Restoring character in an over-renovated house

[Rhubarbgarden]

We are interested in this house. I like the exterior, but to my mind, the interior has been over-renovated and is rather lacking in charm and character. I am trying to think of things that could be done to give it more appeal - put in reclaimed fireplaces, replace plastic windows with wood, replace laminate floors and downstairs carpet with reclaimed floorboards/parquet etc.

Any other imaginative ideas? Ignore the cost for now - I'm looking for blue sky thinking from all you creative types!

Ps Oreo, if you're there - it's on a lake!

Ah another lake!

I'm really not great at design ideas but I just wanted to say nice house. What does DH make of the lack of georgian splendour?

I think once you had done the things you mention, floors, fireplace and window you would find the house has a very different feel about it. I would lose the halogen spots too.

I have visions of roaring fires and lots of wood - beams, inglenook, york stone floor, handmade kitchen etc fitting well in there.

How old is the house?

Ha cross posts

I can see what you mean... to my mind the lack of cornices in some of the rooms makes it look a bit odd.

I think its the furniture that makes it look this way, and what is that hideous brick wallpaper. Get that off pronto !. No, seriously If you take all the modern table chairs out, twigs and stuff out it would look completely different.

It's not the worst. I was expecting something with similar (expensive no doubt, but vile vile vile) decor to this:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30142718.html?premiumA=true

Yes halogen spots make my teeth itch. They would have to go. And it might indeed feel different without the bland furniture.

Can you put cornicing/ceiling roses in without it looking naff? Because I agree the ceilings look funny without those details. I guess architectural salvage would be the answer to that again. I think the flint wall is actually real rather than wallpaper - if it is faux, yikes that would be the first thing to go!

Oreo DH does like it, surprisingly, despite the glaring lack of lofty ceilings and Georgiana. He's a sucker for both symmetry and lakes, so I think those have swung it. And the location. For once, we have found a house we like in the right location.

Going to look at it at the weekend, provided I don't go into labour in the meantime.

I think you are right, I just had a longer look, it is a real flint wall next to a brick wall. Oh well, in that case thats a bit different...

Let us know how you get on... unless you are busy with a newborn instead

RC well thats Bolly for you I am loving the cruise ship quantities of "white' loungers lining the canal !

Ye gads, RC!

Wow that would take some unpicking...

It is lovely. IKWYM about character. I am so sick of looking at acres of minimalist white wall space. I want somewhere old and atmospheric, and all the whiteness just kills the atmosphere stone dead.

I think the whiteness all over has made a big difference and where the walls and ceiling are a slightly different colour it looks warmer.
Are they laminate floors, or just floorboards with a very smooth finish? If the latter they're probably expensive and you wouldn't want to rip them out.

Some of the rooms will look better with different curtains. I think you need to look at pics of decorative styles from the time when the house was built.

Also once it's got a normal amount of Stuff in instead of the decluttered-for-sale look, it will look a lot better. I just don't get this thing about how you are supposed to make it practically empty so viewers can imagine themselves in it. I can imagine myself much more in the cluttered ones, even if it is not my kind of clutter.

That's lovely. Is it actually supposed to have cornices and ceiling roses, though? Looking at it, I wonder whether it's quite a simple vernacular building, with quite a few extensions over the years, with comparatively low ceilings (note the lack of pendant lights), which wouldn't have had these features. The current owners don't seem to have decided whether they think the house should be posh (the fireplaces) or country cottage (the doors).

Is this a stealth boast :o

Agree with GrendelsMum. It isn't a grand Victorian house which would have had cornices and ceiling roses. It is quite a simple country cottage, very lovely, but I believe would have been quite plain inside. The furnishings and decorations will have the biggest impact on the feel of the house.

Lovely house.

Am shocked though at the size of bedroom 5!

Yes, bedroom 5 is not really appropriate to use as a modern bedroom, is it?

Which does make it rather expensive for a 4 bed house with half an acre.

How Much??

How old is the house? I think once the lovely swagged curtains are out and you can see the windows and walls properly it will look a different house.

Don't like the stone walls.

View it and put an offer in, the tension should get labour under way!!

I've no idea about the prices down your way but you could make that a lovely house, and a more managable size than some others. If the location is good and DH likes it you must be onto a winner. There is nothing you couldn't live with there either untill you get your new DC up a bit and feel up to the work.

I'm very jealous of your house hunt, you have had some beautiful houses through your hands!!

RC I can't decide if I'm impressed or horrified with that house. It certainly makes an impression one way or another .

i agree with GM. putting a whole load of stuff back in (that might never have been there in the first place) might actually end up looking rather twee and yes, dare i say it, naff!! it is notoriously difficult to update properties with accurately age salvage, which means you end up getting repro which looks erm repro

also doubt whether you'd get value back but in that price bracket spending 50k replacing fireplaces etc prob not an issue!!

fwiw i think its a lovely house.

Kitchen floor tiles need replaacing with flaagstones.

Hate the bathroom (lovely in a a different type of house) tear off the tiles and simplify.

Ooh get me, lovely house.

sorry for aa everywhere.

Lovely house!

Rather than decide what to do myself, I would probably let the history of the house decide for me iyswim. So a trip to the local history library and a read up in Pevsner etc. Once you know who, what and when, the style of the building will become clear. Being respectful of the building and its origins should help you to make a coherent whole - and maybe make it even more lovely than it already is!

Personally I am not a fan of salvage as it makes buildings difficult to read (ie confusing like this house is) and encourages people to strip original features out of other buildings to make a few bob.

If you use the building's history to "set the tone" and inspire you to select modern pieces/intervention that can often show the older parts of the house in a better light, than if you go for "pastiche".

Personally I would put in some double glazed timber windows - if possible using photos or archives or typical period details to guide the choice of frames. I would not be sticking lots of plaster details around the place but might lash out on some lovely lovely bespoke joinery in a suitable size/scale/style based on my research. I would probably also use soft furnishings to introduce colour and character rather than trying to add architectural details. I might remove any repro fireplaces and (if they were not covering up something nice/original to be exposed) I would maybe go for a modern wood burner instead.

With the budget you have it may be easier to wait for a house with the original features intact rather than trying to recreate it.

I think it would be more difficult you imagine.

The current owner loves their swags don't they?!

If I had a period cottage that i wanted to restore, I would probably restore it to reflect its original look and the buildings purpose.

However, buildings change, evolve and grow and sometimes you need to look forward rather than backwards. A bad restoration can turn into a pastiche.

agree with Tricot.

find out as much as poss about the house itself and go from there.

Hmm, yes you lot are dead right, it's not supposed to have grand fireplaces and ceiling roses is it? I need to look at this differently from what I'm used to. I'm not one to slavishly follow period detail (unlike my friend who spent six months sourcing the perfect light switches for his historically accurate restoration of an Arts and Crafts gem), but I do like original details, antiques and I suppose a bit of quirkiness/originality, so I would have to do something to relieve the blandness that is there at the moment. But you are right in saying that the way to do that may be with furnishings and decor.

It is shockingly expensive. I totally agree. And bedroom 5 is a joke. The price is purely down to location - walkable into a lovely village with great facilities that doesn't feel like a 1950s timewarp, and only a mile or so to a mainline station to London. Believe me I am well aware of how you can get bigger/grander/prettier houses only a few miles away in any direction; I've looked at most of them (as Oreo knows , but they either aren't commutable or would mean a very car based existence, and with a toddler and baby on the way I
have come to the conclusion I want to be able to walk to stuff.

Viewing it could well bring on labour, let alone putting an offer in, just because I'll be an hour and a half from home and hospital and that's sod's law! Dh is trying to talk me out of viewing it. Not a chance .

We've also decided (toddler, baby on the way) that this isn't the best time for being entirely car-reliant. Shame though as it means not following up on some lovely places.

a) clearly you have too much money on your hands
b) Will you lend me £60k ?
c) I think the improvements you suggest sound great. For me that house feels as if it's had all the soul sucked out of it and is in desperate need of colour. Some interesting furniture that is not on the beige sprectrum would be great. Garden could do with some flowers.