Moving into a new home can be many things - thrilling, nerve wracking, exciting and overwhelming. It’s natural to start visualising your space before you’re in, here are some tips to ensure that you plan properly and get everything right the first time round.

Don’t buy anything immediately

*Perfectly planned furniture, by* *Simone Polk*

My #1 piece of advice is not to buy anything straight away. It’s so easy to be sucked in by sales or the excitement of furnishing a new place, but this is how you end up with mismatching furniture which doesn’t fit the space.

Rushing design decisions for a deadline (like Christmas…) is so common. I understand that you want your new place to look lovely for friends and relatives, but the moment you start rushing your design decisions or choosing items because they can be delivered in time, you end up one year later looking back and thinking “why did I buy this?”

Start with the floors

*Engineered white oak floors, from* *Chris loves Julia*

*Grey tiles, from* *Direct Tile Warehouse*

Floors are going to be one of the most expensive parts of your home and pulling up flooring is so disruptive. You want to choose something suitable and hardwearing enough for the space and that will last a long time.

Your flooring will also impact the design decisions you make - whether it’s tiles, wood flooring or carpet - the tone and colour of these will influence the colour of the walls, the furniture style and colour and the soft furnishings.

Do the disruptive bits first

*Hard-wired wall sconces, by* *Jamie Keskin Design*

Sadly, you need to start with the un-sexy things. A new roof, some re-wiring, plumbing and damp repairs were certainly not things I was excited to do when we first moved into our place, but getting the basics right saved time, money and disruption in the future.

The last thing you want is your brand new wallpapered living room to start peeling away due to damp, or for the electrician to need to channel through your newly plastered and painted walls.

Prioritise the rooms you spend the most time in

*Cosy 70s inspired bedroom, by* *Amber Road Design*

It is easy to get overwhelmed when faced with an entire new home to decorate - and it might not be financially feasible to tackle it all in one go. To help make your house feel more like a home sooner, I would tackle the important rooms first.

Observe where you spend the most time awake - like a living room, or if having somewhere cosy to sleep is important to you then prioritising the bedroom makes sense.

Don’t cling onto old furniture which doesn’t work

*Cohesive furniture, from* *Studio Mcgee*

Sometimes it isn’t feasible to get rid of all your furniture and start again, but if you have a piece of furniture which really doesn’t work in your new place you have a choice to make.

Either have it stick out for a while and plan to replace it in the future, or plan an entire room’s design around a piece of furniture which isn’t right. I would definitely go for the former.

Think hard about storage

*Alcove storage, source:* *Chelsey Freng*

*Under stairs storage,* *@martinmooredesign*

Storage is such an important part of your home and it is worth planning first. Look for opportunities where you can add clever storage - built-in cupboards and shelving in alcoves, or maximising space underneath stairs or in cupboards.

Plan to have more storage space than what you currently need - you will inevitably acquire more things over time. The goal isn’t to fill your available storage within the first few months of living there.

Be aware of lead times

*Sofa from* *Loaf* *(lead times from 7 weeks), design by* *Kerry Lockwood*

Recently, lead times on furniture have been shockingly long due to supply chain issues. This is getting better for some retailers, but there are always a few items which will have a longer lead time. This will be large, made to order items like sofas and beds - arguably 2 of the most important bits of furniture in your home!

Hold onto what you have, or ask around locally for spare furniture which will tide you over. Make sure not to rush a decision based on what’s available now (see my first tip).

Don’t paint everything white

*Beautiful blue-gray living room, from* *@chocolatebox37*

Something I often hear from clients is that they painted their entire house white because they felt overwhelmed by the idea of choosing colours, and it was the least risky thing to do. You’ll find yourself looking at other homes which have the colours that your gut told you to go with initially and will find yourself thinking “I wish we’d done that”.

Also - white isn’t always the optimal colour for a room. It’s worth taking some time to plan the colours in your home, I have plenty of blog posts about choosing colours!

If you’d like my help with your next project, check out my services to see how we can work together. If you’ve enjoyed this blog, don’t forget to subscribe below to receive my new post in your inbox every Sunday.