.png){kind=small}
Congratulations! You just landed a brand new home in your favorite neighborhood! The only problem? Your new build home is built to maximize square footage, and left a relatively minimal budget for the finishing touches! With a few thoughtful updates, however, you can revitalize your new build to bring warmth, texture and character to a home built on spec.
New Builds
The turf has been freshly rolled out like the Oscar’s red carpet, and maybe a tree or two survived the builder’s demolition of the previous home. The lot has been leveled and prepared for your new build, but with it has gone any remnants of the recent history of this place. From the street, your new build house may dwarf your neighbors, as homes have grown significantly in square footage from the last building boom in the 1950s and 1960s. Most new builds target the oldest and most rundown homes in a desirable neighborhood to bring in the heavy machinery and start fresh. In many of these new builds, primary bathrooms are big enough for Quinceañera celebrations! There are sitting spaces at the top of the stairs, and pantries that are bigger than the kitchen of the house that your new one replaced! To maximize square footage, new build homes sometimes sacrifice attention to detail, and a focus on the human experience of a home.
Step One: Space Planning for Your New Build House
Many of the new builds in Washington DC are built to the maximum allowed on the lot, leading to very large homes. Often, this can result in a beautiful mixed-use space attached to the kitchen, with flexibility to entertain, host, and otherwise enjoy the whole family in close proximity to the fridge and oven. These sprawling rooms in an open concept layout are very desirable for their flexibility and scale, but can be overwhelming in figuring out how to set up the space for day-to-day living. So, we try to create multiple zones within a large space, such that you have a main seating area with a focal point, such as a fireplace (or more often, much to our chagrin, a TV hung above the mantle!). Think about how you can create a secondary zone, where two or three people could comfortably chat, with furniture arranged for this purpose. Create versatility and functionality by creating multiple zones to make the most of large spaces. For more details on how to make your home feel just right, try the steps laid out here to help you define your style, personalize your space, and add the right pieces to complete every room.
Step Two: Boost Curb Appeal and Bring the Outside In
One of the challenges to a sprawling interior is that it can quickly feel cold and uninviting without some attention to detail. First, given that your new build may have spent limited attention to the exterior, consider planting a perennial garden of flowers, as well as flowering trees of various sizes (Dogwood, Eastern Redbud, and Cherries, to name a few). Don’t forget canopy trees that will grow with you and your family to make this residence truly into a home! Depending on the site plan and proximity to neighbors, there are numerous evergreen options to allow for increased privacy; skip cherry laurels, Emerald Green arborvitae, Thujas, and Acadiana or Eagleston Hollies are a few options to consider for Evergreens. Here are a few more ideas on how to enhance the curb appeal of your new build.
Once inside, don’t forget to bring the joys of green plants to all your living spaces! There are numerous plants that can literally bring life into your home, including low-maintenance, sturdy options that are good for even the most novice of green thumbs. Consider snake plants, monstera, fiddle leaf figs, rubber tree plants, and even olive tree varietals for planters that can immediately make your new build feel more like a home.
And for Pete’s sake, please don’t paint the house white with black-framed windows! There are so many ways to incorporate color into homes, and the era of white houses with black accents has worn its welcome at Lorla Studio!
Step Three: Thoughtful Furnishings to Warm Up Your Huge Modern House
For us, we appreciate utilizing all the senses in the built environment, including playing with various natural materials and putting them to work in settings that make sense. A huge house can be cozy, and a new build doesn’t have to feel brand new. For instance, butcher block countertops can be a great option in some kitchens, and wood immediately can bring warmth to a space. There are also both warm and cool color palettes when selecting hard materials, such as marble, quartzite, or granite for a kitchen, and there are ways to accentuate the warmth in a stone to bring a room to life. For countertops, consider honed or leather options to create a more tactile and gorgeous surface that draws attention to the stone; polished is slightly more durable, but is not always the best choice for a space. Custom millwork is another great opportunity to bring life and interest to a space.
We also look to bring warmth into our spaces by utilizing various textures of materials, such as particular finishes for stone flooring, or thoughtful selection of wood types and stains to complement other features of the home. With the softer finishes, we look to incorporate new and old pieces for a more lived-in feel, and we make sure to leave a healthy budget for thoughtful window treatments for both privacy, energy efficiency, and also to make the space feel thoughtful, complete, and fully embracing.
Lighting is also a critical way to have an outsize impact on a space. And please please please, make sure your light bulbs are warm in their Kelvin temperature– you don’t want to feel like you’re walking into a surgical operating room when you walk into the home. 4000 Kelvin is a NO GOOOO!!!
Lorla Can Help Bring Life into Your New Build
Call LORLA! We’re here for all your built environment needs, including interiors, landscape and hardscape, and all those nitty gritty details in-between. We can’t wait to help make your new build house a home!
How You Can Work With Us
At Lorla Studio, a modern interior design firm in Washington, D.C, our talented team of designers craft modern, livable and functional spaces throughout the district and beyond. Hire us for a seamless renovation process, and a modern, approachable design you are sure to love!
Check out the five questions to ask yourself before hiring an interior designer in Washington D.C. If you think we’d make a good team, contact us today!
Ready to transform your space with us?
Comments