Improving a 1990s house

[Spreadeagler]

House built in 1995. It’s lovely but it just looks really dated. Ugly red brick, lots of coving, magnolia everywhere, lots of pine and brassy fittings. Obviously no high ceilings or other period features.

It’s lovely and light with big rooms but just so blah. How do you give a house character when it has no character? What have you done with your 90s house? Bonus if anyone has pictures to share. Thank you:)

Help. I can’t be the only one with a 90s house…

To be honest I have never known someone live in a 'new' build, the newest houses I have known are from the 60s.

That said I don't think any of what you describe is bad at all.

Pine is very 90s vibe though, you could replace it but for a much more budget idea have you considered staining it using something like briwax?

The magnolia is surely an easy fix, just paint it whatever colour you like.

For 'modern' houses I often find the lack of chimney the most jarring. You can have false ones built but its a personal thing (PIL had one added to their house as they thought the wall looked bare while BIL had one removed from his because he said it was an unnecessary waste of space).

The only option for red brick is surely rendering, its expensive and will date badly itself while red brick is quite timeless so I would stick with brick.

You can update hardware like fittings (plug sockets, lights, door handles) easily, black is very 'modern' looking but might date soon.

Coving can be removed, but the ceiling (or part of it) would likely need re-skimming.
Magnolia - paint over it.
Pine - remove it or paint over it (not grey!)
Change the brass fittings
Certainly don't render. Brick requires little or no maintenance whilst render is likely to require repainting or cleaning within a few years.
Use furniture / pictures / curtains / shutters / blinds etc. to introduce character / style.

What’s wrong with coving?

But magnolia can be painted over and horrible pine and brass removed.

I’d love a red brick house, I don’t associate that with 90s. 90s makes me think pebble dashed. The rest is easily fixed surely.

I've lived in three 1990s houses, they've all had chimneys!

I've found changing switches and plugs really helps, a new coat of paint too. Changed the door furniture in one house, have done doors too here.

I have a property in my rental portfolio that was built in 1995 also. I purchased it 10 years ago and it still had all its original features twenty years on; we completely gutted the place, modern urban kitchen replacing the pine stuff… that to be fair given the age wasn’t too bad. Bathroom was grotty and was modified as the previous owner was disabled so ripped out the wetroom and installed a modern tiled bathroom with shower over bath!
Windows were metal single glazed so they were replaced with DG for energy efficiency!

The carpets had all these mosaic patterns on them! They were the first to be ripped up! The stench from a heavy smoker was horrific!

It definitely was like going into a time warp though!

Hi OP, I can totally relate - ours was built late 90s and was magnolia with light beige carpets throughout. Been here about 10 years.

We’ve left the coving, I don’t have an issue with it although it’s very plain. Decorated and recarpeted throughout, which obviously made it feel much more ours.

Bathrooms were pink with “gold” fittings! We have spent a lot replacing them (three plus loo downstairs) and we just went with what we like, which was Fired Earth at the time. Hardly in keeping with 90s (not sure what is though?!) but they do look lovely.

Issues that bother me still are internal doors - cheap white “wood”, some with glass panels. Not sure what to go for but the expense will be considerable because there would be a good few including two sets of doubles.

Kitchen is hand built pine. Old fashioned tiles and tiled flooring that I don’t like. We’ve painted the walls and I’ve done what I can with accessories but it lets the house down. No money for that yet though. Bizarrely when we’ve had a new oven etc, the fitters have said they never see quality like it anymore and we shouldn’t replace. But…I don’t like it. If we had the money, we’d extend out from the kitchen to replace the conservatory but that’s not going to happen due to costs.

Currently looking at replacing original timber windows which is a whole other ball game, not least as we’re in a conservation area.

I think my advice isn’t rocket science - just go for what you like to put your identity onto it. In many ways at least we have a fairly blank canvas.

Paint is easy to change.

Are the windows white - I hope so?

Changing the brassy fittings will help a LOT. Not cheap mind you.

The red brick - how about growing plants up it?

Coving I would keep, unless it’s really awful. Houses can look unfinished without it unless they are very modern and minimal in style.

Usual issue I find with 90s houses is small windows and low ceilings but sounds like yours is ok on those?

We're slowly working through updating our late 90s house- I feel your pain OP, it's a lot of work and requires a lot of creative thinking! My feeling is with a 90s house you're fighting three main issues; the lack of high ceilings, the lack of good light because the windows tend to be on the smallish side, and the lack of period features (which goes hand in hand with all the cheap, synthetic materials they seemed to love in the 90s!)

Things that have helped include: using any optical illusion you can that makes the ceilings feel higher, such as replacing the coving with a more slimline version; fitting unobtrusive, close to the ceiling light fittings; hanging curtains closer to the ceiling; and replacing curtains with floor to ceiling ones (I've even moved radiators so I can put in floor to ceiling curtains, honestly it makes such a difference!)

To counteract for the lack of good light make sure all curtains/blinds sit well clear of the window, either completely above if you're using blinds, or completely to the sides if you're using curtains. You want to let in as much light as possible, and you don't want any part of your window obstructed with window dressings. Fit a mahoosive mirror either opposite or on a wall perpendicular to the window; honestly, go way bigger than you think you need. You want to bounce as much natural light around as possible.

Regarding the lack of period features I don't think you can reverse engineer those in, for me it would look a bit twee. You could however, fit an amazing contemporary fireplace, which would give focus to a room. I've also found using quality, natural materials to replace the cheapie 90s ones really seems to help- proper oak for example, to replace the orange pine. Or proper marble 'penny' tiles rather than the weird porcelain mosaic tiles they seemed so in love with then! I also found it helps if you add lots of 'texture' to compensate for the lack of period details; natural linens, seagrass wallpaper, chunky knitted throws, and oak flooring would all help- if you look at new build showhomes you'll see developers use this trick all the time! Its why showhome beds always have about 15 cushions and 3 throws on them!
In a similar vein I also found putting some really soft planting around the outside of the house seems to 'soften' its 90s brickwork- blousy roses and hydrangeas for example. It sounds like it would be incongruous, but it really does seem to help.

Next on my hit list is to replace all the flimsy, hollow MDF doors and their shiny fake brass handles with solid oak ones and proper brass handles; and to replace the orange pine handrail up the stairs with a proper oak one... Small things, but they all seem to add up.

I've ended up finding inspiration is some quite weird places! Look on Rightmove at how developers style new build houses. Also the Perfect Stays website has been great- its a high end holiday lettings company in Cornwall, but their properties tend to be fairly modern with a really relaxing vibe. I've stolen loads of ideas from there! It's also been quite inspiring to look on Pinterest at American beach houses; all clean lines, natural fabrics, soothing colours, but all very decidedly 20th century! Good luck!

The orangey pine can be stripped back (it'll just be the varnish that's gone orange over time), or sanded then painted.
Replacing internal doors can make a big difference.
Double glazing from the 1990's should still be good.
The wood-and-porridge-colour look is easily dealt with by redecorating.

We have a 1980s house and got rid of all our dark woodwork. Added a chimney breast and wood burner. Engineered oak floors downstairs and more modern whites / blues / oatmeal type colours. Modern kitchen (high gloss looks good when I can be bothered to clean the sticky fingerprints off it). Replaced the banisters with glass but that's probably dated now. New plug sockets and light switches. Skimmed some ceilings smooth. Replaced the doors with a modern style. You could even replace the skirting to update it.

Next on my hit list is to replace all the flimsy, hollow MDF doors and their shiny fake brass handles with solid oak ones and proper brass handles

I did this in my early 90’s house, made such a huge difference, I hated the previous builders grade feather weight doors they looked and felt so cheap, not only do I love my oak doors it’s also the feel of them that makes such a difference, they feel solid and heavy when I open and close them, I also replaced the front door with a solid oak one, all of this gave the house more gravitas. I also replaced all the cheap skinny skirting boards with deeper skirting looks so much better.

Do you mind saying where you bought your doors from, and did it need someone to fit them? We’re currently replacing skirting and architraves with oak but the original doors will still look rubbish.

I sort of thought coving was kind of compulsory in the living room for it to look good?

It’s not that hard to paint pine, you don’t even need to strip the varnish. Wash down with sugar soar, let it dry. Wipe over with white spirt ( this means you are getting rid of both sorts of grime). Use a paint gripper like Owatrol, you just wipe it on and off. Then paint over it.

You can get a pine kitchen professionally sprayed.

Yes a local carpenter fitted them for us and to install the handles etc. It was a longtime ago now we replaced them and as it was part of a big refurbishment and extending the house so I can’t where we bought them, probably a local builders merchant I expect. It certainly wasn’t a cheap option but honestly it’s one of the best things we have done as it really elevates the house.

Thank you, definitely want to do the same at some point.

Todds do nice doors if you’re looking for replacements. Not cheap though.