How To Decorate Your First Home

Moving into your first house is a real struggle in more ways than one and one of those struggles is definitely deciding how to decorate. I always thought it'd be easy. I mean, I decorated countless houses on The Sims and they all looked amazing so it's just as simple to do in real life right? Wrong! It is so stressful trying to picture what would match, what would look good where, how big rooms are and just what is left to buy. I'm still not finished putting my house together but we're getting somewhere near (I hope) so here are my tips for decorating your first home!

START EARLY

It can be so expensive getting all of the bits and pieces together that you need for a new house and there are things that are easily overlooked. Curtain poles. Bulbs. Rugs. An ironing board. Cutlery. Plates. All the boring adult things you really don't want to spend money on. All of these rather small things mount up and up and up so if you don't start buying them early, you'll find yourself spending a huge chunk of your budget on this kind of essential homeware that's easily overlooked. No one wants to spend money on hoovers or new saucepans but they're things you can't move in without!

RECYCLE WHAT YOU CAN

I've taken as much as I can from my own bedroom at home to decorate my house and it's actually surprising how much you can accumulate. My bedroom had furniture, lamps, decorations, a bookshelf, a rug, a mirror and so much more that I've taken with me that has saved me more expense and has allowed me to have my own personality in the house, without having to buy more. For example, the mirror saved me about £60 as I would have bought a really similar one and all of the cute mugs I've accumulated over the years? Well I can't even tell you how much they must have saved me! Don't just assume you need new things just because it's a new house - your own stuff is just as good, if not better, than buying new things!

ACCEPT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could all start in our first houses with an amazing, lavish, luxuriously decorated house with a marble staircase, a posh four poster bed and a kitchen that's worth a thousand pins on Pinterest? Sadly, that is not the case for the vast majority of us and we all have to accept that we have to make compromises and stop being, let's face it, snobby. I see so many people sharing memes about people who have houses made totally from IKEA furniture or having second hand things and we need to stop having this kind of attitude. Unless you're very lucky, you get what you can when you first move out and there is absolutely nothing wrong with having cheap things. I've actually found some wonderful bits and pieces in charity shops and virtually all of my furniture is the cheapest of the cheap from IKEA but that doesn't mean that it doesn't look nice and that my house is any less than a more lavishly decorated one.

LOOK FOR INSPIRATION

I know we all probably lust over the beautiful homes on Pinterest whether we're in the process of moving or not but when you are moving, they can actually really help you. I don't mean outright copying the homes and interiors you see on there but they might inspire you for a colour theme, a room layout, what accessories you buy. I looked on Pinterest for inspiration for sofas because I just didn't know what to look for or what would look nice in my living room and compiling some images of what I really liked helped me settle on one so much.

DECIDE ON A THEME FOR EACH ROOM

This seems awfully specific but deciding the basics of how you want each room to look. I don't mean you have to know exactly what you want in each room but I just mean a basic theme, just so you don't end up with a load of things that you like, but have no where to put. For example, I decided I wanted my bedroom grey and silver and the living room grey and bronze. It just helps you get into the swing of things when you're buying for a house you don't have anything in yet.

I've been loving the rose gold accessories that are available in most places. Wilkos has been one of my go-to places for sure but Amara has some of the dreamiest home accessories that you could think of. They even have a category for dressing table accessories which are essential in any blogger's home and I'm hoping to have my own dressing table to put them on one day.

THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE

Thinking abut the future is so important. If you've bought your house, you'll obviously be there for a while and you'll be able to do whatever you want to your house and if you're planning to stay for a long time at the new house, you'll need to make sure you're happy and comfortable there. Also, even if you do move, you don't want to be buying new furniture and starting from scratch every time with the sofas and everything else so choose wisely as you may be sitting on it or using it for years to come!

When I think about my future house, I'd love something like the above picture (obviously) and I don't just mean the big, beautiful house. I love big windows, lots of natural light and bright decor so something like this is my dream home. Quickslide have some amazing house transformations with just the addition of new windows and doors like this. Imagine just waking up in the morning to the sunlight streaming in through the ceiling to floor windows...Yes please! Not to mention it would be great for the Instagram shots no?

Have you got any tips for decorating your first home?

Amy x

SPONSORED POST. ALL WORDS AND VIEWS REMAIN MY OWN.