There are plenty of differences between new builds and existing homes in the UK, with the former becoming increasingly popular among both developers and aspiring buyers alike.
Certainly, new builds offer advantages to developers from the perspective of space and minimising land costs, while this type of property is also thought to be up to six times more energy-efficient than older homes.
New homes also enable you to stamp your authority on the property, but how much can you really personalise this type of home? Let’s find out!
Choosing Your New Build Finish
One of the interesting advantages offered by new builds is that they offer a certain amount of customisation, particularly in terms of the property’s finish.
More specifically, most new builds come with the option to choose certain finishes as part of the purchase and before you move in, including options such as flooring, wall coverings and kitchen units.
Certainly, you’ll be able to dictate the property’s broader colour scheme and the finishes that define the primary living spaces in the house, including your kitchen, bathroom and the all-important master bedroom.
This simply isn’t the case with older homes, which will require you to accept the property as it is and make changes at your own cost later on.
New Builds are Effectively a Blank Canvas
In many ways, new builds are designed to be relatively minimalist and as neutral as possible from a design perspective.
So, in addition to helping you customise your finishes, you can also visualise your desired interior space before completing a purchase and personalise this in a number of additional ways.
In this respect, new builds are created to be blank canvases, on which you’re encouraged to impart your desired colour schemes and interior design ideas while also ensuring that you have the materials and finishes that you want.
Ultimately, new homes offer immense value to the creative mind, while providing a far greater level of freedom and flexibility in terms of the final aesthetic.
The Importance of Starting with One Room
There’s an important note of caution here, as while new builds make it relatively easy to decorate freely and impose your style on an interior, you won’t have a solid foundation or existing design from which to start.
As a result, you’ll be inundated with a wide range of decorative options when designing your new build interior, making it hard to progress unless you have a focused mind and a clearly defined set of ideas.
One way to help with the challenge is to start with a single room and a broad design ethos, before expanding the general theme throughout to create consistency.
Then, you can start to add the finer details, bringing the entire design and finishes together as one!
