Why are so many houses so similar?

[PoorOldCat]

I get updates from rightmove every day and I think about 90% of the houses have really similar interiors.

Everyone seems to have laminate floor, brown leather sofas, the ubiquitous 'feature wall' in some awful oversized floral pattern, steel and black framed things and huge tellys. And the kitchens and bathrooms all seem to be the P shaped shower bath and the varying shades of beige tiles.

I don't understand why, it's like looking at a display in B&Q over and over again. It's so ugly. But most of all it's so dull.

Do people like this stuff or is it just fashion, which no one really likes aside from the fact it makes your house look identical to other people's?

Finding a house to be proper nosey at, that has some sort of identity of its own is hard work.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to do or why it pisses me off so much, and I certainly don't want to offend anyone who does like their house this way...all the agents seem to say these are beautifully presented and will be very popular, so maybe it is just me who hates it, in which case, I'll take the flack

But why is it so popular to have your house like this? Because I just don't understand.

I don't have people over for dinner - actually I don't have people over at all really.

I think it's just no one likes me very much

I'm sure that's not the case - you certainly would have a more stylish house than mine! (When my in-law from Australia came over she could "name" most of my sitting room furntiture. It was quite funny. Nearly everything had a Swedish inspired name...)

I cannot imagine not having a table and chairs. I would go as far as saying I would rather have a table and chairs than any other furniture if I had to choose.

We have two proper dining tables.
Tonight I ate my supper off my lap watching Judge Judy.

I'm astounded at someone who judges other people's houses not having a dining table. In this house the dining table is where life is discussed, meals are eaten, "art" is done and board/card games are played. We spend far more time there than in the lounge.

When I'm working from home I might eat at my desk on the computer, but not if there's anyone else in the house.

Its also easier to read over breakfast when you have a table supporting your bowl and book

I might judge people's houses but not their lifestyles.. we have two lovely tables, but neither is used to sit round, because we interact in a different way, and none of us really likes sitting at a table to eat/interact.

It's not a very formal household I suppose. I can see the potential uses of a table but we use the floor, the sofa, etc - and we rarely eat together.

I would feel entirely stupid sitting eating at the table by myself, without doing something else at the same time anyway. The children would just leave asap and go and eat in front of the TV.

Goodness, what is the lego table?

Oh it's ace. Two of those plastic sets of drawers with a plank across the top with green lego boards on. Lego goes in the drawers.

I can understand brown leather sofas and greige far more than I can understand not having a dining table - I consider that an integral part of a family home.

I live in a modern box (because it is all we could afford) and lovely old furniture often does not fit into modern mingy rooms. That is why Ikea is so popular - it makes furniture on a smaller scale to fit teeny houses.

I am the opposite ithaka. Our house is older and modern furniture is always just a bit too small. I end up having to trawl around second hand shops for old stuff.

I always find it amusing how people fetishise features from certain periods (usually longer ago) but not those from others. The serving hatch is probably old enough now that people have started thinking of it as a 'feature' rather than an embarrassment. I suspect that our grandchildren will be reinstating the artex ceilings and walls in houses and muttering about 'vandalism' in relation to those who eradicated them.

goodness when I sold my last flat one viewer went round pointing at all the furniture and naming it with its product name. I thought he was a bit of a dick. and vowed to buy no more from ikea or habitat

Ha - id think so too in that context!

I think my in law just had a lot of e same... I don't think I'd realised how much ikea we'd collected until then though!

My current bugbear are those weird modern, pared back and geometric gardens which are very fashionable for modernised expensive homes. They seem so bare and uninviting. Will link if no one knows what I mean as might just be round here (lots in our local glossy property mag).

But you don't need lots of money to buy non standard/non ikea furniture. Time and lots of patience maybe. Since I've had my kids I've had bugger all money (and I had no furniture before them!) except for a few heady months abroad when I finally earned a lovely salary. Ebay is excellent for great buys - my dining table, bed, six occasional chairs, sofas, hide rug, allessi bathroom toilet and sink , cloakroom marble basin, travertine tiles travertine mosaics all came from ebay. Nothing was more than £250 on their own.

I bought tons of stuff when i lived abroad as there were hidden bargains everywhere. Especially from expats leaving who weren't taking their furniture.

I have two Philippe Stark dining chairs bought from a local paper for pennies. I got Conrad lights from TK Maxx for £20! It's taken YEARS - I bought my first bit of furniture 11 years ago - but slowly the ikea/argos got replaced by more eclectic stuff, stuff I'm going to keep for the rest of my life.

Again, it's not everybody's taste and for some it would be a total faff but I find searching out bargains an absolute joy. It means almost everything I own has a story, which I love.

Ikea for the kids though. They don't respect furniture...

Mid century modern here - with furniture acquired 30 years ago and now fashionable again.

Yes, keep original features. No, to large teal/poppy red flowered feature walls.

I hate all chintz, embellishment and unnecessary affectation. So plain white bare walls, white ceiling, wooden floors, wooden furniture. Very calming, very relaxing. Will not date.

If I want colour I can obtain it from the soft furnishings I add to a room.

Well, one thing that has emerged on this thread is thaat everyone thinks that their taste is the right taste

How about we all enjoy our own homes and stop wrinkling up our noses at other peoples - or is that no fun?

That's not the case Ithaka. Of course everyone has preferences. I thought I made it clear it wasn't about that. But that wouldn't be any fun, would it?

Calamitous, I don't see why it's amusing to admire stuff that was made with artistry and care over stuff that was put together in a factory from MDF.

I explained this below (above for those reading upside down) - if you have a Victorian hand painted tiled forged fireplace, and you have a modern, veneered, plastic-coal electric fire, which is nicer from the point of view of care taken, skill involved and longevity?

What took more work to create?

That's the difference. Serving hatches are neither here nor there - good if they are integral to the building and the artistry that came into designing it. Not so good if they aren't.

But they are only a bit of moulding and a plywood door usually.

The main reason older furniture doesn't always look so great in a modern house is proportion.

Victorian (or older) houses were designed to look beautiful, using a mathematical principle quite often which gave a pleasing effect.

The furniture was also designed to fit with this and to be attractive as well as functional.

So if you put it in a room built in 1970 with a 90" ceiling and square windows, it will look a bit stupid.

Like Fanny, most of our stuff has come from ebay, or skips, or second hand shops...it saves money, often you can get something far more solid for the same price as something that will fall apart in a few years, it also reuses stuff which I think is good for the environment, and it looks better too imo (not in everyone's obvs).

We are buying a house which is old and will suit the furniture we have, it's not expensive, there are far more modern houses out there that would cost far more.

Oh and we will have room for a table at the new house - finally - but I very much doubt anyone will eat at it!

No I agree that's depressing. I think somewhere in the middle is Ok though. I don't care about the people who own these beautiful homes at all really - but I want to look at them as they are often very lovely. (the interiors - not the people!)

When was that Rosie? My grandparents put a lot of thought into their house and styled it to their taste. They were as poor as mice but damn they loved swirly wallpaper and patterns! And very bright paint. Very. (Their bathroom was Granny Smith Apple Green and their kitchen a shade of pink I have never seen before or since)

People have always decorated their homes in a style they liked and were proud of their taste. Maybe not back when they had mud huts... But actually who says that's the case? A house is just a house until you make it your home. Part of doing that involves creating an ambiance and decorating according to your taste. Even the poorest of people will often try to decorate their tiny shack to make it as welcoming as possible. IM think ing of my sister in law's cleaner who lives in a slum (they're in India) and the inside of her hut is painted magenta and blue. Who only has furniture they need? shakers?

Rosie there are tons of shops in the Middle East that sell furniture that looks really ancient and artisan. Except it isn't! Sort of faux boho chic. Some of the stuff was ubiquitous - like the "ancient door with a glass top" dining table which you would see in so many expat homes. Or ancient carved coffee table (made to look old by an geezer round the back with a paintbrush and some stains)

Those people in those interiors magazines have been robbed!