Browse Forums General Discussion Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 22Feb 11, 2010 9:37 am Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 23Feb 11, 2010 9:53 am red eyes and green skin... me after a night on the turps Yep the Wow factor... a strange thing, those places all look fine and dandy when new. But for maintenance just the cleaning of a multi-level muliti-faced surface is a nightmare. How do you do it, I mean, well dusting on a flat surface is easy but just look at the facets. For a standard house with traffic (yes I know Ikon you don't have kids) and kids are serious traffic. Unless of course you don't use the rooms... ...but then I guess that is why so many homes are refurbished every 5 years. Clean lines are my cup of tea, stylish and useable... Hmmm a personal thing. I reserve my judgement. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 24Feb 11, 2010 8:04 pm onc_artisan :th: red eyes and green skin... me after a night on the turps Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 25Feb 11, 2010 10:48 pm I haven't read all the replies, but I was talking to my neighbour the other day about how much a well designed front yard can make a house stand out. Just walking around my area, I've noticed alot of lovely houses, but the yards ruin them, and vice versa. I walked past a house the other day and thought "wow, that's a nice house" but when I took a good look at it, the house was pretty plain, but the yard was really nice and well looked after and made the house look more stylish then it actually was. For interiors, i think the sky's the limit. I've really admired so many different styles and designs. I think a house that every room comes together and as you walk through, leaves you wanting to look at more. Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 26Feb 11, 2010 11:02 pm That is good, you had a look and stuff The next step is to think about the level of maintenance a building will need. The cost of upkeep, to ensure an enduring stylish look. Fu is the man on the gardening front... ...I have seen soo many houses that it takes but a second to look beyond the nice looking front facade and see the issues that will beset the property in next to no time in the whole scheme of things. 5 years is no time at all Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 27Feb 12, 2010 9:17 am For me it's first impressions.... that means the facade and front garden, as others have mentioned. Firstly, they need to go together. I've seen a number of quite nice very modern facades, ruined by badly designed and usually boring gardens. Straight path up the middle, rectangle of lawn, with rose bushes, pansies etc. Or a weird mixture of desert plants with flowering shrubs that just don't go. There aren't set types of gardens that must be matched to particular house styles, but some things just look wrong together. The houses that stand out for me are usualy the ones that dare to be a bit different in a street full of same-same homes. My street goes: beige ....beige ....cream ....beige ...cream ....beige ....OMG PURPLE! Heehee, that would be us..... It's not actually shocking, just different enough to stand out and make cars slow down as they drive by.... Anyway, then I like an entry that's a bit roomy, or that opens up to a larger area. It needs lots of light too. Narrow and dark doesn't say "welcome" to me. Some sort of feature is nice too - raised ceiling, clerestory window, a striking piece of art... After that, I think it comes to having a sense of style. The rooms need to "flow"....painting every room a totally different colour, or having a mixture of decorating styles doesn't work for me. Something has to tie the whole thing together. A colour, a theme, something.... And no clutter. Ugh. Light and space is good too. And views of the garden.... or if you have a real view of course, you should make the most of it. You might have a very modest home, but it can still be decorated and styled to make the most of its good points and play down any not so good. I've seen small cottages with the "wow" factor, and large mansions that just make me go . Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 28Feb 12, 2010 9:22 pm to me its the floor ,we are going for parquetry floors ,check out http://www.masterplus.com.au/ its a blackbutt with jarrah insert and the feature is a fireplace with redsplashback. the timber floors do it for me. Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 29Feb 12, 2010 9:26 pm Hmm a house can wow me but not be the type of house I would want to live in. I've gone WOW to a few houses but when i think about them they require massive maintenance and I wouldn't want to live in them. Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 30Feb 15, 2010 4:30 pm In my opinion, many little things add up to give me a 'Wow' impression of a house. - Garden lights and flood lights - Creamy marble. - Natural stone. - Warm colours, such as creamy walls, marble benchtops, wooden doors and tables, wooden floorboards, a fireplace, large windows. In my opinion, all these things give an open, cozy and modern atmosphere. - I love little Zen objects as decoration, as it makes the area seem peaceful and interesting. - Plants thoughout the house. - I love things like modern grandfather clocks, Bookcases and Chess Boards as decorations. - Japanese Maple trees look amazing in autumn in a backyard. - Water features. I love the sound of trickling water, it is so relaxing. They are just some things off the top of my head. Lara and Joshua http://pdheywood25.blogspot.com/ viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31186 16.03.10 Scrape 29.03.10 Slab 08.04.10 Frame 11.05.10 Lock Up 03.06.10 Fixing 24.08.10 Handover Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 31Feb 15, 2010 4:37 pm Not wanting to look like I am pushing my services or other decorators. I think a home looks WOW, when it is put together professionally with lots of thought put into every aspect of the build. NOW, having said that some here in the forum have done a fantastic job with their home without the help of a decorator, as some people have the talent all on their own. Expensive items does not always say WOW! It’s the LOOK that does it. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 33Feb 15, 2010 5:43 pm Quote: Water features. I love the sound of trickling water, it is so relaxing I have no particular opinion on water features and this is not a personal comment, Larajane - but it struck me as really interesting that this particular Wow factor is something others talked about in a recent thread on "What are you sick of seeing" Just goes to show how much is purely personal preference - one person's wow factor is another's turn-off Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 34Feb 15, 2010 5:57 pm Helyn Quote: Water features. I love the sound of trickling water, it is so relaxing I have no particular opinion on water features and this is not a personal comment, Larajane - but it struck me as really interesting that this particular Wow factor is something others talked about in a recent thread on "What are you sick of seeing" Just goes to show how much is purely personal preference - one person's wow factor is another's turn-off I think this is an instance where it's all about the execution. Water features can look contrived, artificial, plastic and misplaced.......hence a turn-off. And they can look natural, cooling and soothing, like a leafy oasis......hence wow factor. There's a vast difference between creating a beautiful, artistic feature and just plonking in something that trickles because it seemed like a good idea. So I think it's understandable that they pop up on both lists.... Cheers zeke Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 37Feb 15, 2010 10:17 pm For me its the fence that can give appeal.. in conjunction with the garden. Nothing so bad as a nice house, lovely garden - hideous rotting fence! We have a really plain house, basic garden.. but killa fence - on a corner block so it really has an impact.. hoping one day it will make it look more expensive than it is haha Bedroom sizes are another one.. that was a big thing for us.. making sure you can easily fit a queen size bed in all our bedrooms. Nothing worse than a bed taking up the entire room ! Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 38Feb 18, 2010 11:57 am zeke Helyn Quote: Water features. I love the sound of trickling water, it is so relaxing I have no particular opinion on water features and this is not a personal comment, Larajane - but it struck me as really interesting that this particular Wow factor is something others talked about in a recent thread on "What are you sick of seeing" Just goes to show how much is purely personal preference - one person's wow factor is another's turn-off I think this is an instance where it's all about the execution. Water features can look contrived, artificial, plastic and misplaced.......hence a turn-off. And they can look natural, cooling and soothing, like a leafy oasis......hence wow factor. There's a vast difference between creating a beautiful, artistic feature and just plonking in something that trickles because it seemed like a good idea. So I think it's understandable that they pop up on both lists.... Cheers zeke I completely agree. Water features can be good and bad, but when they are done well, in my opinion, they are very soothing and add a calm atmosphere to a house. Lara and Joshua http://pdheywood25.blogspot.com/ viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31186 16.03.10 Scrape 29.03.10 Slab 08.04.10 Frame 11.05.10 Lock Up 03.06.10 Fixing 24.08.10 Handover Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 39Feb 18, 2010 12:39 pm At the end of the day, everyones opinion will be different. What catches my eye & makes me think 'wow'! is a look that doesn't try too hard. Something that makes you want to be in that spot at that moment. Homely things. Long luscious curtains look great with the understated look. In a more modern home for a more showroom look, I think bright couches look brilliant like white with things that are more simplistic, once again, not trying to hard. Being so obvious as to make a huge bold statement makes things look cheap (to me), not everyone is the same though. "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality" -John Lennon Re: What do you think gives wow factor to a house? 40Feb 18, 2010 2:10 pm I'd say yukkas and flax plants out the front definately helps! No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 7086 Good on you for having a go I am the opposite of DIY (so will pay a builder) - our vibe is industrial/simple so current thinking is 150mm concrete and then internally is… 3 1296 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8834 |