16 June 2020
Choosing a new build or a period property is one of the many decisions you may need to consider when buying a new home. New builds are often assumed to have a lot less character in comparison to older properties and can sometimes feel hollow, cold and empty.
Throughout the years, Woodhouse Lund have perfected the art of creating stunning new build homes with all the character and charm of a property hundreds of years old. We’re here to show you how to develop your new build house into a loving, lived-in home, brimming with character.
1. Use High Quality Building Materials
Using the best quality building materials, such as traditional bricks, high quality flooring and fittings appeal to buyers of new build houses, lending the property a rustic charm.
Many want to bag a new build as they enjoy the quality of the construction, knowing that it's designed to last a long time without the incurrence of any problems. The combined use of brick, wood and tiling within the property can add character, charm and authenticity, banishing that empty box feeling. At Woodhouse Lund, we particularly like to enhance rustic features within the property, such as exposed brickwork, offering the exterior a unique and authentic manner.
2. Add Original Features To Your New Build
It's important to utilise the old, rustic features that the property already offers, such as the statement beams and high vaulted ceilings in a barn conversion, to bring extra character to your new build.
Feature beams, combined with textured wooden doors, provide a beautiful synergy between the modern aspects of a new build and the pastoral features you find in a country period property.
Although rustic features are one appealing aspect of old houses, being able to build a property from scratch does have many benefits. The layout of the property is something that new build buyers really benefit from. Often older properties have outdated layouts and problem areas that previously were not premeditated.
With a new build, through ample experience and preparation, the layout has been carefully thought-out, ensuring it’s not only environmentally, but occupant friendly too. In Woodhouse Lund properties, you can especially appreciate how foresighted the layout is and how little unique custom features add a rare character and charm, difficult to find elsewhere.
3. Include Log Burners & Feature Archways
Further additional features can be added to a property to provide authenticity other than just to the extremities of the building. If you are working with a property developer to build your dream home, consider adding internal, unique and original features to give an extraordinary, unparalleled charm.
Log burners can not only be an excellent source of cost efficient heating, but a defining feature to centre your sitting room around.
Combined with the breath-taking view frequently captured in many Woodhouse Lund properties, this can make a new build feel incredibly special. Also, consider feature archways built into the style of the building.
Working with a property developer from the beginning can be very beneficial, allowing you to add your own personal preference to the interior of the property as you watch it develop.
4. Make Use Of Natural Light
Natural light can also make a big difference to the atmosphere of your new build home. If possible, work with the property developer to bring out as much natural light as possible, especially in the kitchen and living area. Although with barn conversions specifically, the exterior needs to match the aesthetics of the area - which usually means small windows upstairs - it is possible to incorporate large bi-folding doors downstairs to maximise the light available. This can really add life to a new build home.
5. Consider An Interior Design
Finally, it's still fundamental to compliment the great quality fixtures, fittings and amazing feature elements of a new build with thoughtful interior design. Introducing colour from nature in the decor such as greens and blues as well as bringing in natural materials like wood and leather can particularly tie the interior in with the blue of the sky and greens of the landscape gardening outside the property that are visible from Woodhouse Lund properties.
Using accessories, colour and patterns are an ideal tool to draw attention and create visual interest points to complete your new home. It’s also worth considering layering in your living spaces to style your home to feel lived-in and loved.
Plants, books, lamps, candles and vases are all essential. Use shelves, tables and units to place items in a decorative way. Use the books to add height to small objects and place taller objects to the side of a cabinet to avoid overshadowing.
Think about how you want your home to look, placing objects symmetrically makes your home appear more formal, while placement of single items looks more casual. For style, inspiration & interior design check out Andrea Beckett interiors. (www.andreabeckettinteriors.co.uk).
Source: Andrea Beckett Interiors
About Woodhouse Lund:
Ever since Jonathan Walker (founder & CEO) decided to undertake the development of his family farmhouse and the surrounding areas in the centre of Lund, East Yorkshire, he's had a passion for combining incredible quality with charming character in homes that not only last the test of time, but continue to delight their occupants every day.
Never has someone cared so much about the properties that they build, ensuring not only the highest quality of materials are used but every little detail, from the rustic feature beams to the outdoor landscaping, is how the future occupants would imagine it.
Woodhouse Lund is now in its tenth year and continues to go beyond expectations of what is imaginable in new builds. Carefully designing each one to achieve the same character and charm seen in a property that is hundreds of years old.
If you are interested in any of the properties that are currently available or would like to have conversation about what is possible in a new build by Woodhouse Lund, then please do not hesitate to get in touch using the contact details below.