living room with stone fireplace with two sofas and two chairs around coffee table

How to Inject Character Into a New Build

Don't be scared of a sense of sterility in a new build. Here, our vetted tips for how to bring in the charm.

04 May 2023 -

New homes have their own host of problems—

—the main one being a lack of character inside their perfect, new walls. If you love a home full of character, as we do, a brand-new build can feel sterile and if not approached in the right way, it can end up being void of any real descriptive elements. Luckily there’s a fix for that, one Shea and the design team are well versed on. Over the years, we’ve taken on many new-build clients with Studio McGee, and our first-ever spec home (see more about it here) was designed from the ground up. We’ve identified several ways to inject character into a new build, whether you’re in the blueprint phase or bought a new build recently and want to make modifications to it. Here are five ways we love to bring character into a new-build home.

No. 01 | Embrace Time-Honored Design Tricks

No. 02 | Arch the Doorways

No. 03 | Mix Up Your Flooring

No. 04 | Introduce Raw Materials

No. 05 | Style the Walls

No. 01 | Embrace Time-Honored Design Tricks

There are a host of tips and tricks homeowners have loved over the years for their ability to cure a problem while looking good doing it. One of our favorite time-honored design tricks is the use of a cafe curtain. We love skipping the cabinet front and instead putting it under the sink of a mudroom, laundry room, or powder bath. Not only is it functional, hiding everything you store under the sink, but it provides character and charm in spades.

See behind the scenes of our McGee & Co. summer catalogue shoot here, and your first peek into our spec home. The laundry room (pictured above) has the cutest cafe curtain.

Shea holding basket in laundry room with cafe curtain and checkered tile
laundry room with cafe curtain and checkered tile and pendant
pantry with white cabinets and blue cafe curtain
pantry with white cabinets and blue cafe curtain

No. 02 | Arch the Doorways

white kitchen with arched pantry door
arched doorway in living room
arched doorway in entryway leading to living room
arched doorway leading to wood built-in cabinet doors
arched doorway in kitchen leading to dining room
arched doorway in dining room

No. 03 | Mix Up Your Flooring

craft room with herringbone wood floors
craft room with herringbone wood floors
bathroom with herringbone marble tile
laundry room with herringbone tile floor
laundry room with herringbone tile floor

No. 04 | Introduce Raw Materials 

white kitchen with white brick above stovetop
kitchen with stone wall
living room with stone fireplace
bathroom with stone sink
hallway with natural wood beams

No. 05 | Style the Walls 

living room with fireplace with wall and ceiling treatments
natural wood entryway with shiplap wall treatments
sitting area with sofa and white shiplap wall treatment
bathroom with white shiplap
dark office with wall and ceiling treatments
Categories
Date Posted
04 May 2023