Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to decorate your house yourself? No one else would be telling you what decor to pick and no one else could choose the color scheme because this was YOUR house and YOUR rules. Now that you’re an adult, you have somewhere to decorate and furnish - but you’ve just spotted the price tag on a sofa cushion and now you need to rethink your life.
Owning or renting a house is exciting, but trying to get the budget together to furnish the entire thing is far more expensive than you ever thought possible. Every single time someone moves into a new house, this is the case for them! It’s more expensive than they thought, so the luxury divan with the memory foam mattress and the squashy headboard is swapped out for one of many cheap beds. The two-door refrigerator with the ice maker offering three types of ice is switched out for the cheap running, second-hand option. The good news is that furnishing an entire house doesn't have to be terribly expensive, and you can get some great bargains for a lot less than you think. So, don't panic at the price tags and check out how you can furnish your house on a budget. Don't worry - it can be done!
- Don't try to furnish the entire house at once. Get your pen ready and start writing lists. Begin with which rooms are the most important ones to furnish, and then write down the essentials. The rest of it - the colorful ornaments and the beautiful paintings - they can wait and you can gradually add to each room until it’s furnished exactly the way that you had always imagined it would be.
- Get someone to help you out. One of the bigger costs for some people is the fact that furniture needs to be put together. You don't have to be the person putting that furniture together, you know, as someone else can furnish it for you! Designers can take care of all the smaller details and you can do it room by room, so each room will be fully complete before you move onto the next. Shop around for quotes here!
- Head to the charity shops. The charity shops are more than just places for a bargain jacket for a night out. You can get onto Facebook marketplace and start asking around for furniture pieces that others may be selling. When you do this, you can furnish your home with the right hand-me-downs that are as good as new. What’s the use in spending triple what you have to?
- Haggle. Some furniture stores allow you to haggle a price or offer a lower price of what you can pay. You may even find a place that offers to charge less if you can find an item cheaper elsewhere. Take them up on this, as you can knock ££ off the price and give yourself a bargain. It doesn't have to be a stressful time, to furnish your home. Do it well and you only need to do it once.
