When you buy a new home, you are, more often than not, looking at a cream box. This is because estate agents prefer to show homes that are decorated in a neutral fashion as people aren’t that good at reimagining rooms that are painted bright colours!
But while new build homes offer a blank canvas to style, you shouldn’t feel limited to a neutral palette. In fact, you should be treating this home as your opportunity to stamp your personality on a property and go just a little wild with your choices. Whether you are an extreme minimalist or an exuberant maximalist, a colour-lover or prefer grey and white hues, a warm and cosy type or a dramatic designer, now is your chance to express your taste.
Curating Your Belongings
Moving house is the perfect moment to rediscover all the things you hid away in the attic or pushed to the back of cupboards. As well as having a good sort out and chucking away old things you no longer love, you will also find things you haven’t seen for years.
Arranging the things you love can be a labour of love but there are a few rules for curating your things to avoid the appearance of clutter. For example, you might gather all the things that are the same type such as a group of wooden giraffes or a collection of decorative glasses. Alternatively, you could group things that are of the same colour.
Shelves are ideal for displaying the things you love and you should play around with different heights and textures within the group. Don’t be too prescriptive in where things go, just mess about until you reach a display that feels right.
Choosing a Colour Palette
When you have your belongings together, you will quickly find that you have a good basis for figuring out a colour palette for a room. Some materials like wood are quite easy to match to whereas other colours might be more difficult.
The key to choosing a colour palette is deciding whether you want to create a dramatic contrast or you want to compliment your things. You should also decide whether you want to commit to a single colour or you want to create a little more balance with light and shade by choosing a couple. This really comes down to personal taste so, again, play about with colour swatches and paint samples until you figure out the perfect combination for you.
Risking Experimentation
Anyone can live in a cream box. But, unless your personal taste consists of a passion for magnolia alone, you should really take the opportunity to be bold with some experimentation. Of course, not every experimentation will work, but this is all part of playing around with your style and taste. Plus, there aren’t many things that can’t be returned to a blank canvas!
Only when you ditch the plain stuff everyone has for something more personal will your home feel like it is truly yours. Don’t be tricked by the high street – great and personal interior design never goes out of fashion.
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