Furnishing an apartment is one of the primary things to do after moving into a new place. Often, homeowners hire expensive interior designers and spend thousands of dollars on developing a good furnishing plan for their homes.
What if you could furnish your apartment yourself without any external help? That’s entirely possible, and this guide will help you do that. Read further to learn how to furnish your apartment from scratch, even if you’re not a professional interior designer.
Furnishing an Apartment: Assess Your Home Well
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The first step in furnishing an apartment is to examine your apartment and requirements. Identify the existing furniture that you can use. This way, you can avoid overspending and save money. If you have unwanted furniture, sell it to get some extra bucks and use them to buy new furniture.
When evaluating your apartment, take one room at a time. Make a list of requirements in each room, including the furniture it already has and the new items needed.
Furnishing an Apartment: Design a Layout
The next step in furnishing an apartment is to design a layout. Again, you don’t need to be an architect or interior designer to do this. As long as you understand how your home interior should look, you are good to go.
If you are new to layout designing, here are a few tips to help you get started.
- Set up a focal point in each room. It could either be the entrance gate or the center of the room.
- Stand at the focal point and visualize how you want each room to be. Draw a rough sketch of how you’d like to place furniture in each room.
If you live with a spouse, take a second opinion to verify your layout idea. Please note that when you buy furniture, it’s likely to stay with you for a significant period of your life. Therefore, it’s essential to purchase furniture that matches not only your home but also your personality. If you are a dynamic and adventurous person, your furniture should emanate the same.
Furnishing an Apartment: Buy the Right Furniture
Now comes the most important aspect of furnishing an apartment – buying the right furniture. First, decide on a budget. Ideally, you should dedicate 10-50% of your home cost to furniture. If your home costs $500,000, your furniture budget should be between $50,000 and $250,000.
Once you’ve created a budget, your next objective is to buy furniture under the budget, which boils down to proper planning. Here are a few tips for buying the best furniture for your new apartment.
- Measure the space in your house before buying furniture. Doing so will help you get the furniture of the right size. A gorgeous-looking sofa can ruin the look of your living room if it’s overwhelmingly large in proportion to the room size. A sofa that’s too small can also have a similar impact.
- Always purchase multi-purpose furniture. If you’re short on space, multi-purpose furniture can resolve that issue. In addition, such furniture can help you save money, as you’ll have to buy less furniture. For example, an individual sofa and bed can cost $3,000-$5,000 each, respectively. You can buy a sofa-cum bed for almost the same price.
- Conduct proper research. Buying furniture is an investment. Once you purchase furniture, it sits in your home for ten or more years. Therefore, it’s essential to spend time researching to find the best piece of furniture for your home.
- Prioritize quality and durability. Furniture is expensive, and once you buy it, you want it to last for at least a decade. Hence, pay close attention to the durability of the furniture you buy. Again, it boils down to conducting proper research and finding the best furniture company.
By following these steps, you can buy the best furniture for your apartment at a reasonable cost.
Furnishing an Apartment: Take One Room at a Time
Once you have purchased the furniture, you need to place it in each room. This step can be overwhelming, especially if you have a large house and a lot of furniture to set up. The best approach is to take one room at a time.
You can either start with the entryway and move deeper inside the house or start from the end and move towards the entrance. It’d be better to start with the last rooms first, as moving furniture can be tiring. If you leave the entryway and outer areas for the end, you’ll have to move the furniture over smaller distances.
If you’re looking for a starting point, follow this order to get started.
- Bedrooms
- Bathrooms and kitchen
- Living room
- Dining room
- Home office
- Laundry room
- Entryway
- Other areas, such as corridors
Get Help if Needed
Furnishing an apartment by yourself can be exciting and a great learning experience. However, it’s not easy, and if your house is large, creating a furnishing plan can be overwhelming and confusing. Moreover, furnishing your apartment the wrong way can produce disastrous results and make your home look untidy and poorly designed.
If you are not comfortable furnishing your apartment on your own, work with an expert interior designer. Look for an interior design provider in your area and schedule a meeting with them. You can either hire them to consult you or give them complete charge of your home’s furnishing.
When working with a professional designer, be open to suggestions. It’s possible that you have pictured your perfect house, but the designer suggests something that contradicts your initial plan. Have an open mind and accept suggestions.
Conclusion
Your furniture plays a pivotal role in determining the look and feel of your house. An apartment with well-planned furniture looks effortlessly beautiful and attractive. On the other hand, a house with unplanned furniture can lose its appeal.
While furniture adds a visual appeal to your home, you should also consider the convenience factor. When shopping for furniture, try to find a perfect balance between affordability, durability, usability, and visual characteristics.
So, which type of furniture do you like the most and why?
