Why can’t you keep bread in the fridge!? I always do lol!!
Wow, you are so lucky getting to basically start again with the furniture!! I’m very jealous 😛 and I have zero tips cos I’ve never decorated..but I like light, modern, clean styles 🙂

You should check out http://www.designspongeonline.com for ideas. I basically drool over everything on that site, but the home tours give me great ideas for my own place.

best piece of advice i can give you – don’t feel pressured to buy everything at once. buy things one by one! then things will come together nicely, and you can really hone your style and taste!

those design shows, that’s not easy to do! they also have boat loads of money!

I really like apartment therapy.com. I’ve been in my condo for 2 years (i still don’t have art work on the walls, but i do feel like i’m slowly getting a style!)

We did the same when we moved into our house last year – we needed EVERYTHING! I was really excited and wanted to buy everything at once. People kept trying to stop me, telling me that over time the style would come and I didn’t want to rush. That ended up being true because I bought a large painting that I now loathe.

I think if you flip through some mags you will find what you want. I suggest buying only the essentials first – for us it was a sectional, chair, kitchen and dining room table. We still have a ton of bar rooms in our house because I can’t decide what I love now!

i keep bread in the fridge too 😀

I put my bread in the fridge also. My roommate did it so I started doing it. haha.

I’m in the same boat as you…moving to London in August and can’t wait to start fresh and decorate the new flat!!

I had never seen anyone put bread in the refrigerator until one of my recent roommates did it. I believe there’s still a debate of which keeps it fresh, right? I have no clue…

And for style ideas, I’m a fan of browsing magazines like Crate & Barrel, Ikea, and even some Good Housekeeping. I find a style I like and just copy it with my own little tweaks and such. If anything, it gives me good ideas for color schemes or what to do with empty walls…

My style is comfort first! My sofa is the most comfortable thing in the world. I could sleep there!! (and I sometimes do steal a nap on front of the tv)Otherwise I like earth tones (dark brown, olive, beige). People seem to like my little apartment so I guess it works! LOL

I second Younghouselove!!! It’s a great site, people our age decorating their first home with style and still on a budget.

I’m not exactly an expert in decorating, but it’s been 2 years since we bought our first house (my first real opportunity to decorate!) so I think I’m getting the hang of it.
I always pick one “inspiration” piece (like a really cool, inspiring picture or vase) and draw colors from there. We did this with our bedroom and it turned out really well. Remember with couches and bed coverings, neutral works best with some fun accent pillows. If you keep the furniture classic, you won’t feel like you need to replace it in a few years — you can change it up with wild accessories.
Good luck! I love finding a style. 🙂

First time commenter! My husband and I moved to our new town a year ago, and then due to major issues in our first place, moved again about 3 months ago.

My first piece of advice is to buy QUALITY pieces- we originally hit up Ikea for a large majority of our furniture, since we couldn’t afford much, and it was a bad idea. Half of the stuff we bought initially didn’t even make the cut to come to the new place because it was already starting to fall apart, etc. Granted, you can get some solid wood pieces and other stuff that will last, but anything made of particle board won’t survive long.

My second piece of advice is to look for unique consignment stores. We ran across a company that sells furniture and home goods for mostly elderly people that are downsizing, but also would sell pieces used in home staging. We found brand new (with tags, even) leather couches that were exactly what we wanted for something like 70% off their original price, and also found an antique farm table and bench that are heirloom quality for really decent prices.

Basically, just be patient if you can live without your new place being totally furnished. You’re much more likely to get exactly what you want (and save $$) if you build it slowly!

For the big ticket items- go neutral. Find something that could grow with you as your tastes change. Then accent it with whatever you are feeling in the moment. For example, buy simple plain couches and then accent them with funky pillows that you can change up every year or so. It is easy to get sick of patterns, and this way when you get sick of a pattern you can just put the pillow covers away and buy some new ones for the future.

As far as wall art etc, don’t rush into it. Start with plain walls and let it build as time goes on. We are JUST finally reaching the final few stages of picking out wall art and I have been living on my own since 2006 building it up.

When you travel someplace new keep your eyes open for funky and unique pieces that could fit your place well.

With big furniture purchases- I like to mix fancy/elegant with simple/utilitarian styles, so I tend to go for a nice piece next to something from Ikea. That helps our budget but also keeps the room from being too formal or too casual, too cold or too warm.

Don’t be afraid to live with an empty room or without a coffee table etc for a bit. When I bought my condo I didn’t have a tv stand or coffee tables for a few months until I finally found what I was looking for.

Good luck and feel free to email me any specific links to pieces etc.

You do know that you’re moving to one of the biggest furniture states, right? Check out the many furniture outlets in North Carolina. There are tons in the Hickory area (about an hour from Charlotte) and I found some great deals in the Raleigh area as well. When I bought new furniture, I found a couch and chair that weren’t the same brand, but coordinated really well and were high quality for the price (i.e., cheap as Ikea but much better in quality).

I’m excited for you. When we moved after grad school and FINALLY got on with our lives, it was magical!

BTW – one of the best outlets is the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams outlet. Their furniture is funky and modern. Plus, they feature their bulldog (and lots of hot men) in many of their ads, so what’s bad about that? 🙂

i’m no interior decorator, but i love finding something as a source of inspiration (a really awesome bowl, a pillow, etc) and build the room around complimentary and matching colors, different prints and textures, and furniture that’s SUPER comfy! that’s so exciting!

My advice would be to buy your furniture in neutral types of colors (like beige/cream/brown).Then I would find a few nice paintings/pictures that you like and might hang in your living room,for example,and pick out colors from those pictures that you like.Then you can accessorise your living room with those types of colors.And when you get tired of that look,it’s much easier to change up the accessories (like lamps or pillows) than if you were to buy a red couch,but get tired of it after a while.

I am so excited for you! I really love interior design. I absolutely agree on designsponge, apartmenttherapy, and younghouselove as sources of inspiration…they all rock! I print out ideas I like and keep a binder of the designs and techniques so I can go back to them when I need style inspiration. 🙂

I never really decorated until I moved to my current apartment. I guess this is the first place I expected to live for a few years. And it was built in 1923, so it’s already sort of cute. 🙂 It was easiest for me to pick out a color theme and go from there. Even if you buy things that don’t fit the theme (which is OK because otherwise it starts to look sort of silly), you have a main idea to work off of. Also, I think it helps to go piece-by-piece. That way you can stop yourself if it is starting to look cheesy! 🙂

I absolutely stink at decorating, that’s my bf’s domain for sure. Although our house is TOTALLY just full of thrown together hand me downs too. The only cool part about our house is that my bf and all of our friends are artists so our tiny little apt is covered with about 20 original paintings.

my bf and i have had our new place for almost a year now and are still working on getting a “style.” like you- we got rid of EVERYTHING before buying this place. It was nice to get rid of all that old college crap.

Just beware that you’ll want to do everything all at once. I’ve learned that unless you have unlimited funds- it’s kind of a long process. Good luck! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

For our job we get a company furnished housing so we have no say. But I know I love clean lines. I say go look at magazines and blogs to figure out what you love. And wandering IKEA if there is one near you gives you great ideas.

The French toast looks AMAZING!!
And how exciting that you get to buy all new furniture!!! I’ve never decorated myself before but how cool!

Oooh, much luck with the decorating! I have no skills in that department, but I find it’s easy enough to at least fake it. Just buy pieces that really speak to you and represent who you are and you should be solid.

How exciting!!
I did something very similar about a month ago- we kept our bed and a table, and that’s it. We haven’t really bought anything yet though, because we are pretty poor so we want to wait and find something we love before we splurge. I also had a few years with lots of hand me downs from friends, and this time we moved cross country and decided: no more furniture we just feel “eh” about. Until we find we like at a price we can afford we’ll sit on the floor.
that said, I think one of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard is to focus on your “base”. By that I mean your floors, ceiling, walls and lighting. Sounds like your floors are slammin, but a few rich carpets can look great against hardwood. Choose nice draperies or roman blinds to soften your windows. If you’re allowed, think about molding for your ceiling. And don’t use the overhead light! Everything looks and feels better with mood lighting- buy the right lamps for each room and use them. Think about what will go on the walls- we are lucky that we have a lot of original artwork, but just one or two pieces will make your style more unique. Try etsy. Once you have a great “base” everything else will come together.
As far as “style” I say: read the magazines/blogs/design shows, etc., but in the end, you should buy what you truly love. If you only buy what you love, they will all share something in common at the end. That’s how I buy clothes, too.
Good luck! What a fun “task”!

So exciting! I’m sure you will have a blast furnishing your new place. A few tips from the past 10 years of furnishing and re-furnishing 7 apartments (mine), a ton of film and photo sets, and 4 houses (three for my sisters, one for my mom)
1. Buy quality big pieces, which might mean not furnishing every room to the hilt from the start.
2. Buy neutral big pieces (e.g. we purchased a white couch, a white TV/entertainment doodad, and a white chair; all of our wooden pieces are from the same family of stains).
3. Buy fun, inexpensive accents that you can change without feeling guilty. That gives you some flexibility to find your style and change with seasons/trends without committing to having a blue living room forever.
4. Find pictures of rooms that you like and really analyze them thoroughly. Does everything make a statement, or is it really that one painting/flower arrangement/end table that has a starring role?
5. Don’t buy *anything* before you have a general plan for the room. My sister bought a beautiful couch that doesn’t match the rest of her room at ALL, and it ended up looking too small once it was in place with the rest of the furniture. Expensive mistake!
6. Inspiration board for each room (helps with #5 as well). Helps you set the emotional/energetic tone, color scheme, etc. for the room without spending.

I like they idea of layering. Start with you basics then add as you go along and you’ll find your style. 🙂

I love starting from scratch – it’s so freeing to have absolutely nothing to go off. I’d concentrate on figuring out your style – modern, eclectic, homey, minimal, etc…and using that as a motif for decorations while keeping the furniture fairly classic. IKEA is your friend!

Get the Domino decorating book!!! Tips of decorating on a budget, finding your unique style that will flow throughout your space, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Domino-Decorating-Room-Room-Creating/dp/1416575464 Seriously… changed my life. 😉

I was wondering how many days you typically take off for recovery after a half marathon and if you feel it’s beneficial to do an easier workout when you’re still sore. I’m not a new runner by any means, but I ran a fast (for me) half on sunday and set a new pr (1:49:35 seconds woo-hoo!!!!! lol) and i’m pretty sore but i’m also feeling pretty antsy lol. I’ve been walking the last two days but I’m wondering if it’s ok to get my cross-train on tomorrow even if I still feel sore and what you generally do.

Also, how much do you eat on lighter workout days? I feel STARVING even though I definitely ate back enough on Sunday and have just walked the last couple days. Have you ever dealt with this?

Cinnachip makes the BEST French toast!

Let me know of you want to go furniture shopping. Our house is still devoid of furniture. Lol

Hey caitlin! I know you’re very sensitive to eating disorder awareness. In fact that’s one of the reasons I read your blog… You are an activist for positive body image! But if you could refrain from using words like “purge” when it comes to cleaning the apartment that would be great. It’s just hard when I read a comment to your post that says “I’m purging too!!”… Not cool 🙁

Just being mindful about words we use is very important. I struggled with an eating disorder for years, so I just wanted to put that out there. Thanks 🙂

I just moved to Charlotte on the 6th, and I am LOVING it! There is so much to do! I can’t wait for you to get here so we can do all kinds of fun stuff together! I don’t really know anyone so I’m looking for a buddy!!