5 Tips for Furnishing a New Home
If you’ve just built a new home – congratulations! This is an exciting but often daunting time, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the mountain of decisions and tasks in front of you. Once you’ve sorted out the movers, the packing and those other more boring essentials, it’s time for the fun part – decorating your new place!
Furnishing and styling a new home gives you the opportunity to create a fresh look; one that reflects your personality and is perfect for you and your family. Keep the below 5 tips in mind to make sure your new home is a beautiful place that you’ll love to be in for years to come.
1. Pick Your Palette
Start off by deciding on the main 2 – 3 shades that will be used throughout your home. You don’t want your home to be devoid of any colour, but you should also avoid introducing too many colours and creating a disjointed and chaotic look. Once you’ve decided on your main colour palette, make sure that every piece you buy either matches or compliments those shades. Don’t get too hung up on trying to match the colours exactly – this will be near impossible to do, and will end up producing a look that’s too matchy-matchy anyway. If yellow is one of your chosen colours, go ahead and purchase that mustard armchair that you love – the variation will actually help to create depth and character in your space.
2. Start Big
Decide on your larger key pieces, such as your couch, bed, armchairs, bookshelves etc… before you select complimenting smaller pieces and homewares. This is a lot easier to do than to start off with a gorgeous side table you love, but then find yourself struggling to find a couch that suits. Selecting your main pieces first also helps you work out exactly what you need in terms of artwork and décor – for example you may find that since the particular armchair you’ve chosen is quite a feature piece, that you don’t actually need a throw for it after all.
3. Make it Special
Your new home is going to be your haven and sanctuary, and It should reflect the uniqueness of your family – the last thing you want is for it to look like a carbon copy of an Ikea catalogue, or a soulless display home. To make your home truly one-of-a-kind, pick up a few special pieces that are unique, limited edition or handmade.
4. Experiment with Style
Obviously you want cohesive throughout your home, but don’t feel like you have to stick strictly to one style. Many of the most popular interior design trends we’ve seen have actually come about through the skilful pairing of completely different yet complimentary styles eg. Rustic-Industrial, Shabby-Chic and Japandi but to name a few.
5. Learn to Let Go
When moving to your new home, it can be tempting to bring across everything from your previous place – resist that urge! Many things you own simply won’t suit your new home, and this is an excellent time to get rid of some unwanted clutter. Yes, your old filthy beanbag may still be perfectly usable and fill you with nostalgia, but be strong and say your goodbyes! If you have items that are too good to throw out, consider giving them away on freecycle communities or donating them to charity. The Salvos offer a collection service if you have furniture that you’re unable to drop off to them.
Article credit to The Design Edit
