Keeping the home’s character can be one of the more difficult challenges when renovating an older property. It is pretty easy to get carried away with modernisation that the original charm that made an impact on you just gets lost. However, there are some tricks for ensuring your home can stay in character while also being the modern sanctuary you and your family need. From restoring to replacing, to adding carefully curated pieces, here are some suggestions.
Address the Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is important for many reasons today, not least saving you money. Older homes, such as Edwardian, Georgian and Victorian, may not have seen the TLC they need over the years, and might even have boilers and heating systems over a hundred years old. While these will still work, they won’t be efficient and modern buyers will not want them. TM Hughes & Son and other similar local services can remove older boilers and modernise the entire system.
Keeping Home Character with Restoration
One of the golden rules of keeping the character of a home is to restore, not replace. This is hard to do when you want to modernise a home, but it is essential for retaining charm. If you don’t stick to this rule, you risk making the property too modern and losing its actual appeal:
- Where possible, keep original features such as hardwood flooring and crown moulding.
- If you are modernising panelling, then choose styles that complement the architecture.
- Wooden doors are often in need of refinishing rather than a complete replacement.
Clean Up Focal Points
One of the most charming things about older homes is the features that they come with. Features like fireplaces are fast-becoming a thing of the past, but they can add a lot of character to a space. You don’t even have to use them functionally, but keeping them will add to the overall depth of a space. All they usually need is a good old clean or professional restoration to bring them back to life and add that old-world charm that always makes an impact on guests.
Modernise Kitchen and Bathroom Spaces
Of course, the bones of a home must always be kept in good condition. Working with experts, you can bring your home into 2026 without losing any of the charm you made a decision on. The kitchen and bathroom are perfect examples. These can be cleaned, restored and even added to with some consideration, but older pipes, electrical works and drainage will need to be upgraded to modern standards. This is especially true if you plan on renting the property out.
Use Smart Tech for Keeping Home Character
In countries like the UK and the US, between 51% and 64% of homes have smart devices, with smart home projections expected to surpass 400 million in sales. Of course, this goes against retaining the charm of a home, but sometimes modernity has a way of catching up with us.
Climate control
Older homes aren’t as efficient when it comes to climate control. Smart thermostats don’t need to be imposing and won’t detract from the charm of a home, while boosting overall efficiency.
Security features
Home security is necessary no matter where you live. Today, smart security devices like cameras can be as small as a pen, adding to hidden but necessary alarm systems.
Updated lighting
Older lighting has its own kind of charm, but it isn’t efficient and costs more money. Today, you can install LED replacements that can mimic any kind of light while adding to energy efficiency.
The last thing you would think of when trying to keep the character of a home is smart technology. However, modern devices can be easily hidden and won’t impose on the charm of a home, all while helping an older home modernise when it comes to overall energy efficiency.
Use Natural Materials Where Possible
There’s nothing like natural materials to elevate a space. Fortunately, many older homes are full of wood and other materials, many of which can still be used. For example, a kitchen from the early 1900s would probably contain wooden blocks and marble. If these have been cared for, they will still be usable with some TLC. However, you can also restore the charm by working with a professional kitchen installer to add replacement marble or granite worktops.
Be Aware of the Right Colour Palette
The colours of a space are critical even though it seems trivial. A charming home should speak for itself with its features, so keeping the architectural style as much as possible is vital. But that doesn’t mean you can’t address the colour palette. Modernisation of older homes aims to keep the style as much as possible, and painting in neutral colours is considered the best way to achieve this. However, bold colours, used sparingly, can help elevate additional features.
Keeping Home Character with Curated Pieces
One of the hardest things to do when trying to retain the character of a property is deciding what décor and furniture to add to the available space. Some designers will recommend mixing vintage and modern pieces for a curated look, but this is difficult to do without consideration:
- Add mostly modern furniture for a clean feel with random vintage pieces for charm.
- Consider modern décor with strategic vintage pieces used as charming room accents.
- To stay neutral with colour, group items by palette rather than style for a curated feel.
Maximise the Amount of Natural Light
Lighting is one of the best ways to really feel the charm of a space, and we emphasise artificial light a lot these days. However, older homes seem to come alive when they are flooded with natural light. While you may want to retain features like windows as much as possible, replacement gives you the opportunity to add larger windows that maximise the amount of light coming inside while also staying contemporary with energy-efficient designs to retain heat.
Summary
Improving the energy efficiency of an older property with a new boiler helps when keeping the home’s character while making upgrades. Smart technology can also be easily hidden with minimal impact, and adding larger, energy-efficient windows makes use of light and heat.
