Decorating and furnising your first proper home

[Boundless]

Imagine yourself as an adult. Imagine yourself moving into your first basic home. How will you decorate it? Thinking if you are on a limited budget- what things will you prioritise? What will you spend big on, and on what will you deal with economy class. Rubbish toaster, expencive kettle? Or is having a supreme bed most important?


Some of you wont have to use your imagination for this..so what did you choose?

 

[Hehehe]

Everything economy class at first, replace and get luxuries when you can afford it. That's how it was for me anyway.

 

[History_Buff]

Cover your basic first. Don't really count as decorations, but a fridge, dishwasher, and laundry machines are absolutely essential. And a bed I guess, though one assumes you'd have one of those.

After that, it's off to Ikea. A table to put my PC on, bedside table, kitchen table, simple chairs, and tons of bookshelves; so many bookshelves. Then I'm good for a while.

I've already got enough framed maps, flags, and a sweet ass painted mirror to decorate the walls.

 

[Zelig]

My house doesn't have decorations.

My kitchen is well stocked with good stuff for cooking, mostly purchased at a restaurant supply store.

My bed is very comfortable.

I built my standing desk for practicality.

My living room is basically empty, just a couple cheapo couches for people to crash on if they're staying here, I never use the living room myself.

 

[Mise]

I bought an enormous 3D TV, two pairs of 3D glasses, an xbox 360 and a 3D FPS to play on it. That was basically the only thing on my list of new things I wanted.

I also got lucky in that the furniture and fittings that the previous owner left here was pretty good quality already. Got a couple of solid wooden tables in the living room and perfectly adequate kitchen appliances. I definitely need a bigger sofa though, this one's only a 2 seater, which makes lying down on it impossible.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

Don't overspend on the bed. An Ikea bed is perfectly good imo. Basic kitchen supply from Ikea, rather iron pots than Teflon. Other furnitures should be findable as second hand, unless you want to design the living room in some specific type of way. I wouldn't buy Ikea furnitures for the living room...

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Make sure you get the basics correct first

 

[bathsheba666]

Went to an auction house, picked up slightly old fashioned, but presentable sofa, dining table and chairs for a song. Real seasoned wood, no veneers. Neither as modern, nor as nasty, as ikea.

Still can't imagine myself as adult though....

 

[Silurian]

A supreme bed is the most important thing since will use it a lot and a good night’s sleep will set you up for the day.

The first thing a bought for my house over twenty years ago were light bulbs - they were all taken by the sellers and a little step stool thing so I could reach the lights. But they left an old gas cooker and old settee.

Next I bought a bed which is still good after 20+ years and a fridge freezer which died 5 years ago. I also bought some curtains which were also good lined ones.
Then I bought reasonable good wardrobes dressing table Chester drawers for my bedroom and cheaper but good wardrobe etc second bedroom plus single cheaper bed for box room (3rd bedroom) that I put in second bedroom. ( I furnished the second bedroom so i could get a lodger)
I had a portable TV and odd pots and pans etc. The house was reasonably decorated so I just bought some cheap prints to put on the walls.

About three months latter a bought a reasonable three piece sweet (which I gave to a person down the road 5 years ago) and chucked the old settee.
At six months I bought a washing machine (which also died 5 years ago), there is a laundrette 300m down the road, and also bought a good TV (which died 3 years ago).



Since you are on a limited budget do not buy stuff unless you actually need it. Save up for a month or two and buy stuff that will last and be economical to run.

If you have a sink you do not need a dishwasher but if you intend to get one after the more important things you may want to actually choose one that will match your fridge freezer etc but not buy it. This would also apply to your washing machine if you can put off buying that as well.

Things like kettles, toasters do not last many years so get cheap ones at first. Spend your money on a good set of stainless steel saucepans if you do not have odds and ends that you can use. Buy a good set of knives if you need too. Buy a good vacuum cleaner but do not buy a all singing and dancing one if you do not want those features.

Do not buy small stuff that you do not need immediately. There will be lots of little things that you will need but cannot think of that all add up in cost so be prepared for this expense.

 

[Leifmk]

Don't overspend on the bed.

However, do invest in a good mattress.

 

[Zelig]

Don't overspend on the bed.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=7137006&postcount=35

Buy a good set of knives if you need too.

Don't buy a good set of knives - for $X, you can get much more utility by spending the majority on a good chef's knife, and buying cheap paring knives, rather than getting equal quality for stuff you'll use a lot (chef's knife), stuff where quality doesn't matter much (paring knife) and stuff you'll rarely use (boning knife).

And looks-wise, a matching set of knives is going to look amateurish.

 

[mangxema]

For my apartment I didn't buy anything for several months, not even a light for my bedroom. Most of what I had was hand-me down from my grandparents which I wasn't particularly excited about but I did enjoy not having to buy a table. I'm a very utilitarian kind of guy. I have since bought a really comfortable couch, and some really cheap bookcases. I don't anticipate buying more furniture, except maybe an entertainment center that has a good deal of bookcase space. I could use more vertical storage.

 

[Synobun]

Imagine yourself as an adult. Imagine yourself moving into your first basic home. How will you decorate it? Thinking if you are on a limited budget- what things will you prioritise? What will you spend big on, and on what will you deal with economy class. Rubbish toaster, expencive kettle? Or is having a supreme bed most important?


Some of you wont have to use your imagination for this..so what did you choose?

No decorations. They're a waste of money and time, as I'd rather stare at a blank wall than a wall full of rather crude paintings and paper art.

Furnishings, at least two chairs, a small table, maybe a two seat couch. Semi-decent bed, though air mattress is alright. That's pretty much it.

 

[PacoDeth]

I did this only a few years ago. Went about middle of the road on appliances. Those are things, sure you can say you will replace or upgrade down the road, but we all know you NEVER will unless they break. So I went maybe a little under the middle of the road, shopped for a few months to snag the absolute best prices and used as many coupons and Lowe's movers percentage off coupons as I could. Snagged some good priced and highly recommended Samsung front loaders.

It's really all about shopping around ALOT, you will be amazed how many good deals on scratch n dent or old-stock merchandise you can find for next to nothing.

Got two black leather couches with 4x recliners built in (total) for $300 brand new. Only problem was a small tear near the bottom front that was about the size of... well smaller than a dime.

Cheap bed set at Big Lots. Cheap bathroom supplies at Wal-Mart and Kohl's. The one thing I did splurge a little bit on was lighting. I replaced about 80% of the lighting fixtures in the house as they were all just too old school or retro, or the ceiling fans were too unstable to turn on. This, once again, is something you can say you will replace when you get a bit more money, but it rarely happens. Due to the fact that it's not an essential (your old cheaper stuff would still work), and the work and labor that is involved in replacing light fixtures or moving appliances in and out of the house.

The only thing I have really done since moving in that I didn't do before I moved in was upgrade the furnishings in my master bathroom. Ripped up the linoleum, took out the old sink and cabinetry, and put in much nicer (and not stained) tile flooring and a more modern sink and cabinet.

Next stop is the guest bathroom, replacing a bit of flooring, and putting in a nice big bar in place of where the dining room table would be (hey I'm a young bachelor, what good do I have for a kitchen table?).

 

[Cutlass]

Don't buy cheap new furniture and don't by anything made primarily from particle board. If you have to live with hand me downs and second hand furniture for now, do so. Learn about what is available second hand in your area. Save up to get good furniture in the future instead.

 

[Leonel]

Minimal Ikea furniture I guess. I always liked the Ikea stylings since I was a kid.

 

[holy king]

get a vacuum without dust bags.
seriously, dust bags are nothing more than robbery.

 

[Zelig]

get a vacuum without dust bags.
seriously, dust bags are nothing more than robbery.

They work better though.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Other than the bare minimum of appliances and spartan furnishings, I only want a good computer.

 

[emzie]

A comfortable bed is a better investment than education.