Your key objective for your new home, apart from creating a comfortable and safe haven for your family, is to create a statement in your new street for all the right reasons with a beautiful façade. You daydream of passers-by actually slowing down to admire the streetscape with your new home sitting proudly, looking like it is straight out of the latest designer house plan magazine. Sneaking a peak through the curtains as your visitors pull up and admire your work, the result of your obsessive scrap booking and pin boards, collecting swatch after swatch of colours and finishes…
Our customers have told us that often when they visit a Carlisle display home they find themselves pausing in the entrance for a few moments, trying to visualise themselves arriving home from work, or greeting guests for a dinner party. Asking themselves, ‘how do I look in this home?’ It may seem a bit self-indulgent but first impressions are important to us…
Clean lines in the Cambridge at the Atherstone Estate, Melton South, the Montpellier at the Selandra Rise Estate Clyde North and the Milano MkII at Williams Landing.
Our gurus of design and style Tamara Spencer and Danielle Taylor share their top tips for creating that wow factor that will leave your visitors short of breath in admiration…
Feature walls
Foyer areas are the perfect space to experiment with feature wall ideas as they generally don’t have a lot of furniture pieces and décor accessories so the risk of creating too much design noise is minimal. Set the under tones for the rest of the home with a striking feature painted wall. To choose the right colour have a think about colours that will welcome you home on all occasions, after a hard day of work, on a cold winter day and a sunny afternoon, versatility is the key! Wallpapers are a great go-to for this space, don’t be limited with just patterns, consider textures, embossed designs. Stackstone is an emerging trend we are seeing more of as home owners look to injecting natural finishes into their décor.
We love the texture of the timber veneer wallpaper in the entrance of the Montclair at the Greenvale Gardens Estate.
Ceilings
Don’t contain all your design ideas to the walls, think outside the square by cladding the ceiling of your entrance with different materials such as timber for a striking impact.
Mirrors
A great way to welcome light into your home all year around is with the use of feature mirrors. And the Sanctuary fully mirrored clad wall really just says it all! Talk about taking your breath away with an abundant sense of extra space! But if a whole wall of mirrors isn’t your thing, an over-sized feature piece can create a beautiful look, plus makes a good spot to check that you have matching shoes on as you run out the door!
The stunning entrance to our Sanctuary display home at Somerfield Estate, Keysborough.
Lighting
Careful consideration of your lighting is a must, aside from the practical reasons, it’s a great way to set the mood ambiance for the rest of the home. Having the ability to have the subtle glow of some wall lights can create a sense of calm as you come through the door and take a breath out, glad to be home. Pendant lights work well in double storeys with extra ceiling space, adding an artistic element to void areas. A new idea for entryways is the use of LED strip lighting as a secondary lighting option to create a stylish and sleek PM look.
Statement pieces
Interesting wall artwork or sculptures work well in foyer areas, giving your visitors clear space to admire the works without the distraction of other rooms. The versatility of positioning art pieces in this room is that you can rotate them as you collect new items, without having to re-arrange or match other furniture as can be the case in other areas.
Statement artwork pieces in the entrance of the Indiana and the Canterbury at the Somerfield Estate, Keysborough.
Practical inclusions
Apart from décor ideas in your entryway, there is plenty of scope for some more practical inclusions, such as coat racks, mirrors, hall table to store your keys and basket to hold the kids’ shoes. But, be mindful again of first impressions and don’t over clutter this area with too much of your day-to-day life!
Entry as displayed in the Arlington at Warralily Coast Estate, Armstrong Creek
To experiment with themes and find your perfect signature interior style make sure you check out our new Inspire by Carlisle. Be prepared to lose track of your time while you customise your home by choosing paint colours, bench tops, tiles and much more AND see it change in front of your eyes with Visualiser! Explore the Carlisle Collections to get the low down on feature items for each of our unique display home themes, and build your own Moodboard to create a visual diary of all the ‘must haves’ for your new place. And, because we promise you, you will be coming back for more, you can save all your favourites in your own Inspiration Book to share with friends and continue to refine, over and over again!
View all of the Carlisle Homes design themes via our extensive image galleries and virtual tours and plan your display home tour of our stunning homes. Register for our next Spectra Sneak Peak Evening and meet our interior designers to start your new home journey.
For a behind the scenes experience and to get the scoop direct from the design team, be sure to follow us on Instagram, @Carlislehomes.
