You've done it! Congratulations on buying your first home. It's an exciting, anxiety provoking, marvelous time of life. Of course, you'll be dragging all of the hand-me-downs and thrift store purchases along with you from that small apartment you rented until you could save up enough for the down payment on your first home. In due time, you will need to replace those relics with something you can live with comfortably and well into the future. For a balalanced lifestyle, necessities should come before luxuries. Consider the following when choosing those essential first home furnishings.

* Sofa Bed

This multi-use piece of furniture will solve two problems for the price of one. By day, you and your guests will have a comfortable place to sit; by night you will have a comfortable place to sleep. Later on, when you can afford to furnish the bedroom in high style, this sofa bed will function well for overnight guests. A little foresight here will benefit you well in the future.

* Bed

The sofa bed, while adequate at first, will never be the ultimate place to lay your head at night in your own home. As soon as possible after settling in and making due with the sofa bed, consider upgrading to the real thing. The sofa bed will never lose its value in your home furnishings.

* Flat Screen Television

At first glance this may appear to be a luxury. In reality, we live in a media-centered world. You will want and need access to the world that comes to you from the television media. The long term advantage of a flat screen is that you will have the latest technology and, if you choose to mount your flat screen television on the wall, you will not lose valuable floor space with an entertainment center or console television. In the long run, this will serve you well.

* Table and Chairs

You won't be eating all of your meals in front of that flat screen television. A proper table, with six chairs, will provide a stable environment for your own meals and a place to entertain friends.

* Window Treatments

Nothing completes the look of a room in your new home like proper sheers, curtains, drapes or mini-blinds. Consider this to be a security measure, as well, keeping intruding eyes from peering in your windows at night.

* Desk

Whether you work all day at a desk in the office or work outdoors in all sorts of weather and never see the inside of an office, you will appreciate having a desk at home. Here, in one unified space, you can organize and store the essential paperwork

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