Lorrie
Many home owners living in new construction often find that their homes lack the character and style so often seen in older and more established homes. With many new houses being built within suburban neighborhoods that are often modeled together in architecture packages, it can be difficult to find yourself in a new home that is truly rich in character. These home builders may only provide a limited number of material selections based on what they get the best deals on.
Fortunately, design and remodeling your new home build can offer multiple solutions to helping make your new home feel as charming and elegant as an established older home. Better yet, teaming with an interior designer and remodeling contractor team provides you the chance to personalize your home to exactly what fits your style and vision.
Find a Style That Speaks to You
Before you do anything with your redesign, think about what it is that older homes have that you really love. Is there a particular generation of interior design that appeals to you? A kind of "feel" you think you want to emulate in your home? Learning the difference between a farmhouse kitchen and craftsman kitchen - and what you really love the most about one or the other - means working to pick out the elements that will need changing in your home first.
Redo the Flooring
Floors can be one of the first give-away's to a houses age - houses built 100 years ago would never be carpeted, so if you're looking for the quickest way to set apart your home, look into ripping out your wall-to-wall. If you don't already have wood floors in your home, you can invest in designs that bring an old-world feel to your house, such as hand-scraped wood flooring, a white-washed Scandinavian look, or even a wood-like tile flooring for added durability.
Trim Up the Place
Molding is one of the best attention-to-detail items you can include in a home remodel - baseboard, chair rail, crown, and picture frame molding all offer something new and unique to any room. Consider re-trimming your doors, windows, and mantel, or replacing the ordinary baseboard with a taller molding for a custom elegance that gives your entire house that fine-eyed look. For the ultimate, consider adding wainscot paneling, or a coffered ceiling to really separate your home from your neighbors.
Add Color to the Walls
Is your home the basic white scheme of every other house in your neighborhood? Painting is one of the best ways to add charm to your home, and can be easily changed as your style changes over the years. One Tip, however: don't rely on those small paint chips you get from the paint supplier to determine the right color for your walls. Ask your contractor to provide you a large sample of the paint color that will give you the opportunity to see the color in a larger spectrum and at different times of the day in your home.
Give Finishings a Second Glance
Are your counter tops composite? Are your ceiling fans a mixture of wood paneling and brass fixtures? How about the sconces on your walls, or the plates covering the switches that turn them on? As with trim, finishings are the final touches on a house that can make or break a design. Remember that something doesn't necessarily need to be "old" or vintage to have a lived-in or much-loved charm - these cabinet pulls certainly aren't old!
Are you ready to turn your new home into something brimming with character? Contact us for more information, and our design team will gladly help get you started with our custom fit experience. 