A bit of home design advice always comes in handy – perhaps never more so than when you’re buying your first home. In fact, many people start planning how they’ll decorate and arrange their storage space long before the purchase is complete. After all, if you’ve been waiting for your dream home for a long time, you’ll want to get it in perfect order as soon as you can!
But it’s best not to let your excitement lead you to any rash decisions. Decor choices made in a hurry are often the ones that you end up regretting. So it’s always worth reading through a range of design tips before you reach any conclusions – and luckily we’ve put together a list of surefire suggestions for first-time homebuyers to get you started!
Take your time
There really is no need to rush. Most people will be working without an interior designer, and some of the decisions made will be costly to change (and some of them more or less permanent) so it’s important to think everything over. When deciding on a paint colour for your walls, for example, it’s worth buying a small tin of paint in every shade you’re considering, and testing a sample of each one on the wall to see if the colour feels right.
You might feel sure about which colours and patterns will work best, but many people who move into a new home discover that as the months pass they end up making gradual changes -and before long they find they’ve almost completely changed their original design. Don’t feel pressured to finish everything as soon as possible, take a while after you first move in to get a feel for the place before making any final decisions.
Choose personalised wall accessories
Personalized wall art is a great way to add personality to any space – and it’s easy to rearrange or move to a different room if you later decide you want a fresh look. One great design solution is to create a gallery wall with photos of your family and friends in decorative frames. There are so many different options for size, orientation, colours etc, you’re sure to find the right framed picture to suit your home. Displaying framed photo prints in a room is a great way to give it an artistic feel. What’s more, you can hang them without causing damage to the wall (with their sturdy frames, they can simply be propped up on a shelf or other surface).
Getting your own photos printed is a low-cost option for creating personalized wall art. Whatever photos you choose for printing – vacation photos, portraits of loved ones or pets, or abstract images – the traditional virtues of high-quality printing and framing will transform them into true works of art. They’ll be displayed in a luxury frame with an elegant pure-white mat board, then covered with a flawless acrylic glass pane.
Choose a soothing colour scheme
Choosing how to decorate your walls when you first move in can be a challenge. Will you go for paint? Wallpaper? And are you going to hang artwork? Again, it can be tempting to make bold decisions too early because you’re so keen to make the place feel like your own. But unless you’re absolutely sure what you want, it’s best to stay more neutral at first.
Painting the walls white, cream, or a similar soothing shade when you move in provides a blank canvas that you can then dress up with new decor features as you grow into the space and your design vision becomes clearer. What’s more, neutral palettes with pops of colour are on trend right now!
Pay attention to the lighting
Many people underestimate the importance that good lighting has in creating a welcoming cohesive mood in any home. And the kitchen and bathroom are the two most important rooms to light well. These rooms will ideally have a multi-layered lighting scheme, and we’d advise working with a pro to get it right. The number, positioning and colour choices of your lights are equally important. A professional will divide the room into three zones (general, task, and ambient), each of which calls for a different approach to lighting.
Prioritise design quality
When it comes to interior design, quality comes first. Buying the property itself may well be the most significant outlay of money you make in your life, so it makes no sense to scrimp on the decor. Despite what many people think, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get high-quality furniture and wall art. Search charity shops and other second-hand outlets and you’ll probably be surprised by what you can find. Good luck!
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