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.

How do they find sheets to fit that round bed in pic one??!

Clam that first house is hideous!

pic 2 is not what I meant about rugs

Id put sofas (coloured ones) near the fire and chuck out that rug! That house is nice !

I have to say that I'm not good at arranging furniture, I don't seem to have an eye for what works. I can see in that house that having the sofas round the walls doesn't work. What would work in a room that size?

That room is too big to be intimate. needs sofas grouped and a large rug Big artworks and maybe some huge plants etc. A sign of life would be good! I hate those houses though

And a big square coffee table. If you were having coffee after dinner in that room, where on earth would you put the tray? Or individual cups?

And that room is out of proportion, ceiling too low. Not much you can do structurally, but the down lights make it worse. It needs Wall lights, or lamps on a 5-amp circuit. Agree with noddy, group the furniture, pull it together with a rug. And lose the utterly vile fireplace.

For a house which someone's tried to make contemporary, what are they doing with that staircase?

Rant over.

I'm no interior designer but don't you create areas within the room. So some sofas grouped together then a separate comfy chair with reading lamp, or a writing desk with pictures.

How many pictures of the three children do they need?

I agree group the sofa's together in the biggest house, why on earth are they all up against the walls?

I know of a period house where the builders have marvelled to me about the amount of labour which went I to the two year restoration. No expense was spared, on anything.

It is soul- less. Admittedly the restored floors are beautiful, but there isn't a throw, rug or cushion anywhere. Not even in one room.

By the way, there is a product called super-foxi which makes rugs stick to anything without slipping- hard floors and carpet. It saved my sanity.

I think that part of the problem is that we are looking at an unrepresentative sample. By definition, we are looking at houses that people want to move on from, that are transitory. There aren't many where people have lived for years, and are still living there.

This is going to sound very snobby but these houses look very parvenu; decorated last week out of some catalogue. In my house I have a chest of drawers from my parents, a table from DH's parents, a linen chest and various clocks from my grandparents and a writing desk from DH's grandparents. These houses don't seem to have any identity or family history. They are put together like Lego, there is no organic growth.

I have a largeish room atm and its nowhere near that size 20' x 20 and I have way more in it!

Ugh that house! Footballer style. Awful.

I agree, senua, but I wonder if people hear "organic growth" and think of this and so discard the idea?

Clam I love that house

It's dire. You'd need a megaphone to speak to each other in that sitting room. That might be a good thing though. I wouldn't mind a bit more space but not empty and impersonal.

Candlewick bedspreads! Can you even get them anymore?

Are you having a laugh? The living room carpet, the sofa's that need recovering and the three different walls, one with brick, one with 70's wallpaper and one with wood panelling?

yy clam, that 'organic' house is not a good advertisement for the cause. However, it does have something that I have just realised that the others are missing - books. Where are the books? Philistines!

The panelling etc in the 'organic' house is just another period feature really! I love houses like that because they make great projects; you can reconfigure the space to make it work for a family's changing needs and you don't have to worry about preserving cornices.

(Disclaimer: in an older house I would keep good cornices)

I would love a sneaky "pick" at the threads on a cradle wick bedspread! It would remind me of my childhood. They are horrid, though.

The thing is, most of us can have periods of show home loveliness, of sorts, but it never lasts, does it?

Of my five kids, I have three at home, all teenagers. It doesn't matter how much storage, how many shoe solutions or whatever, they just discard stuff everywhere.

I've actually had to lock a key entrance door for a month, to their annoyance, to train them not to trudge over the new carpet in shoes.

And they acquire it. For example, I'm looking at an old silver candlestick with two white candles in it. Where did the third go? What happened to the white vase next to it?

Why doesn't the OP share some examples of her own personal style with us. I'm sure you can find one example of something online that reflects your taste.

"In my house I have a chest of drawers from my parents, a table from DH's parents, a linen chest and various clocks from my grandparents and a writing desk from DH's grandparents."

We had furniture like that in our first house. It was hideous. When we moved house we managed to sell most of it.

We lived in three houses with fireplace surrounds like the one in Ashtree Way. I couldn't wait to live in a house with something far more minimal. We now have an Adam style fireplace and it feels right for the room.

LondonGirl83, because that's not the point of the thread. No one is interested in my personal taste. And I'm not interested in demonstrating it, even if they are.

If I was trying to sell my house, you would be free to gawp at my furnishings all you liked.