Tips on Furnishing Your First Home

Disclaimer: your ”first home” can be a house, an apt, or just a room and these tips can obviously be used even if this isn’t your first place. Another disclaimer: Personally, I never really went all out when we were renting because we moved so much (#summersales) and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on stuff that might not work in the next place we moved to. I chose to wait on buying nicer things until we bought our first real home. But, if you plan on being in a certain apartment/place for the foreseeable future or for an extended period of time, then I say go for it and make the place yours! No matter what, your home and the vibe of it affect your mental health so much so I think it’s important to put at least a little effort into it.

I remember when we first bought our house I had no clue where to start. I had so many questions. What should I buy first? What were  relative price points? As in what was too much, what was a good deal? You know. Those kinds of questions. 

Thankfully I had a friend who had just gone through all of this a year prior and her build was the same exact model as the one we were moving into so she was able to help me a TON. Her first point of advice was to create Pinterest boards (surprise surprise). And she was so right!  I feel like I’ve said this a million times but first and foremost always always always create pinterest boards to get an idea of your vision and your personal vibe. This will help you stay true to your own brand and taste. It also provides a guide when searching websites for what you want. After you’ve created your Pinterest boards, find exact items you want/have and put them on their own respective boards categorized by room so you can visualize things you’re considering buying together and make sure it looks good before buying. For this, I usually use google docs (unless my interior design bff decides to make it for me with her fancy software). To do this I screenshot the items I’m looking at for a specific room and add them into a google doc. I make sure the wrap text function is selected and then I resize the pictures I’ve inserted and arrange them how they would look in the room relatively. It’s definitely not professional but it does the job in helping me visualize how it will all look together. I also usually include the color of the floor/carpet too. And I try to give myself a few different options for each large-mid item so I can play with the look and the pricing for each room.

While you’re creating these boards, you’ll want to determine an overall budget so you’re inserting pictures of things you know you can buy. If you’re tight on finances, determine 6 months of living expenses and then see what you have left over and work with that. 

Next, create an excel sheet including all of the items you will need. You can also group them by room for added organization. If you don’t have excel, use google sheets. At this point, you’ve hopefully researched items you plan on buying and have gotten a rough estimate of what they cost normally. Write down your ideal, realistic estimated prices for each item depending on your budget in one column and then as you purchase said items, write down the actual prices to keep track of where you’re at. It’s not going to end up exactly how you have planned. You’re going to end up spending more on some things and less on others. This is why keeping track is so important - so you know where you’re at in terms of spending. It helps you know whether you need to reel it in or if you have room to splurge on something. It also helped me get out of the mindset that I needed to go as cheap as possible on everything because I was able to see my wiggle room which was nice!

Here is an example of a price sheet:

If you’re trying to save money, KEEP HOLIDAYS IN MIND! Businesses usually do sales over holiday weekends such as Memorial day, Labor day, Black Friday, etc. Decide on which pieces you’re wanting to buy, wait, and then POUNCE when they go on sale. 

Another money saving tip that might seem obvious is to find a way to make what you’ve got work. You can even repurpose some of your old things if you have to. There are so many amazing, easy DIY hacks and Instagrammers out there that show you how to do this. (My favorites are @theheartandhaven and @kinandkasa.) Or you can sell things you already have on facebook marketplace or a garage sale and put that money towards the thing(s) you want!

Now, this next tip is very important. It’s one that I live religiously by. And it is to ONLY BUY WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE. I don’t care what it is or if it’s $5 or $500, you better love it if you’re buying it. Doing this will save you money in the long run and make you obsessed with your house. Otherwise, if you buy the meh thing now and then end up buying the thing you love later on (which you probably will, let’s be honest) you will have spent extra money because you ended up buying two things instead of one. Or you’ll try to sell the original piece to get your money back and you’ll end up losing money on your first purchase. Just skip the headache and only buy what you love. I’ve experienced both scenarios and it’s extremely frustrating. Now that I’ve learned my lesson, I’ve decided I’m not buying a headboard/bed frame situation until we are in a bigger home because I already know I want a canopy one that is huge and expensive and won’t work where we are now. So, instead of buying something that could work in the space we have now, I’m just not going to get one at all. Instead, I’m getting cute bedding to hold me over and distract from the fact that there is no bed frame lol. 

Here is said bed. Still a work in progress but I’m loving how it’s coming along!

As an afterthought, if you absolutely can’t afford something you love at the moment and its function is a necessity then buy something VERY cheap until you can afford the thing you want. Like if you don’t have an island and you have to get a dining table and chairs to have somewhere to eat, get a folding table while you’re deciding on a dining table instead of just rushing into a decision for the sake of having a dining table you might end up hating/regretting. My point is, buy what you love and don’t feel like you need to rush into things. Give yourself time to find the right piece.

My biggest tip of all: NOT BUY EVERYTHING AT ONCE.

You will hate it. Your taste will change. Certain things you thought would go together in your head or even on your boards end up looking wrong. Get those few, bigger, main pieces of furniture first but then get into the space so you can get a feel for it and then resume buying. Just take it SLOWWWW.

Also, don’t go for ultra trendy...unless you have money to blow and are fully okay with redoing everything in a couple years once you’ve gotten tired and bored of it. Otherwise, if you’re a normal person, take some time to figure out some classic pieces that you know you’re going to love and keep for awhile. That brings me back to the whole buying only what you love point I made earlier.

DON’T forget to Look at FB marketplace, consignment, and thrift stores. What’s one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! People SLEEP on this and I’ve found some of my favorite things on FB marketplace. It’s the best.

Next tip: Focus on finding your big pieces first (specifically seating) when just starting out. Couch, dining table, barstools. After the big pieces, look at getting nightstands. Those are also pretty important in my opinion because of the function and storage aspect. Where else are you going to put your cup of water or phone???

Another smol tip: If along the way you see cute decor items that you are absolutely in love with and you know you’ll never see again/might go out of stock like a trinket, a vase, or a vintage tray/board, GET THEM. It’s so nice to have a collection of decor pieces to work with when you start decorating.  

Lastly, speaking to those who are moving into a home they own, if you know you’re not planning on living there forever, consider the home improvement projects or installations you’re wanting to do to the place. Do they add value to the home? If so, then it’s worth it. If not, maybe reconsider. 

For those who asked: Here are some of the places I like to shop for home items:

CB2, Article, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, West Elm, Overstock, Target, Amazon, Ikea, HM home, Athome, Home Depot, Walmart online, Allmodern, HomeGoods, TJ Maxx. However, I still think thrift stores, antique shops, random online boutiques, and local boutiques definitely have the coolest stuff. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!!! I hope this helped!

xxx,

Sam