Spend here
- Your mattress: you spend a third of your life on it.
- Your sofa or main chair: cheap foam goes flat within a year or two.
- A sturdy table: a wobbly one is annoying every single day.
Save here
- Side tables, shelves and sideboards: solid basics from IKEA or second-hand last for years.
- Dining chairs: mismatched second-hand chairs can look deliberate.
- Decoration: add it slowly, as you find things you like.
- Lamps: a cheap shade with a warm bulb does most of the work.
Set a budget per room
Decide what each room may cost before you start, and give the big piece in each room about half of it. That stops the first room from eating the whole budget.
On redsgn you can give the furnish chat a budget for the room. It picks real IKEA and Sklum pieces within it and shows them in a photo of your own room, so you see the total and the look before you order.
Avoid paying twice
Returns cost time, and with big items often money too. Measure the room, the doorways and the stairs, and look at the piece in your own room before you order. A photo of your room with the actual product in it, at its real dimensions, tells you more than the product page can.