Houses that you like!

[OutComeTheWolves]

This is sort of a thread about a thread as I've been reading the 'naff things in a home' thread and noticed a lot of things I quite like (family photos on display/bookshelves) other people don't like.

I love looking in other peoples homes and I love seeing how differently people decorate and how different our idea of the ideal room can be. So I thought it'd be nice/interesting if we shared what we all thought was really good home design or just a room that looks really nice.

I love the whole Scandi look but never fully achieve it (probably because of all the books and photos cluttering shit up) but this pic (from Google - not of my home!) sums up what I'd like my home to look like. Nice and airy, neutral colours and no clutter everywhere.

That's nice a nice picture

I like those bright colourful ikea show flats we have 2 young DC and everything just looks so practical and easy to clean!

See, I don't like that at all. I find it cold, hard and uninviting. It's often dark and dull outside in the UK, I like warmth and colour. I hate this depressing fashion for grey, my street looks like a dry dock for battleships. I'll try to attach a picture, but I like rich colours and textures, warmth and comfort. I have nick nacks, they remind me of family and friends, travels, happy times, people no longer with us. One room I have completely lined with bookshelves, I have hundreds of books! I have a massive cabinet with colourful china, it cheers me up. I have a red velvet sofa and don't think I've missed out a colour in any of the cushions!

it looks nice

I love the scandi look but could never achieve it with all my clutter and a very untidy daughter !

I absolutely love different 'levels' in a house - split levels, mezzanine floors, galleried landings. I've never lived in a house that had them and have always wanted to - unfortunately they mostly appear in houses that are well beyond my budged.

Budget, that should say.

That sounds lovely @Maireas. I love seeing colour in other peoples homes. My friend has what I'd describe as a very eclectic home (pink and green wallpaper, loads of charity shop finds) and it looks amazing. I'm no good with colour though when I try I just get things that clash and it looks crap whereas she has a knack of combining things in a way that looks cheerful and lovely not, like me, in a way that gives you a headache. I follow loads of colourful home accounts on Instagram though because I love to see the different colours people use.

@Arbadacarba

I absolutely love different 'levels' in a house - split levels, mezzanine floors, galleried landings. I've never lived in a house that had them and have always wanted to - unfortunately they mostly appear in houses that are well beyond my budged.

Yes! My friend lives in a flat with a mezzanine bedroom and despite us living in a north east former pit town, it reminds me ever so slightly of what I think a New York apartment would be like! I'm always envious and have to remind myself that I'd have to make sure my bedroom was tidy whenever I had guests!

I fell in love with the layout of this house a while ago (now sold STC)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107662397#/

The rooms are nothing special, and I normally prefer older properties but I loved the returning staircase in the kitchen and the double staircase going up to the two top bedrooms.

@OutComeTheWolves - it's just happened gradually. When we were first married, we had no money, so all our furniture, plates, everything came from junk shops and nothing matched! We sanded down and painted a lot. If you like it, it'll kind of match. I like looking at gifts I've had from pupils, a teapot my granny used to use, a picture we bought on our first holiday together, so it all kind of matches, if you get my drift! I don't bother about ring marks on the table or a bit of dust and clutter. It's for living, not a show home! People come round and say "how cosy" or "how colourful"! Could be a euphemism for "get a skip!"

@Arbadacarba yes that staircase is lovely. I never understand why some people don't put a floor plan on Rightmove. I love to see how things are all set out.

[quote Maireas]@OutComeTheWolves - it's just happened gradually. When we were first married, we had no money, so all our furniture, plates, everything came from junk shops and nothing matched! We sanded down and painted a lot. If you like it, it'll kind of match. I like looking at gifts I've had from pupils, a teapot my granny used to use, a picture we bought on our first holiday together, so it all kind of matches, if you get my drift! I don't bother about ring marks on the table or a bit of dust and clutter. It's for living, not a show home! People come round and say "how cosy" or "how colourful"! Could be a euphemism for "get a skip!" [/quote]
Your home sounds like a place I'd love a mooch around. It sounds lovely.

@Arbadacarba - I like that staircase, but not the decor. To me, pictures 3 and 11 look like cells. Anyway, it's probably just been robbed of character to sell. Each to their own though.

Yes, you can't even see the double staircase on the top floor unless you watch the walk-through video - if I'd have been selling the house, I'd have put it in a photograph as it's lovely.

I was very tempted to go and view the house but had to tell myself that buying a house just for its staircases when it wasn't really suitable in any other way would be madness.

True! If you look at Alexandra Tolstoy's instagram that's more my aesthetic, but on a teacher's salary! Junk shops and hand me downs rather than heirlooms.

Given that we have a fair proportion of grotty weather, trying to achieve Scandinavia-look in the middle of a built up area is hard. I think the most important thing is light. If you can get sky lights and/or large windows, most looks are easier to achieve.

I had my kitchen built with sky lights and French windows. It has pale oak units, steel appliances, white walls, grey porcelain floor (all neutral), and one turquoise wall. Plus a zinc faced table with bright orange chairs.

Cheerful but not busy. I still love it after five years.

@Maireas

See, I don't like that at all. I find it cold, hard and uninviting. It's often dark and dull outside in the UK, I like warmth and colour. I hate this depressing fashion for grey, my street looks like a dry dock for battleships. I'll try to attach a picture, but I like rich colours and textures, warmth and comfort. I have nick nacks, they remind me of family and friends, travels, happy times, people no longer with us. One room I have completely lined with bookshelves, I have hundreds of books! I have a massive cabinet with colourful china, it cheers me up. I have a red velvet sofa and don't think I've missed out a colour in any of the cushions!

I love the sound of this, can you post a picture?

This ticks all my boxes in terms of the aesthetic but unfortunately I think it would just to be too small to contain all my junk possessions, and the location isn't really any good for me:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108565460#/

The living room with the exposed stone wall and window seat are my ideal sort of look.

I love the garden on that home @Arbadacarba and the things on pic 11 (spindles?)

I like my own house too. It's a total mish mash of old and new, charity shop, ebay purchases, ikea, sentimental nick nacks, colourful but not overwhelming and not too cluttered. Lots of different textures and furniture from different era's and lots and lots of lovely houseplants.
I don't keep up with the latest trends.

I'd post a picture, but it'd be outing as it's a bit distinctive. I'll see if I can post a picture of part of a room. It's not dirty or unkempt, I'm actually really neat and tidy, I just like colour and ornamentation. I don't like the Calvinist aesthetic.

@BonnyEm - it won't ever date, though. If you keep up with the latest trends, it will.

Yes, I ignore the trends - no grey in my house. I like a cottage style aesthetic but my present house unfortunately is very modern and uncottagy so it tends to look cluttered rather than welcoming.

I have a room that's wall to wall books. One of the first things I look for in a house is 'where can my books go' - you need uninterrupted wall space for the bookshelves. Even with a room full of them they overspill into other rooms - and that's after a ruthless thinning down of them in 2019.

I don't think it'll look cluttered if they're pieces you love, but I know what you mean about modern homes. I tend to group things together, the colourful plates, the ornaments, groups of pictures. I'm quite fastidious about surfaces being clean, but every plant is in a colourful pot, and every lamp has a bright shade!

Yes, all pieces I love - mostly antiques (although nothing very valuable from a financial point of view). The collection of years of poking round antique shops and fairs!

They just really need exposed stonework and low, beamed ceilings to set them off properly.