The challenge with buying in a new development is that the look, feel and layout of your home is usually the same as that of your neighbours.
Money is usually tight too, having made what is often the most expensive purchase of your life. So, how can you add interior design elements that will make your new space reflect your style?
Start by making an entrance, says Sara Cosgrove of Grove & Co. The interior designer and former judge of RTÉ‘s Home of the Year works on the design of showhomes for some big developers.
By tiling a hall and adding a patterned runner to the stairs and landing you can add impact to your entrance hall, she says. She has done just that at Ballymore’s Drumnigh Oaks in Portmarnock, where she used a checkerboard floor in the hallway and a twist of texture and colour with the stairs covering.
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At Sea Gardens in Bray by Ballymore, Cosgrove brought in a seaside mood through the complementary marine blue and green shades of paint used in the kitchen and on the banister and balustrade.
People want to make a style statement. Wild wallpaper is one way to go, but it’s expensive. Paint is far more affordable, Cosgrove says. In the marketing suite at the Portmarnock development, she’s colour-drenched, that is, painted all four walls and the ceiling in the same shade, to show would-be buyers what it looks like and crucially, what it will feel like to inhabit, before they try it in their own homes.
In a kid’s bedroom in the same estate the ceiling is painted in the bold stripes of a circus big top, so your little ones can sleep under the canvas effect for as long they get a kick out of it. When they tire of it, painting over it is something you can do easily.
Decorative details
Customisation is the key, adds Moya Farrell, creative director of Avenue Interior Design. It can start with decorative details such as switching out the door and drawer handles on your kitchen cabinetry to rejigging the internals and even requesting an upgrade on the door type offered, she explains.
“When you want to individualise, think beyond the walls and floors,” says Farrell. Door handles from one of her favourite suppliers, UK-based Corston Architectural, offer an easy-to-change solution. It also sells light switches as well and power points – all of which can add layers to the look.
You can also add personality by changing out the so-called invisible elements such as standard panel radiators with a column radiator, which come in various options, including electric models that are best suited to A-rated new homes. Best Heating’s Milano Aruba radiators, for example, come in vertical and horizontal options, and in a slew of candy colours, including camellia pink, dandelion yellow, lush purple, sunset range and regal blue. The UK-based online store delivers to Ireland.
“Always ask the question if you can switch it or pay more for an alternative [upon purchasing the house],” Farrell says.
Kitchens can also sometimes be customised so it’s worth having a conversation with your supplier early in the purchasing process, Farrell says. In addition to new cupboard and drawer handle options, ask if you can change the door type, she says. For example, if the door being offered is a gloss option, it may be worth your while asking if there are other options available. “A timber door can be repainted when you tire of the colour you select,” she says, however, that’s not the case with the gloss-lacquered models.
Customisation of kitchen units is occasionally offered on the more high-end boutique developments.
Focal point
A traditional element that is absent in most new homes is a fireplace‚ so it’s important to create a livingroom focal point, says Angelina Ball of Design Stories. Her solution at Skylark, the Quintain-built development at St Marnock’s Bay, has been a contemporary riff on historic wainscoting – a very simple form of panelling that can really work.
In the show unit, it has been used to divide the wall into three with a slim, wall-hung media unit set two-thirds of the way down the wall to hide the TV and other consoles. It looks beautifully simple but is all about balancing the proportions of the room, she says, explaining that it is “the creative use of joinery” that makes it work.
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There are lot of tutorials you can follow online to create smart board and batten ideas for bedrooms or stairwells. Just know that it can be a timely undertaking.
Panelling is in vogue in new homes, but Farrell suggests progressing with caution. Panelling can translate well, but other traditional elements may fall flat, she says. “You’re buying a brand-new home so avoid anything too period in style, such as ornate ceiling roses or stained-glass panels. There’s a balance to be struck.”
Art and textiles
Another point of difference is window dressing, Farrell says, counselling owners to allocate some of their decorating budget to buy full-length curtains or Roman blinds.
Art is another ways people individualise their homes as it adds impact and personality, Farrell says. She believes it is worth paying for high-quality framing. “Keep an eye out at what’s on sale in the auction rooms and on sites such as Adverts.ie and Facebook Marketplace,” she says.
And if your parents friends and family offer to help out with DIY, reupholstering or curtain-making, welcome their offers with open arms.
Ditto if you get offered pieces of old, good-quality furniture. Adding vintage or antique pieces to a modern build is a great way to add character. And, if they belonged to a family member, they can be practical and functional mementoes to remind you of your childhood for years to come.
