Decorating a New Home and Saving Money

Buying a home is expensive enough, but decorating a new home can be costly, especially if you have recently graduated to a bigger space. Join us in welcoming agent Jessica Flores for her second blog post on the website – we have a feeling she’s going to be putting out a lot of great content for years to come. You can read her first post, “There’s a New Kid in Town: Newly Licensed Agents” which garnered a lot of attention for its honest look at the life of a new Realtor and how you can benefit from their eagerness and willingness to learn and explore new ways of doing business to help you get the home you want or sell the home you have. In this post, Jessica looks at some of the thoughts that go through all of our heads when we realize now that we have bought it, we’re going to need to figure out how to decorate our new home. She has a lot of experience, having moved multiple times as part of a military family. Let’s turn it over to Jessica, shall we? – Kimberly Howell Properties

Congratulations! You just closed on your new home and are excited to add your own personality to it. The problem is those boxes that you have been holding onto (and paying a storage fee for) no longer reflect the person you are today. Instead, they are filled with Bon Jovi posters and inflatable plastic furniture. While this speaks volumes of the fun person you are, it also yells out that shopping is in your near future.

Wait…shopping? You just purchased a house, buying everything new is not necessarily in your best interest…right? But you don’t want to live in an empty house either. So how do you go about decorating a new home and save money?

Hang Onto Those Credit Cards

More than likely, your clever real estate agent advised you to avoid debt of any kind during the home buying process. New vehicles, TVs, and furniture are some examples of the things they told you not to buy. Your lender warned you about doing anything that would open up a new line of credit or even making credit inquiries as those small checks can ding your credit report.

Your agent didn’t inform you of this because he or she doesn’t want you to have nice things…quite the contrary. They not only help you buy your house, but they want to help you build a home.

The thing is, your Realtor knows that opening up new credit can interfere with obtaining a loan even if you have already qualified, been approved, and are in the process of getting a home loan after putting a home under contract.

You listened to your agent and all went well, so now you may be thinking that you have closed and can check out one of those awesome deals where you have no interest for 36 months. So now’s the time to go wild decorating your new home…right?

That’s an idea, but you quickly remember that you will have a house payment soon. Also, your tastes will change as the years pass and what seemed like a great idea in the 80s is probably not what you’re thinking today.

So, what do you do? Do you blow up that shiny, vinyl furniture to sit on while gazing lovingly at Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora? You certainly could, but that would only be fun for a little while.

Decorating a New Home…For Cheap

The old saying “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” holds true when decorating a new home. Think outside the box – it’s not hard to find beautiful home decor and sturdy furniture that someone else has grown tired of or needs to get rid of to make room for something new they have purchased. It’s recycling at its best.

You can find items like these on Craigslist (just promise you won’t do your house hunting on there!), the Nextdoor app, and my personal favorite, neighborhood yard sales. You can also check out the bigger stores like Goodwill or the Salvation Army and many communities have locally owned and operated consignment shops that can be a treasure trove of bargain finds.

Sometimes the treasures are vintage, but still classy and tasteful. Other items may just need to be cleaned well or touched up with a fresh coat of paint. A little love and some elbow grease go a long way.

One thing is for sure, you will get them for a very good price and will often find that you had a great time discovering your reclaimed furnishings while meeting some nice people.

However you decide to go about decorating a new home and adding accessories that reflect your style and taste is your choice. Keep in mind that you do have several options and if you’re willing you search for the bargains, they are out there.

As for me, I need to go cancel a storage unit and maybe have a yard sale of all the “treasures” I have been holding on to. It’s time to pack up the Bon Jovi posters for good. Ok, maybe I’ll just keep this one…

image courtesy of rhonogle