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When it comes to buying a house, your work isn’t done as soon as you’re handed the keys. You’ve fought for months to ensure your mortgage was approved, and that the previous owner would choose you to sell to above anyone else, and you’re keen to make that hard work pay off. And yet, there’s still a ton of work to do!
You’ve got a whole house to decorate, and even when you’re not making any structural changes, that can be a pretty overwhelming thing to consider. And a lot of people find it difficult to take on the challenge, so they make their budget stretch to hiring a professional painter and decorator.
But if this has been your dream for a long time, and you’re not sure how much money you’ve got to work with, we’re here to help. Decorating your new home can be just as much fun as it is work, and we’ve got some tips down below to make sure of it.
Get Under the Floorboards First
A lot of people find decorating a new home hard simply because there’s a bit of DIY involved. From having to sand down skirting boards to laying new insulation in an exposed attic space, a bit of heavy graft beyond the paintbrush needs to be done!
Block out at least a week for this first stage. After all, you’ll need to get under the floorboards to see how the land lies and whether or not it needs some work itself. Check for chips and cracks, bad piping or wiring, and remove any and all hazards like bent and broken nails.
Once you’ve done that, hit your local DIY department and pick up some useful items. If you’re not sure what to get, look it up first. If you’ve got a water issue, here are multiple examples of copper press fittings you could use on your project, and if you’ve got a wiring issue, make sure you know the difference between duct tape and insulation tape!
Sketch Out Your Space
Now the bulk of the hard work is out of the way, it’s time to visualise. Why? Well, this is the best way to prevent yourself from feeling overwhelmed with all the decorating you’ll have to do. You’ve just done a load of DIY work and probably put your back out during it, you don’t want to waste time on a room design you’ll end up hating!
To prevent this, get an idea of the space first of all. Go room by room to get the right measurements, do a rough sketch on a bit of paper, and then decide where things need to go. Make sure you actually draw out these layouts too. Otherwise your sofa measurements will be right, but you’ll forget to include the sideboard, coffee table, and armchairs you want to fit around it too.
Never Mind About ‘Good’ Design
You’ve read the magazines, you’ve watched the Youtube videos, and you’ve heard all about the celebrity trends. They have their own ideas about what looks good in interior decor and they want you to follow along, and they’ve even got the social media presence to back it up!
But you don’t have to use their example. You can make your own space just nicely with your own ideas, even if a professional would tell you the curtains clash with the carpet or the feature wall is in the wrong place. As long as you like it, that’s what matters. And if you don’t, you can rearrange as and when you please without locking yourself into a certain style!
And You Don’t Need to Do Everything Now
Decorating should take time, for exactly the reason we’ve just listed. A person can change their mind a thousand times over what looks good and what ‘feels’ like them. And if you go all out to decorate now, you’re going to waste time and energy.
Do bits here and there, and leave some projects for later. See how you feel about them in a couple weeks or months, and then decide to commit if you still love your original design.
Decorating a home yourself is a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be an exhausting to-do list. Make sure you’ve got an idea in your head about what you want to do, forget all the ideas around what makes something look good, and just have fun with what paints, wallpapers, and decor you choose.
