With all of the uncertainty in todays market yet so many of us still wanting to move, I thought it was crucial to share top interior design tips, which in turn will save you your hard earned cash!
So you’re looking for interior design advice on moving home. You’ve been examining Rightmove, Zoopla, On The Market and all of the rest of it for weeks, maybe months, maybe even years! Your offer has been accepted. You’re ready to change contracts everything is ready to go.
Firstly Congratulations!
Perhaps you have already start picking pieces for the new place… Hang on a moment! Lets just take a moment a really think about what’s happening here before we get ahead of ourselves…
Take a second viewing
If you haven’t already, go along for a second viewing, request a couple of hours. During this time you can think with your head rather than your heart. Do a full survey of each room. Print off the estate agents drawings, take along a sturdy long tape measure (at very least 3m long!) and an extra pair of hands to help measure. If you have a laser measure, even better! You can pick these up off amazon for around £20 and they’re super easy to use. Measure all four corners of each space, taking measurements from skirting board to skirting board, if you can. Add the measurements over the top of the estate agents drawings, save yourself a bit of time. Add in any extra bits of important information that the estate agent might not have taken. Especially consider large pieces which are going to be especially difficult to move to the next property. For example; the opening for where the wardrobes go. If you have a large existing sofa make sure to measure the front door and the area in which it is going to be. Maybe you have an American style fridge freezer, check its going to work with the existing kitchen space. If you’re buying somewhere that doesn’t have any window dressings, measure the windows.
Questions to ask yourself when considering window dressings
Think of ways in which you can cover the windows temporarily at a low cost initially, that way you can get to know the property properly and what you would actually like. Ok this might not look like that gorgeous image you saw in Elle Decoration but hang in there! And if you really can’t wait for your window dressings my top things to consider would be. Consider whether you are overlooked and need privacy? Does the property gets cold in the winter? Would you like curtains that are lined? You can introduce thermal lining into particularly cold properties and black out lining for bedrooms to shut out natural light. Is anything going underneath the window like a desk? Do you need to consider roman blinds? Consider harder finishes in kitchens in bathrooms like shutters and Venetian blinds, which are easier to clean. Really think about the age of the property and the style you’re looking at and what would also be best suited. Some windows might not need window dressings too! Don’t over dress the windows if you don’t need to, especially if you have a particularly gorgeous view.
Live there a little (if you can!)
My top piece of advise would be for anybody would be to live in your space for a little while. Especially if you have the option of moving from an existing home with existing pieces which can be transferred relatively easily across. Or perhaps you’re moving into a completely new place and your auntie has offered to gift you their old sofa bed, which you don’t really want but I would suggest taking her up on the offer! This is because living in a space first is so crucial to understanding your property and what you want. Especially if this is your first home and you’re completely unsure. Whilst you live in your new place, this will give you time to digest how you are actually going to live. Where the sun hits. Where potential noise pollution is and how you can avoid it. Once you have found the rhythm of how you really want to live in your home, start thinking about the interiors.
Some suggest living somewhere a year, this is the ideal scenario, although a big ask. I know that I’m especially impatient! If you can live in your property during summer and the beginning of winter so you can experience the season changing and how this effects all of the above factors then great. It’s difficult to not act on impulse and it’s such an exciting time. However, acting on impulse purchasing can end up throwing your hard urned cash away on pieces which aren’t right for you and your new home.
Begin a mood boards for each room
Now you’ve lived in your new property a little, start mood boards (or if you really can’t wait start your moodboards pre moving, be warned these are probably going to change three times over once you have lived there!). Whether thats printed images, Pinterest, Canva, Powerpoint, Adobe, begin curating your ideas and how you want it to look. These ideas can be super rough, don’t panic about creating the perfect moodboard. Just start pulling your ideas together.
Now you have an idea and a feel for your life style. For example; you want that gorgeous white sofa but you have a dog or a young child, maybe opt for a mid to dark colour instead. Consider everything within each image and whether it would work for you. Once you have nailed your style and aspirations for each room. Begin thinking about electrics and how that will co-ordinate with your interiors, once you’re happy with all of the electrical sets outs with the furniture, start thinking about paint colours so you can avoid decoration works twice!
“I can’t wait, I need at least one space to live in”
So you’re desperate to have at least one room finished before you move in. I would recommend starting with your bedroom, try and spend as much time in there as you can before starting. Your bedroom is predominately taken up by your bed and typically there isn’t much flexibility here, make your bedroom a safe heaven where you can really relax and switch off. If you need to move radiators or electrics to optimise the space, consider this as an option rather than making do. Now you have your bedroom ready, sit back and enjoy planning the rest of the house. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself and get lots of photographs of the before during and after phases. It will all become a distant memory soon.
