Through the entire process, buying a house can be highly intimidating. There are multiple factors to consider depending on the needs of the buyer, but the main concern is ensuring that your house is going to feel like a home. If you’re wondering where to begin, here’s five tips to help you get started with creating your perfect home.
1. Make your furniture flow.
It’s tempting to jump right into picking out furniture that you like. While furniture shopping is a really enjoyable pastime, you need to be careful about taking that leap and buying expensive furniture pieces. It would be in your best interest to be familiar with your house plan before spending any money on furniture. According to many sources, it is best to start by gathering the measurements for your space to gauge what you’re working with, and then you should purchase furniture accordingly. If you’re moving into a new home and you already own furniture, it’s still a good idea to have these measurements handy so you know what will be the best fit for your space’s floor plans. Having measurements will indicate where things will fit, and, even if you’re buying a previously owned home, you’ll have a furniture layout that makes it feel like a custom home.
2. Personalize the details
The magic is always in the details. One important way to make your house feel like a home is to fill it with meaning. Placing photos around the house will provide constant reminders of the special moments you’ve shared with friends and loved ones, and ultimately bring you a sense of comfort. Of course you can always hang photos on the walls and set framed pictures on side tables, but placing layflat photo books on surfaces like your coffee table or a buffet add a special and unique touch. The best photo book is one that is filled with your favorite photos, one that you can have for both your own enjoyment and also to share with visitors. Photo albums are nice to have, but they’re bulky and outdated. Layflat books are aesthetically pleasing and look incredibly chic, and a lay flat photo book also functions as a great conversation piece when having guests over.
3. Take care of your garden and landscape.
When you drive up to your home and look at it from the driveway, you really want to enjoy what you see. Curb appeal not only improves your experience as the resident and home owner, it also contributes to raising the overall value of the home if you ever want to sell it. Mature plants like ones that produce edible fruit as well as maple trees are the perfect addition to the front of your house. Sources suggest that you should be sure you are planting ones that are safe around plumbing, like slow-growing plant varieties if planting around sewers or septic tanks. Mature plants, foliage, and certain varieties of vines are low maintenance options that vastly improve the exterior of any home.
4. Bring your space to life.
Literally! Plants are essential to bringing life into any room, whether it be the living room, family room, bedroom or dining room. Houseplants like a monstera deliciosa, a split leaf philodendron, a swiss cheese plant, or any plant of the monstera and philodendron variety are all really great indoor plants that anyone can care for easily. They do best in indirect light, so even apartments with limited natural light can handle having one or two of these plants. Plants like moss, air plants, and monstera do well in bathrooms, especially with showers, because these plants love humidity and don’t necessarily need bright light. If your apartment is well lit, then plants like succulents, fiddle leaf figs, or a tropical plant will do great with more direct sun. Once you choose your favorite low-maintenance plants for your home, be sure to make yourself familiar with the plant care to make sure you’re caring for it properly.
5. Build your own.
If you have the means to do so, hiring a general contractor to build your own custom home could be a great option for you. In recent years, custom home building has been a viable option for for future home owners. According to the National Association of Realtors, homes are on the market for an average of 30 days, and in the housing industry that is a fairly short timeline. With that extremely limited amount of time paired with the risk of not finding your ideal home, customizing your own personal house plan saves you from the painful experience of shopping for a house all together. The only issue is the time it takes to build a home, which is around 7 months. No matter how much time it takes, having a home that you are happy with is the most important thing. If you take your time and plan, owning a home that is customized to your needs is a wonderful goal.
