How To Make Your New Build Feel More Like Your Own
There is a lot to love about buying a new build.
Everything is fresh, clean and untouched, you get to start from scratch. The exciting opportunity to make decisions before you move in, and in many cases, you can choose some of the finishes yourself. It should be easier, right?
But there is also a little niggling thought that I hear quite often:
"I just don't want it to look like every other house on the development." And I completely understand.
When you're presented with a selection of kitchen doors, worktops, flooring and bathroom tiles, it can be tempting to simply choose the options that seem safest or most likely the ones you've seen in the show home. The style of doors makes a difference (a lesson some clients have learned the hard way, they don’t want a kitchen door that gathers dust or dirt in little corners or grooves that’s difficult to get out but more on that later).
Your home doesn't have to be a carbon copy of the one next door.
With the right guidance, you can make thoughtful choices that give your home more character, feel more personal to you and, importantly, still look right years from now.
It's not about upgrading everything
One of the things I help clients with is deciding where it is worth spending a little more and where it isn't.
You don't necessarily need the most expensive kitchen, the most elaborate bathroom or the highest specification of everything the builder offers.
Sometimes it's one or two carefully considered upgrades that make a significant difference.
Perhaps it's the flooring that runs throughout the main living areas.
Perhaps it's a kitchen worktop or splashback. Or it's the bathroom tiles.
Maybe it's choosing a kitchen that feels a little less "show home" and more like something you've chosen because it suits your style and the way you live.
The important thing is to look at the house as a whole rather than making each decision in isolation.
Look Beyond The Kitchen Design
Let's talk about kitchens.
There has been a huge love affair with green kitchens from soft sage to darker hues and there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing green.
But when a particular colour becomes hugely popular, it's easy to choose it simply because everyone else is choosing it.
The kitchen itself is only one part of the room.
When I look at a kitchen scheme, I'm thinking about the flooring, worktop, splashback, wall colour, lighting, adjoining rooms, furniture and how the space connects with the rest of the house.
A kitchen designer will naturally be focused on designing your kitchen, that’s their speciality.
My job is to look at the whole home.
That might mean choosing a kitchen colour that isn't the obvious choice, because it works beautifully with the flooring and the rooms beyond it.
Or it might mean choosing a neutral kitchen and introducing character elsewhere.
There isn't one right answer.
The right answer is the one that works for your home as a whole.
Flooring
Choosing your flooring is one of the decisions worth getting right.
It's something you'll live with every day, it connects different areas of your home and it can be surprisingly difficult and expensive to change later if you decide you’ve made the wrong choice.
Rather than choosing a floor because it's currently popular, I'd be looking at:
How it works with your kitchen, the practicalities
How it transitions into adjoining rooms
The colour and undertones
The style of your furniture
How much natural light you have
How you actually use the space
And how you want the house to feel
A beautiful floor that works throughout the main areas of your home can give you a much stronger foundation for everything else.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms don't have to look like the standard specification.
Bathrooms are another opportunity to make a new build feel more considered. Are you happy with the layout?
You might not want to completely redesign the room, but perhaps there is an opportunity to upgrade the tiles, introduce a different finish or choose better lighting and mirrors.
These are the details that can take a bathroom from perfectly functional to somewhere you genuinely enjoy using.
And again, it's not necessarily about spending more on everything.
It's about knowing which details will make the biggest difference.
Colour
This is often where I see clients get stuck. Just when you’ve navigated the hard stuff, You've chosen your kitchen. You've chosen your flooring and bathroom finishes.
And then someone asks:
"What colour do you want the walls?"
Suddenly you're expected to make another decision.
Do you go white? Warm white? Just something to put on the walls to get you moved in (as settling cracks are inevitable) only to realise, the white looks too cold and stark.
The wall colour should be considered alongside everything else, including the rooms that connect to it.
I often see people choosing a paint colour because it "goes with the kitchen", when actually the bigger question is:
"How does this colour work with the whole space?"
Paint is one of the easiest things to change, but getting the colour right from the beginning can make everything you've already chosen look so much better.
Windows
Window treatments need more thought than you might think.
Window treatments are another area where a little expert knowledge can save you from making an expensive mistake and a lot of heartache.
I recently worked on a new build with timber-framed windows, and the window treatments needed particularly careful consideration.
We already knew that heavy curtains weren't going to be appropriate, and the fixing method needed to be suitable for the construction of the building.
This isn't simply a case of choosing a beautiful curtain fabric and putting up a pole.
You need to think about the window, the surrounding structure, the weight of the fabric and the appropriate fixing.
You don't want your beautifully dressed window or the curtain pole coming down on top of you or anyone else for that matter.
This is one of those areas where experience matters.
It's also why I work with trusted specialists who understand what is required and can advise on the right solution for the property.
The biggest difference is looking at everything together
You don't need someone to tell you which kitchen is "on trend".
You don't necessarily need to spend more money.
And you certainly don't need to choose what everyone else has chosen.
What you need is someone who can step back and look at the whole picture.
Someone who can help you decide:
Where should I spend?
Where can I save?
Which finishes will work together?
Will this still look good in years to come?
How do I make this feel like my home rather than a standard new build?
Because the beauty of a new build is that you have a blank canvas.
You don't have to accept the standard finish simply because it's the easiest option.
With some careful planning, you can create a home that feels considered, comfortable and completely your own.
And that's what good design should do.
Planning your new build?
If you're buying or building a new home and want help making those decisions before the builder starts installing the standard finishes, I can help you create a clear plan for your home, from kitchens and bathrooms to flooring, paint colours, lighting and window treatments.
You don't have to make every decision yourself.
