Designing your perfect home interior is exciting, but when you’re on a budget, you need a strategy. It’s not hard to create your ideal space while staying within your means. If you’re currently house hunting, you have an advantage – you can select the home that best matches your layout needs and budget.
But don’t rush out to get a fixer-upper, thinking you can allocate more of your budget to your interior. Even though it may seem like you’ll save money with a fixer-upper, it’s best to buy a move-in-ready home. Too often, first-time home buyers drop a large portion of their budget into endless renovations that end up costing more than expected. Freeing up both your budget and creative energy for interior design is the better option.
1. Start with a move-in-ready home
Certain television shows made fixer-uppers popular for many years, but that’s fading. A Rocket Mortgage® survey of first-time home purchasers found that only 16% are purchasing a starter home that they plan to sell later. Move-in-ready homes are becoming more popular among people who just want to enjoy their homes, especially younger generations.
If you’re serious about creating a beautiful interior without overspending, the smartest move is to buy a home you can move into right away – especially if you’re a first-time home buyer. A move-in-ready home reduces the time, energy, and money you’ll need to spend on renovations and permits and avoids the unexpected expenses and long timelines that come with extensive repairs. This means you can move in and immediately prioritize décor, furniture, art, and all the little personalized details rather than replacing floors and fixing walls for the next six months.
2. Plan your interior design
Before buying pieces of furniture or choosing paint colors, create a clear plan to avoid overspending and regretting your choices. Impulse purchases add up fast and can drain your budget.
Start by identifying your “must-haves,” like a comfortable couch, good lighting, storage, and your bedroom set. Source these items first so they get priority in your budget. From there, plan your themes for each room. Find the furniture and décor you want for each room and document the price. This will make it easier to alter your choices if something pushes you over your budget.
If you buy any furniture online, take measurements first, even if the item looks like a perfect fit. It’s not easy to return furniture purchased online, even when returns are accepted. If you’ve already assembled the item, you’ll need to disassemble it and repackage it to ship, and you’ll probably need to pay for shipping.
3. Create a mood board
Mood boards are an excellent way to keep your preferred style cohesive throughout your house or each room. When you find a piece of furniture or art that you love, but it doesn’t match your mood board, you’ll know before you buy it. You can build an interior design mood board on Pinterest but be careful with adding too many photos to your albums. To avoid overwhelm, keep it simple and only add photos of interior décor and furniture that really lights you up.
4. Adopt cost-effective lifestyle habits
Your lifestyle affects the way you decorate and furnish your home. For example, if you enjoy home automation, you might want to get a smart refrigerator that will tell you when you’re out of eggs. But those refrigerators are expensive, and if it’s not in your budget, you’ll need to hold back on the automation.
As a general rule, it’s better to splurge on pieces you’ll use daily, like your couch, bed, and dining room table. Opt for budget items for accessories that don’t get used much or that you’ll change at some point.
5. DIY what you can
It makes sense to hire a professional for certain things, but there are plenty of DIY design projects you can tackle on your own or with a friend. For instance, you can paint the interior walls, install shelves, and refurbish vintage furniture to save money. The money you save here can be put into upgrading other items, like getting a better bed.
Your dream interior is waiting
Your ideal interior design begins with a target aesthetic and a solid plan for each item you want to purchase. By shopping wisely and sticking to your preferred aesthetic, you can create a personalized, comfortable space on any budget.
