FURNISH YOUR FLAT FROM SCRATCH

Meikey
Jan 23, 2019
4 min read

Updated: Sep 6, 2019

Moving into a new apartment is always exciting. So many choices to make, most of them long-term. In this article, we will give you some advice on how to create a home that you can feel comfortable in...

After the long process of finding an appropriate apartment that suits all your expectations, the best part of moving in can begin: The furnishing! With some simple tricks and certain things to take into account, it's easy to make your new place feel like HOME.

Most important: Don't try to do everything at once!

It doesn't take much to make a flat habitable. Making it cozy on the other hand is an ongoing process. So get ready for several visits at the furniture store, hours spent online to look for the perfect curtains and a lot of re-arranging of stuff after filling the shelves. Because even if you think you're done at some point, you will be amazed of how much your flat will keep on changing, especially in the first months. Your home is the place where you live, so let it live and evolve together with you.

After painting the walls, taking the measures and choosing the furniture as well as their arrangement, you have already done the major part of the whole "project home". The following five advices can help you keeping track, managign the important details and reaching perfection regarding the feel-good factor of your own four walls...

1) Choose a main color

This does not necessarily have to be your favorite color. Actually, there are even studies on which effect which color has on us and recommendations on which color should ideally be used for which room. In the end, it's still a matter of taste, so choose a color that you feel comfortable with. You can either pick the same color for the whole apartment, or decide to have a different style in each room.

Choosing a main color does not force you to paint all the walls in pink or black. It's more about certain components in your flat (such as carpets, curtains and decorations) that should be aligned with your choice of color. This also makes it easier if one day you feel like making a change...

2) Stick to the design

This tip seems easier than it really is. There are so many different styles and mottos that your flat could represent, each of them beautiful in its own way. But if you try to mix Vintage with Industrial, it's pretty sure to become rather chaotic than comfortable. If you're in love with several different interior styles and really cannot choose, you can of course cheat a bit and pick a different topic for each room - same as with the main color.

In any case, as soon as you've put your focus on one design, try to stick to it. You don't necessarily have to take all the furniture from the same collection (even though sometimes it inevitaby comes down to it), simply try to make sure to follow the pattern. This makes your apartment look balanced and harmonious, which is automatically reflected in your mood.

3) Decoration is the key

Small items, great effect. A candle on top of the sideboard, a frame on the windowsill and a carefully draped pillow on the couch can increase the level of coziness drastically. It also adds a personal touch to your home, since the selected objects represent your own taste. Ideally, the decorations match the main color you've chosen.

Another integral part of physical comfort at home are plants. They literally "liven things up", they create a unique atmosphere and give you room to breathe. Don't be afraid if you think your thumb is not green enough - there are some plants that don't need much to be happy.

4) Less is more

One visit in a decoration shop is usually a big challenge for the self-control. So many beautiful items, and all of them would look great in the flat. This is a big risk, because too many things quickly make a room feel messy and discomforting. Same goes for too much visible surface, by the way, for example overflowing shelves. So try your best to pull yourself together and reduce the visible objects to a few carefully selected eye-catchers. Also, use doors, drawers and boxes to close the cluttered open compartments of the sideborard or the shelf. We are unconsciously looking at everything that is visible around us. This includes not only decorations, but also books, clothes, cables, paper piles and so on. Stowing everything that is not meant to be consciously perceived and admired makes the apartment look neat and tidy.

The good thing is that the decorations are usually not stuck to the furniture, so you can give vent to your shopping mood and use the variety to replace certain items from time to time. This is an easy way to let your apartment breathe a bit and bring some refreshment and change to your home and mind.

5) Keep it clean

Once you have finished the main part, make sure you keep the cozy ambiance alive, so that you can enjoy the result of all your work to the full extent. This does not mean you have to scrub the floor every two days and change the bed sheets every Saturday morning. You can even leave the dirty dishes in the sink after a long evening with friends if you want to. Just make sure that your carefully furnished masterpiece does not get too messy. Put the magazines and letters in the intended drawer, free the kitchen from crums every now and then so that the work surface does not disappear and swipe the rag through the bathroom sink to remove even the most persistens toothpaste stains. It's for your own good and believe me, you won't regret it!