Can you make a new build living room look period?

[Thurlow]

Contemplating making an offer on a relatively new build property, but conscious that it’s very different from everything else we’ve owned or liked. I can manage a very modern looking kitchen diner, and the bedrooms have much more scope for some funky painting or wallpaper to change their feel. However the living room is hugely not our taste - we’ve always had c.1900s houses with fireplaces and alcoves for bookshelves and wooden floors, the sort of thing that lends itself so bold, dark colours.

The rest of the house is perfect, especially the number of bedrooms, but I’m just worried I’d end up hating this living room. Is there anything we could do in this sort of property to make it feel more like “us”? It’s a terrace so no room for adding a fireplace. Any thoughts? Would it be too much for you to get over if you love period too?

Please excuse grammar I was writing in a hurry. Autocorrect combined with fast typing is the bane of my life.

Agree with others that trying to make a room look like another era doesn't work - proportions/ceilings/windows will always be wrong. What you can do is think about how period houses make you feel, and bring that feeling in. My flat is a new build, but as I don't like white boxes I painted it mustard yellow, added warm lighting, large framed pictures, heavy curtains etc. Much of the furniture comes from IKEA but it still feels warm and cosy, which is what I liked about the older houses I've lived in.

I moved from a period property to a new build. It’s hard to get over losing how lovely a older house looks especially at the start. But the new build is a much easier house to manage and live in. I wouldn’t go back to an old house and now think they look a bit fussy and old fashioned.
You can make a new house look really nice too. I would go scandi myself with lots of light wood, textures and squashy sofas

Hi @Thurlow there is someone on Instagram called alicegraceinteriors. English who has a new build not that you would believe it. She has faux painted ceiling beams etc i’ve attached a screen shot

I think you could change things like the magnolia walls, laminate floor and light fittings and make a big difference but I’d probably go for some sort of moden Nordic/scandi type look rather than try and do fake old. Get a modern woodburner in that sort of style too?

Also, you may have layout issues; can you fit two sofas at one end or will one of them be cutting across the inside door when arranged at a right angle to the one along the wall? You'll need to be careful not to 'box off' the rest of the room; if you aren't careful it will be dead space. I guess you could use it as a dining space, if you're likely to use it as such. In our longer sitting room I've put a bar and a chest down one end and kept the seating space open by using armchairs rather than a second sofa. It looks as if the current owners have two sofas so I'd be aware that may not work?

That alicegrace account is beautiful. I do wonder how it looks in RL though as strategically positioned images can be deceptive, but she really has got the most amazing eye and talent.

I would ditch the fugly glass double doors to the hall for a start - maybe just replace the glass panel with wood.

It’s the narrow shape which will be the problem - and the position of those doors (maybe change to a single door further up to get better use of the room).

I agree vintage / MCM / scandi would work better in these proportions….also you can achieve “cosy” with the Danish hegge approach - candles, layers blankets / rugs / etc but full on “period” is a stretch I think.

Do you already have furniture that you need to use?

What will the room be used for - formal entertaining or a snug?

The position of the furniture and choice of something big and lumpy in the photos is all wrong.

Modern rooms often look so because there are no chimney breasts etc to add complexity in the room shape. I would worry that panelling would only emphasise that, and in this case, make it feel even longer and narrower as well.
I would be tempted to put in fitted cupboards/shelves to the ceilings, either plastered and painted or in wood, and have the ceiling coving go round them, making an interesting shape. In the right place(s) they could break up the longer walls. No need for them to be very deep, either- rather than encroach too far on the room, I'd make them shallow- just deep enough for bookshelves and maybe shallow lower cupboards.The storage space you'd gain would mean you didn't need as much freestanding furniture, as properly done they should take up less depth than freestanding furniture to the same storage volume.

We put built-in tall bookcases in a very narrow room in our old house, though not to the ceiling in that case. It was a very narrow room, so I made the bookcases just deep enough for paperbacks when the books were against the actual wall. Took up only a few inches of space, stored masses of books, and made the room feel much bigger, oddly enough. I left one gap in the upper shelving of the bookcases and hung a painting there, which again gave it more depth visually and more interest. All we did was install vertical planks, siting on the floor, fitted right against the wall with brackets, with a cut out for the skirting, and the fitted shelves slotted in between them. Really easy, really cheap, as it was solid wood planking with the edges rounded a little, and I just waxed to the colour I wanted before assembly, looked great.
They are so adaptable too- when we moved, I brought the bits with us, they are going up in this house when the room is ready for them.

I'll also say that you would need A LOT of budget and talent to achieve the Alice Grace look, and if either is out of the op's reach she'll need to be more realistic as to what she can achieve.

www.neptune.com/inspiration/

Neptune is good at mixing old / new for an authentic cosy contemporary style

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is back on the scene again...

I’m thinking about a similar move and have concluded you can’t make a new house (most houses built after the 20s really) look old. I agree with Didiusfalco - being more individual with colour, plants and furniture is the way to go. Bookcases and shelves are also great. You don’t really need alcoves to display books well, and not all period houses have them anyway. Mine doesn’t.

I think you could make a feature by replacing the patio doors. I like wooden french doors, but there are loads of options, including something very modern.

I know the pain, though! We can’t afford period and the rooms we need, but I hate new build aesthetics!

That’s it!

Thank you all loads though, you’ve made me realise it’s not period so much as feature. Mid century sounds good.

Have a look at hollyoakhouse on instagram. It's quite a new house (although not just built) and the owner has really transformed it, the before shots are tired and dated 90's and the updates look really fresh but cosy. I wouldn't say it's now a period look but certainly shows how you can change the feel of a house.

Be careful not to close a narrow room in further with bookcases and panelling. Agree make a feature of the french door and also what’s beyond outside - so make this part of the garden pretty to draw the eye when inside / also subtle garden lighting at night.

You can arrange furniture to split a long room - so desk or reading corner at one end - sofa to the back. The double doors are in the wrong place I think

I think you can do a lot with that room and it has a lot going for it already- nice size, doors to the garden etc. Also adding a bit of colour and interest will improve it. I’d consider some kind of focal point on the long wall, either a fireplace or log burner (gas/ electric) and then having sofas either side facing each other on a nice rug. Then maybe a nice reading/ music area by the French doors. Like others I would avoid a pastiche but I think that classic country would be absolutely fine.

@grey12

Elaborate ceiling decorations: is it called cornice? Those make a huge difference in the feel of the room.

Wallpaper, heavy curtains, big nice rug, the right furniture, it'll totally transform it

Ceiling will be too low in a bee house to sustain that

i.pinimg.com/originals/92/be/cc/92becc0437193a4374f9ac09da8506f9.jpg

This sort of look might work, but maybe keep the shelving very thin or just to one side if width is an issue.

I think it’s too different from the layout of a period room to look right - it will just end up looking naff. You’d have to work with what you’ve got and embrace it unfortunately. (This is why I have never gone for a modern house even though they are so much more practical and there are so many good schemes for helping to buy them - I just couldn’t like living in one no matter how much I tried or wanted to).

I think you'll find your belongings make it more of a home than you think they will and once you have added your own touch it will be less of a worry.

My house is about 20 years old with many of the characteristics that you'd find in an old house, high ceilings, bay windows, etc., etc..

The first time I viewed it I walked away - not for me I thought. Six months later it was still on the market (overpriced), absolutely knockout location. I'd only ever lived in old houses, 200-300 year old listed houses.

Four years on I absolutely love my modern house, proper insulation, double glazed wooden windows, it is conveniently warm, warm without dirt (no fireplaces) and stays remarkably clean.

Quite a bit of my furniture is old, it fits here really well and that and my 'things', paintings, lighting, accessories etc., etc. makes it a fab place to live.

I added fake stoves in the main reception rooms. The 'push the boat out' one is amazing but I went contemporary rather than traditional.

Stove.

Look at the stove in the third photo - flue and hearth - love it although I only use it for the flame effect.

We stayed in a new build holiday cottage, and they had styled it in a 'New England' way - a neutral pallette and lots of interesting object d'art, curtains and blinds in gorgeous fabrics, eclectic wooden furniture, cosy rugs and coordinating art. It really worked to give the place character without doing any kind of faux period elements which I think could come off really Changing Rooms c1996.

We live in a new build and I had the same problem coming from a cottage - we sold our country living style furniture on ebay and bought mid-century modern, painted out the magnolia to white and added lots of prints to the walls, good curtains, bookshelves, and rugs. It looks really cosy and intentional and removed that 'developer finish' feel!

I haven’t rtft so apologies if this has already been discussed but I made my modern living room feel more like my type of space by putting in a few floor-ceiling bookcases in a dark-ish colour. It softened the modern feel of the room.

I would consider adding a fireplace as a focal point (I want to do this as I don’t have a big TV so my living room has no focal point at all but I just cannot afford it).

Big pot plants and warm lighting make a difference too.