Decorating A New Build With Heritage By Dulux

With so much choice available, choosing the ‘right’ tile can be a little daunting, especially with fluid trends, ever-changing tastes and of course your budget but investing in a good tile is key to your interior’s ongoing success. It may take a little more of your budget, but the rest of your room will flow and adapt for years to come with your flooring providing a consistent base to work from.

Whether you’re renovating a kitchen, bathroom, or hallway, think about the overall use of the room and the kind of wear and tear it will receive over time. This is not only an important consideration for your flooring but also your paint choice.

In 2019 Harriet, our Brand Communications Manager, purchased her first home and was determined to put plenty of personality into the stark white newbuild. In this blog post, she takes you through her renovation journey and how a few small changes (and key choices) have completely changed her living room over time.

When purchasing the house, we were very insistent with the builders that we wanted to choose our own flooring rather than the standard newbuild style. We negotiated them laying the flooring if we paid for what we wanted, so not only did we get what we wanted but we also saved on labour costs and of course no wasted flooring that they might have laid that wasn’t to our taste.

We knew that in a couple of years’ time we were going to get a dog so throughout the downstairs I wanted tiles, easy to clean and no staining from the puppy mess! First decision made.

I wanted something warming, that worked with any colour on the walls and felt timeless. So, the only option for us was wood effect.

Thirdly, the house is quite narrow and compact, so I wanted to open up the space and draw you in from the hallway into the living room whilst also widening both rooms.

I’ve found that investing in what you love and that that inspires you really does make the difference with interiors. Using a tile you fall in love with will ensure it works every time you change up the space. Whether it’s a new bathroom suite, a new oven, or a new sofa, choosing the tile you want will make the space work and help inform all your other decisions.

If you can’t visualise the finished room, use a mood board to get you started and to play with different ideas. Whether you’re trying to narrow down paint colours or bookcases, adding different elements into a board will help you put the pieces together quicker.

If you’re not sure where to start, create a board on Pinterest or a collection on Instagram and then just save what you like the look of over a couple of months and then revisit it, find your common theme and that can be your starting point.

The only regret I have is not having underfloor heating. The builders were lazy and didn’t want to lay it, so they persuaded my partner that it was too expensive to run, which just isn’t the case.

So, three easy steps to help guide you through your renovation decisions. Do your research, buy what you love and in three years change it up if you want to!