So you’ve just moved into a new apartment and feel like now is the time for you to start “adulting”.
Or maybe you’re just beginning to look at new apartments, but have been visualizing how they’d look with all your stuff in them and realized it’s time to step up your game. What better steps to take toward adulthood than making sure you furnish your apartment like someone who knows what they’re doing?
1. Find your Style
You know the situation all too well: a well-meaning friend or family member is getting rid of a gently used piece of furniture and they’ve offered it to you for free. How could you say no? Unfortunately, over time all of these secondhand items have accumulated and suddenly your apartment is full of mismatched furniture and cluttered decor. Now is the time (especially if you’re moving) to retire your current furnishings and make your apartment feel like “you” again.
The first step to doing this is to find your style– the things that make you, feel like you. Finding your style will not only help you to decide how you want your apartment to look, but it’ll also help you to furnish in a consistent, thoughtful way. It sounds cliché, but Pinterest is full of ideas and can be a fantastic place to start.
2. Keep it Simple
Especially for a larger, more expensive item like a couch, it’s best to stick to neutral shades. While bright or unique colors can be tempting, they are less versatile from a design standpoint. That lime green couch will only seem like a great idea until it’s sitting in the middle of your living room and you can’t figure out how to work it into the rest of your decor. Not to mention, neutral tones can easily blend into almost all decor schemes, so your neutral furnishings can adapt with you for many years to come!
3. Accents are your Friend
If you’re the type of person who cringed at the latter suggestion, fear not! Your larger furnishings being of neutral tones doesn’t mean you can’t have any color in your life. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Incorporating bright colors through the use of accents is a creative, mature way to bring color into a room and make things pop. Accents don’t have to be just colors, either. This is your chance to include wacky wall art, an eccentric arm chair or anything else that catches your eye. Feeling uninspired by in-store items? Try shopping online!
4. Switch it Up
As great as IKEA is, it’s important that you do not buy all of your furnishings from there, or really, from anywhere. A good rule of thumb is to hold yourself to a maximum of three items per brand. So, three from IKEA, three from Wayfair, and so forth. If you reach a point where you feel like you’ve exhausted your options, shop local! There are plenty of stores in NYC that might have exactly what you’re looking for. By doing this, you’ll ensure that there’s a healthy variety in your apartments interior design and keep it looking more like a home and less like a showroom display.
5. Don’t Forget the Kitchen!
When it comes to furnishings, one of the last places you’d think of is the kitchen, but in reality it is easily one of the most neglected areas. To be more specific, one of the kitchen furnishings you’re likely neglecting the most is cookware– yes, we’re talking about your pots and pans. Your pots don’t have to be from top brands like Calphalon in order to be of high-quality, and having a well-equipped kitchen might just be the difference between you finally trying that new recipe or ordering out for the third night in a row.
Nevertheless, investing in a good cookware set can be an invaluable asset to both you and your kitchen. And, unlike the latest Apple gadget, the right set will last a lifetime.
If you’re looking to upgrade your furnishings because you’re moving to a new apartment, let us know how we can help make your move easier!
