The rise of the ‘suitcase ready’ home

August 17, 2017 / Isla MacFarlane
The rise of the ‘suitcase ready’ home

More buyers are opting for a complete design package; Iona Newton, Director of Oakeve Limited, explains the appeal of moving into a show home.

With increasingly busy careers, families and lifestyles, wouldn’t it be nice to move into your new home with just your suitcase? Traditionally we think this only applied to the cash-rich, time-poor purchasers, buying a suitcase-ready new build saves time and a lot of hassle, but more people are considering this option, as they see the benefit from the design experience of an acclaimed interior design practice, without the risk of employing one themselves – something which might be of an unknown quantity to them.

There’s been an uptake in the number of buyers opting for a complete interior design package, interestingly, downsizers often buy into the ‘Aspirational Lifestyle Choice’ that is offered to them within an exquisitely staged show home, foregoing their current, often eclectic, collection of furniture that doesn’t suit the new style of house and opting for a completely fresh start.

There has been an increase in demand for fully ‘turn-key new builds’ amongst upsizers too. We’ve found that young couples moving out of apartments in London into larger properties in the peripheries of the City are drawn in by these magnificent, opulent show homes. Similarly, to the downsizers, these buyers often want to wipe the slate clean and redistribute their current furniture collection, as it’s not of the correct proportions or of the new style of their new home.

A fully-furnished show home with bespoke designer furniture, unique artwork and decorative objet d’ Art offers prospective buyers a tangible visualisation of how they could live within their new home. We’ve all made expensive mistakes – purchasing interior furniture and soft furnishings that aren’t quite the correct size for your room or aren’t quite the exact complementary colour, as the other elements within that room – whereas a pre-staged show home has been expertly designed with scaled furniture, harmonizing finishes and dressed with luxurious, yet attractive decorative accessories. Buyers are given the ultimate try-before-you-buy visual experience, which is extremely beneficial in getting these discerning purchasers over the line.

When designing a show home, it’s very easy to play safe in the hope to appeal to the masses, but these show homes can lack personality and feel quite stark. It’s important for buyers to walk into a new home and feel instantly impressed, buying into that ‘aspirational lifestyle’. A successfully designed show home is welcoming and inviting, albeit within an opulent and luxurious setting, featuring iconic pieces of design that resonate with the shrewd brand aware buyers, whilst they peruse the property.

One of the most effective ways to differentiate and exude vivacity into a new build is by investing in statement iconic pieces. We find that bespoke and unique artwork can transform a new house into a welcoming and aspirational new home, which is something we believe to be of vital importance to buyers.

We know that artwork and objet d’ Art is very personal, so when we’re choosing that special paragon for our show homes, we ensure that each piece is unique and is chosen because it enriches the scheme and adds another dimension to the interior styling.

Utilising artwork that evokes emotion instantly injects personality into a space, bringing it to life and telling a story. By incorporating the colours of the interiors scheme, the resultant artwork can convey depth, texture and tactility, whilst providing sinuosity to the design.

In one of our most recent projects, Hurlingham, a local artist was commissioned to produce a fabulous statement piece of artwork, ‘The Amethyst Galaxy’, that provided a stunning focal point, upon first entering the property. We provided the artist with fabric swatches that inspired the interiors scheme, so that she was able to closely match the colours and replicate the textures of the fabrics in the artwork, exuding luxury and tying the whole scheme together.

We do believe however, that in isolation, a luxuriously designed interiors scheme cannot alone support a glamorous new home. The vital component to achieve a cohesive, holistic interior design package is the involvement from the conceptual stage of the design process through the facilitation of Interior Architecture. Involvement in spatial planning, lighting design and smart home automation, elevates and accentuates these natural and organic, unique statement pieces, resulting in a wonderfully-appointed and well-considered new home for a discerning prospective buyer.

At Oakeve Interiors, we strive to provide our developer clients with a wonderfully luxurious, truly ‘turn-key’ proposition of uncompromising quality. To-date, 85% of the new builds staged by Oakeve Interiors have been sold with the full interior design package included, demonstrating that buyers bought into the ‘Aspirational Lifestyle Choice’.

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