Making Your House A Home, One Item Of Furniture At A Time

It can be a challenge finding the right furniture for your home. Even if you once loved what you had, as your home evolves with your family and your lifestyle, gradually your selection of furniture will need to reflect these transformations. Furniture you used as a student isn’t often suitable for your family home. Similarly your sense of style and decor develops with time so the items you brought from your parents’ house when you first moved in may not work any longer. The old desk that used to stand in your bedroom when you were a child has probably seen too many winters to be of much use today and even if it is still standing you can’t make it work in your interior. You might have been given a few old pieces when you first moved in, but you’ll want to replace them in time when you can afford it. One of the most difficult, but rewarding, things you’ll have to do as a homeowner is source the appropriate furniture.

Old chest of white and green drawers with one open

Tweak your furniture

When the family grows but not the house

There is no denying that when your family grows but you still live in the same house, you need to become smart about the kind of furniture you can and can’t keep. It’s not uncommon for homeowners to have bought furniture in the past that won’t fit in their household once they expect a baby, or as the baby grows. Thankfully you can sell most items in a good used condition online, and you can appeal to long-distance buyers too if you offer furniture delivery. Most buyers prefer the ease of using a courier who will bring large and bulky items directly to their home. Selling unwanted furniture lets you create funds to purchase more suitable items.

Look for smart furniture

In small British homes, the secret to making it work for a family of two or more children is to invest in smart furniture. The reason IKEA is so popular is primarily that the Swedish chain understands how to make the most of a small space. More often than not space-saving shelves and bedding solutions are the only option to maintain your comfort if you can’t afford to move to a bigger property.

Are you a handy crafter?

If you’ve got the tools and a passion for DIY you can even make some new furniture. Ok so building a sofa is too time consuming and challenging for most of us, but you might be able to create made to measure shelves and build a child’s bed to fit their bedroom – the infamous 0.5 bedroom. A DIY minimal bed frame, for instance, doesn’t require a lot of work. You can order the wood cut to size and you only need to drill and screw the parts together.

Why not buy the favourites of the previous generation?

Upcycling second hand furniture might seem a little scary at first, but there is loads of help on the Internet for guidance if you need to make modifications. Sometimes just a lick of paint and new handles can make all the difference. You will probably feel more confident tweaking something you’ve bought for ten pounds from the flea market or boot sale than cutting through and painting more expensive items.

Creating your perfect interiors, one piece of furniture at a time, doesn’t happen overnight. As your family grows your needs change, but if you know how to get rid of unwanted items, find smart designs and build or modify pieces of furniture, you can make it work without breaking the bank.

***Disclosure: This is a collaborative post***