Design Dilemmas
Episode 43: What to do when you move into a 'blank canvas' new build and just generally how to create a cohesive space that reflects YOU without having a meltdown.
When you’re planning a home, the idea of having a blank canvas to work with can sound like a dream. Empty rooms! Clear spaces! The opportunity to imprint your own personality! Yes, it sounds great but often it is far more difficult a task to work with a house when it literally needs THE LOT. When you buy a ‘new’ new home (or even if you’ve been lucky enough to build one yourself), it can sometimes be a little overwhelming and difficult to see how it can be pulled together. Choosing colours, planning the spaces, designing it so that it will work for you can feel like a huge task, plus oh, the pressure we put on ourselves to get it right is extreme. This applies to home buying in general, really. I’m sure there are many of us who walk into a house viewing and can’t see a way past the woodchip, the 50 year old carpet or the clad fireplace. It can be tough.
The very first home that I purchased with my husband, Joe, was an end of terrace new build property (you can read about our house move progression here). There were three bedrooms - two doubles and one small (one with an en suite shower room) – plus a family bathroom. Downstairs, there was a small entrance lobby with a cloakroom which opened into an open plan living room, taking you through into the kitchen diner. We bought it off plan and rented a flat just around the corner so we watched it being built every step of the way. It was perfect for what we required – Joe worked long hours and I worked in London, commuting daily, so the idea of buying a property that needed renovation or significant update wasn’t really feasible. I have the best memories of this first home – Ella was born whilst we lived there, so I spent much time within it, either pregnant or frantically trying to cope with first time motherhood, mostly with the assistance of Gina Fords Contented Little Baby book and plenty of Sauvignon Blanc.
When we moved in, we were faced with the obligatory blank canvas. We had no real furniture to speak of and immediately rushed out to the local pine shop to purchase. This was, looking back, an error. Not only did our home have more pine in it than a National Park but we had bought in haste and worse, bought for practicality which meant that none of the pieces were particularly special to us. It took me fifteen years, most of which was spent upcycling in every paint colour possible, to finally trade in these panic buys and find items that I really loved for our home.
But I digress. What seems like a huge task when you move into a new build property - or any property move, really - is conquerable and before you know it, your house will feel, well, just like YOU. Here are my top five tips to help you plan a cohesive home and create a space that works.
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