Persimmon Homes spoke to their interior designer and brand ambassador Christopher John of @cji_design about his style inspiration and why he chose a new-build as his home.
So first of all, why did you choose a new-build?
I picked a new Persimmon home for several reasons. First was the functionality of the house as a whole – it offered solutions to problems we were facing at the time in our old home. Then there’s size of the rooms, including the shape and height of the ceilings. Also the quality of the build and finally the layout. I bought this house like an artist buys a blank canvas. It’s my blank canvas to inject my design style into and explore my love for interiors. Each room has its own identity while still being able to tell a story throughout linking the spaces in some way.
What would you say is the best thing about interior design on new-build homes?
Not having to use your budget on things like new windows, a new boiler, wiring and so on. You’re free to explore how you want to make your new build house into a home. You can focus on the aesthetics and the exciting things like what new furniture you are going to have, whilst having the reassurance that everything is going to work without needing to be replaced! There is something so special about being the first person in your new home to put the first colour on the wall or the new luxury vinyl down on the floor. It instantly becomes your own as soon as you begin to inject soul and life into your home.
Do you have any advice for anyone planning the interior design of a new-build?
It can be quite daunting walking into a completely brand-new home full of white walls and coming up with an entire design vision. To overcome this, it’s key to have a clear direction for each room. Create mood boards, stick your inspiration up on the actual walls in each room, get samples of wallcoverings and paints literally get everything up. Then live with it for a few weeks – allow yourself time to adjust and become familiar with your designs and your ideas. It’s this time that will allow you to slow down and address any changes you want to make, and give you headspace to stop from rushing into making wrong design choices or blending your ideas. It is a simple process that works well and helps progress in the right direction.
Finally, when designing a room, what is the most important factor for you?
What is the purpose of the room, how often will it be used and by who? Sounds simple, but with the experience I have had it is very easy to run off page when working with a design and before you know it, you’ve created obstacles or impractical design choices. As I progress through a design I always come back to “the purpose of the room” as this really does establish the groundwork of a design. By this I mean you can identify how far you can push a design, how practical it needs to be and if there is scope for a show-stopping focal point. You wouldn’t have soft lighting or gorgeous accessories in a room with heavy foot traffic and used by your kids. It is just about being wise in your choices and as soon as you know the purpose of the space you can then begin exploring your ideas and get creative.
Head to Chris’ Instagram to see more of his beautiful home: @cji_design