To think a lot of homes are “soulless” and all people care about is size?

[Spicegirl1234]

I love homes that are full of personality, stuff picked up around the world in trips, fleamarket finds, family objects, homes that are not perfect but keep your eyes “busy” when looking and fully reflect the life of people that live within them and make you feel warm when you go in.
I very rarely come across such homes, the majority of the ones I see (in RL and online) tend to be very boring with no personality whatsoever and people mainly seem to be focussed on buying the biggest possible places with their money and then upgrading/extending etc rather than enjoying what they have and make it “theirs”.
Does anyone else feel this way about home decor?

When I was searching for a new home, we were looking for a large home due to requirements, children, home office etc, and I agree with you. The big homes lacked personality in terms of decor, and I was more drawn to smaller homes.

You can decorate a large home however you want though 🤷🏻‍♀️.

What a silly comment.

Any home can be decorated however the owner wants.
If you need a house to accommodate children and have room for an office why on earth would you choose a small house?

We have a large sandstone, it's full of character

My house is literally no one’s cup of teas other than ours and our kids. 🤣

we have a marvel kitchen, cinema hall way, beauty and the beast reception room with bookcases , music themed living room
3 bathrooms are - ( adults - just multicoloured themed with toilet seats on the walls as frames etc )
younger children’s bathroom - tv themed ( bluey etc ) older children’s bathroom is “ salon “ themed.

bedrooms - 1. Japanese themed 2. Space themed 3. Safari themed 4. Pretty bland but comfy ( mine )

then we have playroom which is hand decorated by them and is update regularly by them 🤣🤣

stiff wise we have declutter so we don’t lots and lots of stuff.

our house is ours and people would judge it but it’s well loved and lived in.

I live in a large new build house that would give the OP a conniption fit. Every single wall is white and all the floors are shades of grey. The kitchen is grey, as are all the bathrooms. The garden is basically entirely lawn with a teeny tiny patio.

Thing is, we can't repaint the walls until the house has dried out properly and we moved at the beginning of the summer so it's the wrong time of year to be doing massive garden works, even if I had any money left for them.

Sometimes you just have to live with the soulless box look until you've worked out what exactly you want, how the light works through the seasons, and have the funds to change the stuff you dont like.

But pas de panique, I have lots of stuff in my house. I know this because every fucking removal firm that came to quote us for the move told me.

@Lifeischaos12 that sounds AWESOME

I agree, Emily Norris renovation looks soulless

It so does

So it’s not really about bits and pieces picked up from different travels that tell a story or evoke a fond memory? It has to be the right kind of souvenir 🙄

Different people have different tastes, but I really dislike the trend of downstairs being all open plan.
I know it seems to be the default layout for new builds, but I bought a fixer upper a few years ago, so follow a lot of people who have done similar on social media, and it’s so common to knock everything through downstairs. To me it looks so soulless. I can get on board with a kitchen/diner, but when you get the lounge involved, I think it looks terrible. The thought of sitting in a big cavernous room instead of a cosy lounge is so unnatural to me, plus the fact it means that everyone is involved in everything, all the time.

But why would it be for other people’s benefit? If those who like bland, grey-walled Next minimalism do so to suit themselves, why wouldn’t people who like more thing-filled houses be equally decorating their houses for themselves?

Wow lots of greige homes owners in here. I don’t understand why so many people get so funny about my post. I never said you should only display stuff you buy when traveling (it was just an example) and also never said you need to do it to please others.
I just see a lot of houses looking exactly the same with grey everything and no other signs of the owners’ life or history or personality, doesn’t matter where these things might have been picked up.
For me a home should feel warm and cosy and have a bit of character, not an empty grey box but to each their own and based on these comments I was right, grey boxes seem very common!

@VosgesViper exactly, I don’t decorate for others but just for myself and my family! Also based on this thread clearly the majority of people wouldn’t approve of my home (which btw no, is not filled with lots of clutter as you are all assuming)

Other peoples’ property fascinates me. I love to see how homes have been altered and to garner ideas regarding decoration and colour schemes, furniture etc.
As others have said, many homes are depersonalised and ‘sanitised’ when prepped for sale. It’s a sad fact the less ‘clutter’ and subtler the colour palate the more chance of sales success but then being honest an overly bright kitchen or bathroom suite can affect my view on purchase too.
Look at the predominant choice of car colour to ascertain we are in a very restrained period decor wise, fashion trends will no doubt dictate we all ‘brighten up’ in time.
I do understand what you mean though OP, with my slightly nomadic current expat life we are super careful to ensure we have enough distinctive ‘pieces’ to ensure the new place looks and feels like our home immediately.

👌
This, I have a friend whose house is full of interesting objects - I love it!! Each item has a story, so interesting!
But I couldn't live there, it would be visual stimulation overload for me, I need visual calm to feel relaxed, so my apparently boring house is a soothing oasis.
Also I like easy cleaning and ornaments are like speed bumps in the dusting road.

I have other outlets for my personality.

Judgement, comparison and perception training are built in to the bones of 'individual taste'. See Bourdieu's book Distinction!

I was responding to the idea that a house should ‘show your personality’. To who? You don’t need to show it to yourself, do you? I have an actual personality to show my personality to others, I don’t need my house to do it.
You know there’s a whole multitude of decor choices in between grey/greige and ‘thing filled houses’? I hate clutter and I hate grey.

Miaow.

Surely it's about how the house makes you feel? If Anna feels a sense of calm and peace in her empty white rooms and Barbara feels connected and loved in her rooms filled with ornaments then as long as they are haply and getting what they want everyone else's opinions are worthless.

I do enjoy watching home makeover shows and Grand Design , Location location location, love it or list it and all that .
I don’t think I have a “ style “ maybe because we lived in many very different homes ( had to rent a few different homes while overseas )
All these homes had different features , were from different eras , had different light if you know what I mean .
So the furniture we had been provided with , we added a few small pieces to that and had our family personal possessions too .
I’d say our current home ( we own it ) isn’t exactly what I’d choose in an ideal world but it mostly works for us and it’s calm with muted colours as I like the look and while we have books and ornaments , it isn’t cluttered 🤔
I can’t have certain things on some window sills because the dog might knock them off 🤪🤣
It is also about compromise and practicality as we all need to agree on the decor and soft furnishings.

Having read part of this thread I walked round my kitchen/ dining / family room and I wondered if I could get rid of any item .
But since I could remember where and when each item was bought or gifted to me , I would hesitate to give anything away .
I love the Scandi look , love the cottage look , love the Japanese aesthetic.
i also admire those who have bold colour pieces of furniture in their home too

😁nailed it

Exactly!! I get overloaded with too much in my house, I need a clean minimalist look to feel calm. Too many items around the house makes me feel chaotic. Too many colours makes my eyes hurt.

@PigeonFeatherInMyChair the rest is just amusing ourselves to waste time because there are no bears to hide from I love this!! and also so true

Yet you and others are "looking down" on people with minimalist/clinical homes? That's the irony!