Being a first time home buyer is reward enough in itself. Everyone is congratulating you 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. But, as soon as possible, you'll want to put your own personal touch on your home with furnishings you've chosen with your personality in mind.
You will need to replace those relics with something you can live with comfortably now and well into the future. For a balanced 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. If you've just shelled out many thousands of dollars on your down payment and closing costs, you probably don't have the money or the inclination to furnish every room of your new home at once. A sofa bed will serve a dual purpose. 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, but nothing will compare with having a bed of your own.
* 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 if space permits, 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 of your life. Bill paying, magazine reading, file maintenance, working on your laptop and mail sorting can be handled from one central location.
* Chest of Drawers (or two)
Accept the fact that you will not have enough closet space. That is just a fact of modern life. A sturdy chest of drawers (or two or three) will be a functional piece of furniture that will never stop being useful and adaptable. In the future, when you change your decorating scheme, you will still find a need and a place for a spare chest of drawers.
* Book Shelves
Unless your new home comes with lots of built in bookcases, you will want to purchase one or more sets of shelves for the storage of books, DVDs, photo albums or any of a thousand other miscellaneous items that will have no other home. Book shelves can do a great job of controlling clutter.
* Assortment of Lighting Fixtures
Adequate lighting makes every room function to its peak level. Make sure to supplement any ceiling fixtures in each room with an ample light supply coming from table lamps, floor lamps or additional indirect lighting sources. While you're at it, be sure to select energy saving light fixtures using compact fluorescent light bulbs or install dimmers to conserve energy for yourself and the world around you.
* Recliner Chair
For the ultimate comfort at the end of a long day, stretching back in your recliner is the perfect venue for emptying your mind of the day's concerns and finding a place to escape. This is one of those necessity/luxury items that will be beneficial, necessary and rewarding, all at the same time.