Money doesn’t buy you taste, that much is clear. This may be the thought that comes to mind when you find a beautiful home with an ugly interior. Of course, there’s more to buying a household than this. The location, the building quality, the garden space, the catchment areas, the value, all of that comes first.
Of course, picturing yourself in a home is hard when you don’t want to picture the place to begin with. It takes a careful eye to inspect the value behind questionable decorations and trimmings, but doing so can help you think more clearly about how you’ll change things once you move in.
If you can suffer a month or two of the trimmings left behind for you, perhaps you could renew (and redeem) the space. The house will likely thank you for restoring it to good form.
But how can you do this when psychedelic wallpaper, elaborate furnishings and overbearing style clashes are front and centre? Consider this:
Tear Out & Sell Garish Features
A surprising amount of value might be found in those dated or gaudy fixtures and fittings. One person’s distaste (in this case yours) could be another’s vintage dream. Many retro items hold significant appeal in the current market too, and that can work in your favor.
Those 1970s light fittings or original Victorian tiles might fetch a decent price through specialist dealers or online marketplaces if you look around a bit, but having a contractor carefully remove them should be your first port of call. The funds raised could contribute pretty nicely toward your renovation budget.
Go Room By Room & Make It Cohesive
Taking on too much at once can sometimes be too much, even causing a chaotic living space, and in a house with too many questionable fittings, this could drive you a little loopy. Take the methodical approach, because it allows for proper planning and finishing of each space room by room.
The living room might be a good starting point, and from there you can take that design profile and blend it as you match from space to space. If you simplify, such as going for neutral tones, and removing the wall-to-ceiling mirrors and oddball wallpaper that was there before you, you can give the space a new sense of calm. Each following room from them has a baseline to work with, and experience gained from the prior one.
Nail The Furnishings & Trimmings
You don’t have to perfect the exact design of the space forever more in one fell swoop. Sometimes you just need to nail the fittings and trimmings to make sure they’re the highest quality you can afford. With a service that offers bespoke fitted interiors, you’re much more likely to find something worthwhile to you. For instance, the best quality natural materials and neutral tones will help you curate a solid baseline to work from. It doesn’t matter how nice the kitchen design is, after all, if the cabinetry and surface areas are at odds with one another. Then if you match that with beautiful lightning, you’ll have a rational new norm to work from.
With this advice, we hope you can undo the damage of the previous owner, and provide your new home some much-needed design therapy.
