Decorating an old house to look modern??

[Jeanne in MN]

We are looking at buying a house built in 1902. Older homes are not usually our style, but we love the space and potential.

 

I've been looking on-line for info. on how to decorate an old, two-story home in a way that it looks and feels more modern. Not having a ton of luck.

 

Any ideas? Help!

[Guest Katinka]

Can you give more details on the house? Like what style it is? Do you have regular ceilings or extra high ones? What is the general condition of the house? Do you need to renovate a lot before you move in or is it pretty up-to-date?

Have you checked out http://www.apartmenttherapy.com? They have some great modern homes on display. You could start with white walls (maybe highlight some walls with a bold color) and update the condition of any hardwood floors in your house. IKEA furniture might indeed be a good choice, they have nice clean cut sectionals, maybe throw in a chaise or two if space allows.

Especially big spaces can look modern if you can keep yourself from overloading the rooms with furniture and huge window treatments. Try area rugs instead of wall to wall carpet. Since every hs-family has a TON of books, you might want to think about having a big library type wall instead of having the books all over the house (of course only if this works for you). You have some options here: Floating shelves always look nice, but a wall of three or four tall bookcases next to each other might look just as nice, especially if you put a big reading chair just in front of it.

Honestly, any old house can look and feel modern, you just need to know what your family needs, what your budget is, what furniture you already got, and how/if you can use that stuff to decorate your new home. :)

[Laura Corin]

I like an eclectic look. The house we used to have in London was built in the early 19th Century; our current one is probably late 19th. In the current house, we have stained wood doors and window frames, coloured walls (much of the house is an earthy yellow) and wood floors in the common areas. We have a mix of modern and antique-style furniture: the ultra-modern sofa sits next to an antique Chinese coffee table; the modern arm chair and metal side table sit near a 19th Century cabinet.

 

Laura

[keptwoman]

I think you have to watch when you try to make an old house look modern. We bought a house where people had tried to modernise it and it just didn't work with the house. I think you can make it look current and stylish but you can't make a house something it's not.

Maybe start by identifying what about "modern" you like and then how that will mesh with the house. Some aspects of modern design will look great with old houses and some will look like a purple shirt with blue trousers.

[snickelfritz]

where they took a 50's house and decorated it in a modern way.

 

It looked gorgeous and it worked, but they didn't go overboard with the modern stuff.

 

While they furniture had simple, straight lines, it wasn't severely modern....if that makes sense.

 

An example of a change they made, for big impact, was to get rid of some hanging light fixtures and install recessed lighting. They weren't funky, but it definitely streamlined the look.

Edited August 30, 2009 by snickelfritz

[Dirtroad]

Be careful in trying to make an old house "modern". YOu may be able to do this with a little color & furniture... but if you begin to alter the ceilings, walls, structural components, you can actually bring down the value of your house (FIL is architect & he tells us lots of stories). Just a little FYI. He would recommend getting help on an big changes.

 

One suggestion is using accents from IKEA and interior paint colors that might match your pallet. Another idea is SIMPLICITY! That is huge in a modern style without much change to the rooms, etc. The lighting tip was great too. You can use less intrusive lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, etc to make huge changes!

 

My SIL has a very old house in Nashville. She added windows to her kitchen to update it & opened a wall... but kept the lines/character in same idea. She uses STAINLESS steel cannisters, racks & utensils to add to the old room. It actually works well b/c the steel goes great with wood in the kitchen.

 

Good luck. It is a tough thing to do... but maintain the integrity of the old as you bring out the modern touches to keep your value up.

[Jeanne in MN]

It would have helped if I would have clarified that I don't expect modern, modern, just more up-to-date and a lot less like a 1900 home. I don't want to feel like I'm living in a different time period. The structure is great. No need to tear down walls or renovate anything major. It has the wide, dark wood "trim" around the floors, doors and windows that is probably the "dated" part we care for the least. Painting them a lighter color would help tremendously, but it seems almost sacriligious to paint something that was meant to be so beautiful and is to many people.

 

Beautiful, refinished hard wood floors, but we are oddballs in that we prefer carpet. I think it would be fine to maybe carefully carpet over the living room floor and use area rugs elsewhere.

 

Ceilings are a good foot or two higher than your later built homes, but that's not a problem. I like the big windows and all the light.

 

I appreciate all the ideas! I am going to look into Ikea and get some ideas. Thanks for all your help everyone!!

[Jeanne in MN]

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[ChristusG]

I think that older homes look great with an "art deco-ish" type look to it. Simple, abstract modern, if you know what I mean.

[ChristusG]

Wanted to add I definitely agree with the person who said Ikea....they are great with the whole "art deco" type look.

[JFSinIL]

My husband won't let me paint the original woodwork left in our 1906 house - some wood work was already painted when we moved in, so I refreshed it and it, the off-white wood, looks great with the sunstraw painted wall. The varnished wood needs a good striping/re-staining to look nice, and neither of us as the time or inclination to do so.

 

If it is a craftsman-type older house, or Victorian. painting any original wood WILL bring down the value of the house!!!!!If it is just a four-square, maybe you could get away with it.

[OH Kim]

Look into craftsman or mission style furniture. That style is contemporary to the house but is still a very modern look.

[OnTheBrink]

I have a 1930ish craftsman bungalow and I prefer more modern furniture. My baseboards and woodwork were already painted when I bought the place, so when I repainted, I did the walls and baseboards in the same color (a sort of creamy white.) I took out the carpet and put in laminate in a red maple color. My bookcases and TV armoire are black, sofa is camel colored, accent chair is black with splotches of brick red and lime. It definitely has a more modern feel inside than this type of architecture calls for. Normally, I'm very big on the interior being congruous with the exterior, but my former home interior was mission style and I needed something vitally different this time around.

 

I think if you go too crazy with changing an inside, it ends up looking just stupid. Meaning, you wouldn't want to go all uber-urban in a bungalow style home. The architecture just doesn't lend itself to that look, but I think if you style the rooms in such a way as to sort of make the period features disappear and bring out the elements that can be picked up with a modern look, you can pull it off.

 

Good luck! I'd have fun doing your place!

[ChrisB]

 

Some ideas more along the contemporary line.

[BikeBookBread]

Some ideas more along the contemporary line.

 

NICE BLOG! I love this style. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to bookmark.

 

If you have access to Sunset Magazine, check out older copies. At one time, this mag was west-coast only. I'm not sure where it is available now. They often champion modern design, and since they've been around since the at least the 1930's, their take on the subject is accurate -- you'll find modern design at the time it was current.

 

Also, Dwell and Modern House magazines would be a good resource.

 

Room & Board is a good resource, as is DWR -- both high-end furniture retailers; they have great ideas online.

 

Susan Susanka design books are a GREAT resource for design theory. Her "Not So Big..." books are wonderful (Not so big house, cottage, garden, etc.), while not totally modern in design point you in the right direction.

 

I think I have maxed out my use of the word "resource" for a while...

[ChrisB]

NICE BLOG! I love this style. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to bookmark.

 

Thanks!! We are using the dining room as inspiration for our family room. When I was searching for inspiration and room colors for our family room I came across this site.

[elizabeth]

http://www.gustavstickley.com/ This style actually was used often in the time period of your home. I think Modern is a misnomer here and you might actually mean not victorian or art nouveau as opposed to the design period of modernity/Bauhaus/deco. Anyway, if the wood is not painted -rejoice!! That is an abomination and I personally will haunt the new owners of our house if they dare to paint the walnut and oak after we are dead and gone. All of the woodwork was actually done by the itinerant , seasonal railroad workers and since the Union Pacific was started here it is a very important part of the roots of our city and state. I think what you seek is likely a mix of arts and crafts/mission style. Clean , organic lines showing off the functionality of a piece of furniture rather than baroque, cluttered aesthetic. Try this link for window treatments suitable for the clean ,uncluttered but appropriate to the period http://www.londonlace.com/products.asp?action=showitem&id=27&cat=6

If you are handy, it can be great to use plaster and mud the walls in one or two rooms for a stucco /mission type of look. We live in a Carpenter Gothic house built in 1865. I am one of the people on the historic restoration committee that says yay or nay regarding all types of awnings, color, floor and wall and exterior restoration of publicly funded downtown revitalizing in our fair city. I think your home sounds like it could be just great. I know where you are coming from though on not filling it with victorian fru-fru. I do like that but have one child who is a teen-not so much concern on breakage. Hope the links prove helpful and know that there are contemporary stores that sell pieces similar to the Stickley /mission style if that is to your liking.I might have misunderstood what you were seeking and if so please accept my apologies. Darn internet makes it hard to "hear" people and thus communication can be hampered by the medium.