Design help

[whattochoosediddlyoose]

We're purchasing a 7 year old house after renting a furnished apartment. So I need to get all new furniture and I'm starting to worry that my taste is shite.

It's a new build cookie cutterish house with an open plan living/kitchen/dining. White tiles, beigeish kitchen (from memory), stone bench tops.

What style of lounge and dining would you go for so it doesn't look completely generic? But also what's so 'in' that in a few years it will look 'out' so I can avoid it?!

I need a new bed frame and furniture too. Any thoughts on upholstered studded style bed frames?

The house has down lights throughout so I can't unfortunately add any nice lighting.

Thanks!

These are just my ideas and I am no expert.
For inspiration I would suggest buying some home decoration magazines especially if they showcase modern homes like yours.

The open plan nature of the living areas calls for a clean, uncluttered look. Maybe invest in a nice mirror to reflect light around the living room and give an illusion of space.
Consider purchasing stuff on eBay, curtains for example, you’ll be able to afford nice stuff at a lower price ( I got some lovely John Lewis made in England curtains like that).
Add pops of colour with curtains, rugs, pictures, bookshelves ( the back of books running along the wall on a bookshelf can actually look quite decorative)
I would go for natural materials wherever possible: wooden tables, wooden rugs, cotton/ linen curtains etc
Don’t go for everything perfectly matchy and be wary of over filling the space- there’s a current philosophy of “ negative space” ie unfilled spaces, which are felt to be restful.
Good luck and have fun!

Colours wise, if you want to avoid buying into a trend, stay neutral. deep grey, turquoise, dusky pink, navy blue, forest green, deep mustard yellow are popular for a reason - they look good and they’re warm and eye-catching - but they’ll also go out of fashion.

What do you like? That really is the best way to buy your furniture. A sure fire way to make an already “cookie cutter” home look more generic is to match everything together. If everything is already pretty neutral then you have a lot of choice. Pinterest can be helpful; I always like to look at Rightmove for interesting ways other people have put rooms together. You get a wide range, it hasn’t been airbrushed, and it’s also less soul destroying than looking at Pinterest and Insta photos, seeing something you love, and realising it costs thousands of pounds.

Good fabrics and materials will remain ageless. When it comes to blinds and curtains and upholstery, quality shows. I’d always buy sale or second-hand quality stuff than cheap new. If you know your taste changes quite a bit, keep your sofas and furniture black / brown / white / glass. As fashion goes in and out, it’s cheaper to change and add cushions, rugs and ornaments than to replace the green velour dining chairs you loved three years ago but now hate.

You can also switch out downlights, it isn’t difficult. You just check which circuit they’re one and whether additional transformers would be needed and as long as you buy light fittings with large enough ceiling roses you can just wire them up and fit them over the old holes if you don’t want to fill the holes in.

@whataboutbob

These are just my ideas and I am no expert. For inspiration I would suggest buying some home decoration magazines especially if they showcase modern homes like yours. The open plan nature of the living areas calls for a clean, uncluttered look. Maybe invest in a nice mirror to reflect light around the living room and give an illusion of space. Consider purchasing stuff on eBay, curtains for example, you’ll be able to afford nice stuff at a lower price ( I got some lovely John Lewis made in England curtains like that). Add pops of colour with curtains, rugs, pictures, bookshelves ( the back of books running along the wall on a bookshelf can actually look quite decorative) I would go for natural materials wherever possible: wooden tables, wooden rugs, cotton/ linen curtains etc Don’t go for everything perfectly matchy and be wary of over filling the space- there’s a current philosophy of “ negative space” ie unfilled spaces, which are felt to be restful. Good luck and have fun!

Thank you that's really helpful! I like the idea of books!

@ComtesseDeSpair

Colours wise, if you want to avoid buying into a trend, stay neutral. deep grey, turquoise, dusky pink, navy blue, forest green, deep mustard yellow are popular for a reason - they look good and they’re warm and eye-catching - but they’ll also go out of fashion.

What do you like? That really is the best way to buy your furniture. A sure fire way to make an already “cookie cutter” home look more generic is to match everything together. If everything is already pretty neutral then you have a lot of choice. Pinterest can be helpful; I always like to look at Rightmove for interesting ways other people have put rooms together. You get a wide range, it hasn’t been airbrushed, and it’s also less soul destroying than looking at Pinterest and Insta photos, seeing something you love, and realising it costs thousands of pounds.

Good fabrics and materials will remain ageless. When it comes to blinds and curtains and upholstery, quality shows. I’d always buy sale or second-hand quality stuff than cheap new. If you know your taste changes quite a bit, keep your sofas and furniture black / brown / white / glass. As fashion goes in and out, it’s cheaper to change and add cushions, rugs and ornaments than to replace the green velour dining chairs you loved three years ago but now hate.

You can also switch out downlights, it isn’t difficult. You just check which circuit they’re one and whether additional transformers would be needed and as long as you buy light fittings with large enough ceiling roses you can just wire them up and fit them over the old holes if you don’t want to fill the holes in.

I like the greens and navy that are in 😂 But see I didn't know that was in. I've seen them quite frequently in houses we've looked at that have been staged. I did have my eye on a tan leather couch but was worried our dog would damage it.

Thanks for the advice on the down lights. I had no idea. I'm definitely going to try and change them.