Banks will generally not allow for furnishings as part of a mortgage because they are not considered to be lifetime assets.
Decide on your budget and stick to it. Trying to purchase everything at the start will lead to impulse buys – collect pieces over time instead.
While the visual space of your new home is important, the decorative aspect will not be enjoyed if you do not take its function into account.
“Everything should have a function in your home,” says Cork-based interior designer Mary Jane Russell. “Less is always best; if you have inherited a piece you don’t like, sell it and buy something you will love and use.”
Be practical with your choice of style and furnishings and focus on the occupants; are you creating a bachelor pad or a family home?
Get the basics right
“The most important factor is to get the bones right,” says Arlene McIntyre, of Ventura interior design, in Dublin. “It’s very easy to splurge, but you need to focus on the basics; a good bed, sofa and dining table are essential. You can build around these over a period of time.”
“One of the classic mistakes I see is when people have a favourite colour. You must be careful with colour – don’t go and buy a sofa in a vibrant colour as it is a life time purchase; you can easily accessorise with colour in soft furnishings instead.”
Inspiration and ideas
Interior designers provide a great one-stop shop and can help to save time, but the web offers plenty of free inspiration. Houzz. com, for example, has a huge selection of interior design ideas, with more than three million photographs. Creating an idea book will allow you to collate all your favourite inspirational pictures.
Choose a good bed
Because we spend up to a third of our lives in one, it is worth spending as much as you can
on your bed to avoid back problems and interrupted sleep. The array of choices can be confusing, but understanding your body’s needs and how a bed is made will help you make the right choice.
“It’s one of the most significant purchases in your life,” says Fiona Beirne, of Stylish Interiors in Longford. “What is most important when making the choice is that you lie on the bed and spend time there.”
Staff at Stylish Interiors are trained by Harrison beds in the UK to study the body’s supine position so they can advise customers on their needs. Each bed and mattress is custom made to any size. A further option is dual tension, where the mattress can have a soft and hard side to accommodate the needs of a couple (prices from €700 to €5,000).
For duvets and sheets, David Coakley of the Linenmill, in Westport, whose family have been producing textiles for more than 40 years, advises customers to “go for natural products – down and feather are breathable and will keep the body warm in winter and cool in summer”.
“Siberian down encased in silk is the last word in luxury but will set you back about €1,000 for a double duvet. But there are plenty of reasonable options available.
“For tog ratings, if you want a year-round duvet choose a 10.5 tog as an alternative to buying seasonal duvets,” says Coakley. “People have become obsessed with thread count – you need a balance between what is luxurious and what will wash and iron easily, a 280 thread count makes practical sense.”
Get the right sofa
Solid frames with eight-way hand-tied springs are the hallmark of good sofas. It will be cheaper to upholster a good sofa in the future rather than purchase one of comparable quality.
“Comfort and support are the two main factors,” says Tom Coyne, of Caseys in Limerick, “but be careful of size as showrooms are large and sizes can be deceptive. Have your room dimensions with you, and make sure the sofa can fit through the door of the house.” If your sofa is a light colour consider stain proofing – it may be worth paying extra to be able to wipe spills away.
Dine in style
Decide how many place settings you need and what size table can be accommodated in the room.
If your budget is tight, you can always buy a secondhand table and dress it with good linen until you can afford a key piece. Consider an antique table, built of solid hardwood – it will last into the next century. House clearances or auctions around the country are good value options.
Soft furnishings
TK Maxx, Ikea, Dunnes Stores and Marks & Spencer offer well-priced soft furnishings, as does the Kildare Village outlet. For more upmarket pieces, The Blue Door in Monkstown has a great selection. Consider framing old architectural prints until you have a budget for art. The Harold Bazaar in Harold's Cross in Dublin has has a collection of large old frames priced at €20 each.
If you’re considering saving money by shopping in Northern Ireland, you may want to think again. At Ikea, for example, a Kulinarisk oven, a Stockholm 3-seater sofa and large Sunderö garden table costs €382.50 less in Dublin than up North, and that’s before taking fuel costs into consideration.
Wherever you shop, allow your house develop over time around its occupants and try to create a timeless style. If your house has little in the way of architectural features, its contents will provide these focal points.
