel, perhaps gazing up from the page to admire the view out of your window. Are there any experiences in life better than that one?
A reading nook is hardly a spotlight-stealing architectural feature. It’s subtle, offering an escape to party-goers and a bit of privacy. But it is no less impressive, customisable in whatever ways you might like.
At parties, we love nothing more than admiring the architectural choices of our hosts. Perhaps that’s why we don’t get invited to too many parties in the first place. Whatever you choose to incorporate into your next project, make sure to commit to it in full force, allowing you to steal the spotlight in style!
