How to Furnish Your Home on a Budget

After years of diligent saving and planning, you are ready to buy a home. And after all the searching, open house tours, and negotiations, you finally secured your first steps on the property ownership ladder. 

But now you have to figure out how you will furnish your brand new home! This process is easier said than done, as buying property can drain your savings. While a professional interior designer might be out of reach, there are other ways you can spruce up your home without busting your bank account. 

That is why the team at Prevu Real Estate assembled the quick guide below to help you efficiently furnish your new house on a budget. 

Take stock of what you have 

Most first-time buyers moving into a new home have been renting for a few years and have a mix-and-match of furniture. This eclectic array comes from a combination of gifted items, treasure found while stooping, and perhaps an IKEA table or two. 

Homes are often larger than a rental unit, so even if you bring everything with you, chances are you will have plenty of space leftover. So when it comes time to furnish your home, you will want to consider what fixtures are making the move with you. 

Start with your walls, looking at framed photos, items on the shelf, and other mementos. You may love your college-era Wayne's World poster, complete with frame, but do you want this gracing the walls of your new entry foyer? 

From there, look at your dressers, cabinets, and tables. If you collected a hodge-podge of items over the years, it might be time to list that tired coffee table on Facebook Marketplace. And of course, you have to consider the all-important couch and bed. After years of Netflix and snacks, it might be time to retire your flaking, faux-leather couch. 

You will realize in this process that your creature comforts easily fill out your apartment, yet your new home has much more space to work with. 

Don't do everything at once 

As you go through all your stuff, you will realize you might have a single item that fits each room. 

For instance, you may have a great coffee table but no good throw rug to complete the room. Equally, you may have one dresser that perfectly fits snug in your old spot, yet the piece looks awkward in a larger room without matching nightstands. 

So as you get ready to move into your new abode, look at each room and figure out which one to start furnishing first. 

Many people start with the living room as homeowners spend a lot of their waking hours here. You can mix and match the couch, coffee table, and side tables to fit your style. While others like to begin their decorating by curating their bedroom. By focusing on a room-by-room basis, you can think about the room's design and how each one fits into your plans for the whole theme of the home. 

Gradually filling each room allows you to spread out the payments and keep an eye out for deals. Plus, you won’t have to assemble all of the pieces all at once.

Wait until you close before you buy furniture 

The excitement of looking at a new space and figuring out your grander plan for it is part of what makes buying a home so much fun. 

As you tour open houses, you will begin planning out what you want to do with each room. But do not get ahead of yourself and buy furniture before closing the deal on the home. Buying a home is not always a quick transaction, and there are many contingencies to worry about that can cause a deal to go awry before closing. 

Imagine purchasing a new dining room set built for a specifically-sized room, only to learn that you can’t secure the financing for your home or worse, if you lose your job. In addition to finding a new home, you have to find one that fits the set, or you will have to sell the furniture. 

You want to get it right the first time, so you should first focus on timeless pieces. 

What furniture is worth the investment? 

Decking out your home to fit your personal style is no easy feat. And when you are on a budget, you have to make compromises. 

Not all pieces have to be top-of-the-line from Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware, but do not spare any expenses on pieces that matter to you. Most rooms in a house have a costly centerpiece item, and you arrange the rest of the items in the space around that piece. You can try planning out a purchase from these furniture stores around holidays like Memorial Day or Labor Day, when these outlets offer deals. 

What you get first depends on your tastes and needs as a homebuyer. If you enjoy quiet evenings reading by the window, you will want to invest in a cozy couch and good interior lighting. But if you love watching shows and movies, you may want to get the latest in entertainment centers and TVs and hold off on the wrap-around leather couch. 

And it has never been easier to get inexpensive alternatives to complete your rooms. Wayfair, IKEA, and AmazonBasics offer attractively priced pieces for starter homes, with some assembly required. 

But you can also find beautiful used furniture to fill in the gaps on a budget via Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Craigslist if you pay attention to listings on the net. Just make sure to verify the buyer and always have a friend to help you get your rehomed furniture. And of course, you can also go to yard sales and estate sales to find great deals to save money on furniture without breaking the bank.

Yet one of the best ways to finance your furnishings is unknown to most homebuyers, and it involves what broker you choose.

Find a broker that offers commission rebates 

One of the most expensive purchases you can make is buying a home, and besides buying a car, furnishings might be the next most expensive items a person purchases. 

You can invest thousands upon thousands into interior decorating, even if you compromise on price. So you will want to save wherever you can, and that process can start with your buyer's agent. As you meet with and interview real estate agents, ask them about their experience selling homes, their local knowledge, and if they offer commission rebates. 

Essentially, a commission rebate enables your buyer’s agent to provide you with a portion of their broker commission at closing. Brokerages like Prevu Real Estate offer a portion of their buyer's broker commission back to buyers when they close on a home. 

Depending on the price of your home, you stand to receive a rebate of thousands of dollars after closing. That money can go a long way as you fill out the furnishings in your new home.