Decorating Tips I’ve Learned From A Year In Our First Home

And as if by magic, we’d been living in our house for a whole year. A YEAR.

That’s right, last September we were driving across town in the Costco rental van, picking up the keys to our new pad and embarking upon an adventure I can only describe as flatpack hell. There were a few appliance deliveries, some IKEA visits and a week or two of sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but we settled in pretty quickly and were just so grateful to be out of my parents house and in a place of our very own.

So, it’s a year later. Do we still love our house? Yes. But…

What lockdown 2020 taught us is that we 100% need more space. Outdoor space specifically. Because being stuck in a 2 bed coach house with a toddler and no garden or balcony or anything, was a STRUGGLE. We’ll still be here a few more years, but we are definitely looking forward to the next house and starting to think about what we want from it.

That said, I’m happy with how much we’ve made this little home of ours feel like just that, a home. Sometimes it can be tricky with decorating new-builds to make it feel cosy and yours. But considering we’ve not done that much to it, I think we’ve done quite well.

And because this is the first house that we’ve bought, it’s the first time we’ve been able to decorate. I mean we haven’t done everything just yet, but we’ve done enough for me to learn some solid tips for interior decorating. And I thought I would share them with you lovely lot.

Decorating Tips I’ve Learned From A Year In Our First Home

Take photos of every wall if you have a “pre-plaster tour”

I didn’t know what a pre-plaster tour was until we had one. But if you buy a new-build house from plan, so before it’s actually built, you get to go in and see it before the walls go up. There are beams in place so you can get an idea of the space, but the plaster isn’t up yet (hence the name) so you can see all the plumbing and electrical wires. Which is crucial. Take photos of every single wall because a few months later, when it comes to drilling holes in walls, you’re going to be glad you know where the pipes and wires are. It’s definitely made me more confident when putting up shelves, knowing it’s not going to go terribly wrong!

Live with things a while before drilling holes

Speaking of drilling holes, I think once you move into a new house, you want to get things up on the walls immediately. You just want it to feel like home straight away, and to look like your Pinterest boards already. But some advice my dad gave me was to live with things a while before drilling holes. I mean, some things I was 100% sure about, like putting the TV on the wall and mirrors above the sinks in the bathrooms. Y’know, the essentials. But I’m actually really glad I spent some time living in the house and thinking things over, before commiting to putting shelves up or deciding what to put above the bed. Once you’ve spent some time in the space it does change your mind on a few things.

Focus on decorating one area at a time

It can be overwhelming when you think about decorating a whole house. Or even furnishing a whole house if you’re starting from scratch like we were. And let’s face it, it’s expensive. But it’s key to prioritise everything and stick to making over one room at a time. I started with getting our living room sorted because it’s where we spend the most time. But focusing on one area definitely gives you a bit more direction and stops it feeling like a big job.

Make sure every purchase is considered and you love it

I made a mistake when I was renting. I bought all the furniture I needed straight away, as cheaply as possible, just to tick it off the list and get it done. But it meant I ended up living in a house I didn’t love. It was just full of furniture that got the job done, y’know?

I think the key to having a nice house is to take your time and only buy things you truely love. If it’s a bit pricier, save up, wait a month or two to buy it, rather than settling for stuff you will want to replace “eventually”. (I can tell you eventually will never come and you will have that IKEA LACK table for life.)

Never use the wall plugs that come with shelves

You know when you buy shelves or other wall-mounted decor items, and they come with screws and wall plugs? I’ve learned from experience that they are never good enough. And by that I mean I hung a macrame plant hanger up in my bedroom and an hour later it was on the floor with a whole lot of soil… Now, I get my own screws and wall plugs! The heavy-duty kind that you know aren’t going anywhere.

Be practical if you have kids

Ugh this was a tough pill to swallow over the last year. When I was waiting for our house, I was adding all sorts of lovely decorating ideas to my Pinterest boards, before I moved in and realised it was all hideously impractical for young children.

I would love lots of big houseplants on the floor, but Indi will literally just pick up handfuls of soil and spread it everywhere. I’d love to have my little bar globe in the living room, but after it being there a few months, and Indi continuously opening it and trying to play on it, we realised it was a bit of a hazard and swiftly moved it to our bedroom.

You can still have lovely interiors, you just have to think practically. And unfortunately, add ugly white plastic child locks to every piece of furniture.

Paint testers are essential

In the peak of lockdown I was keen to decorate the house (as was everyone else in the country). The problem was that all of the paint testers were out of stock. I considered just buying paint without testing it, but in retrospect I’m so glad I didn’t! I ended up waiting and getting the samples when they were available, and seeing them on the walls completely changed my mind.

For example, I want to paint my bedroom wall a nice sage green (it’s still on my decorating to do list) but the shades I chose were way too dark. And the peach testers I got for Indi’s room looked totally different on the walls. Moral of the story: get paint testers and live with them for a while before commiting. (I totally recommend Lick as their testers are removeable stickers!)

Always choose comfort

If you’re like me and all of your interiors inspo comes from Instagram and Pinterest, I think you can get carried away with ideas sometimes. I certainly do. I get a bit decorating-mad sometimes and announce I want to do colour blocking on the walls and buy velvet sofas and get cool flooring. But I have to rein myself in and remember that I’m the one that has to live in my house, not my Instagram followers! And when I do this I always try to tell myself to go with what’s most comfortable. Sure there are some beautiful sofas out there, but if you want curl up with a blanket and a glass of wine to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race in them, you know it’s not going to work. It’s the same with most armchairs. Sure the scandi ones look cool, but if it’s not comfortable, it’s a no from me. Comfort is king when it comes to my house.

Command strips are amazing

Y’know I mentioned waiting a while before drilling holes? A good option is to use Command strips to put up photo frames or artwork. And actually, even if you definitely know that you want to put the frames in a certain place, I still think they’re a better option than hanging them the traditional way. They’re easy to change up and I’ve had a really good experience with them staying put. My method is to cut them in half lengthways so I can put them at the top and the bottom of the frame, and I’ve found them really secure (even with Indi grabbing them and attempting to rip them off).

Ok, so it’s nothing groundbreaking, but a year into home ownership and I’ve certainly learned a lot about decorating that I didn’t know beforehand. Here’s to a few more years of fumbling my way through this interiors thing.

Head on over to my Instagram for regular updates on my adventures, millennial motherhood and life in general.