Would you know what pieces to buy first in this room?
Isn’t this a striking space? I’m ready to move in right now!
It’s done by an award winning team out of Austin Texas, (near Lake Travis, where my folks live), called Heather-Scott Home, lead by Heather Blue Harkovich.
Heather obviously knows how to put a room together. She probably had a generous budget and could buy everything at once.
But not everyone can.
What home remodel or decorating looks like in a perfect world
In a perfect world, here’s how it would go:
Figuring out your concept and getting inspiration
Creating a wish list of desires
Refining the list to fit your budget
Planning the layout and coordinating the look
Checking with professionals, like a contractor, to be sure it all fits within the plan
Purchasing everything at once
Storing it until it’s ready to be installed
Putting it all in place
Taking a hot bubble bath with a glass of champagne and your yellow rubber ducky Harold.
Ahhhhh…niiiiiice…
From the book At Home with Plants by Ian Drummond & Kara O’ Reilly, Photo: Nick Pope
Why few people have the perfect situation for buying home decor
Most people don’t have the budget or the team, or the patience to put a full plan together and buy everything at once.
Most homeowners are happy getting a new plan started and make progress on it in chunks.
Even for those who have a whole plan together, it may take a while to make their purchases . They are sometimes bummed to discover that their chosen drape fabric has been discontinued and they will have to choose something new.
How likely will that new item fit in with their plan?
Well, that depends on what order they’ve made their purchases. It’s actually a thang.
I’ve seen some Uh Oh moments because of purchase timing.
To be clear, that can happen rather easily, even to the most seasoned of us. I’m grimacing because it’s happened to me too. I’ll tell you about one in a minute as long as you promise not to make fun of me.
As I was saying, one way of avoiding unwanted surprises is is by knowing what to purchase first.
So, you’re saying I need a buying plan, Michelle?
Yep! A buying plan is a smart idea!
To be clear, as I pointed out earlier, planning your design and planning your buying are two different things.
Planning your design starts with inspiration, baby. It’s not in the scope of this post to discuss inspiration in depth.
In short, it’s what you want your space to look or feel like. And there’s no single-way to get it goin’.
You can find your vision in photos, artwork, fabric or wallpaper you love.
You could build a look around a statement piece. One that draws attention, like an oversized light, a free-hanging fireplace, a Japanese soaking tub, or your new puppy dog Casey.
We can take a guess at what inspired the room pictured at the beginning (Heather-Scott Design).
It’s possible they saw an inspirational picture from another space. Or they loved the fabric on the throw pillows. Or the picture above the fireplace was the home owner’s favorite.
My guess is that they loved the striking black window and sliding glass door frames and imagined that energizing punch against white creamy walls.
And they said yeah…let’s make the whole room to feel like that!
Here is the picture again so you don’t have to scroll up.
Living Room by Heather Scott Home
After getting inspired, they created a design and a list of what decor the room needs.
It may have looked like this:
- Wall paint
- Two sofas
- Two chairs
- Coffee table
- Window treatments
- Two credenzas
- Two table lamps, once floor lamp
- One ceiling chandelier
- Three ottomans
- Throw pillows
- Wall art
- Table top decor
If they were remodeling, they may have also had these items:
- Two way see-through fireplace
- Fireplace mantle
- Fireplace facing stone
- Fireplace hearth stone
- Flooring
But which of these items to buy first?
Having a list is one thing, but then you need to start buying schtuff, right? Some people can afford to buy everything at once. But if you can’t buy everything once, you need to pick and choose what to buy first, second, third, etc.
When faced with lists, like the one’s above, many people start with the wrong thing.
The mistake almost everyone makes, including Kim (his story below)
Ask yourself, what would you start with?
Were you about to say paint?
Because that’s what Kim did. He painted his living room first because he thought Fair Island Blue by Benjamin Moore is pretty. And he’s right. It is.
Here it is in case you wondered what it looks like.
Kim bought his sofa, his chairs, and his coffee and side tables.
Later he found a bookcase he liked.
He updated his art.
Eventually he found some drapes he loved and dialed in coordinating decorative throw pillows.
Yep, some people know the value of throw pillows. (Those are my kind of peeps!)
Was he on the right track? He started with his favorite wall color and then the sofa. Is that what you would have started with?
For those of you who answered “You should start by buying a good bottle of bourbon and drinking it while daydreaming.” I say yes! And I’m happy to join you.
But I digress.
Back to the story. Here’s where things went wrong.
Kim thought a nice area rug would finish it off nicely, so he started his rug search. He searched, and he searched and he searched.
Kim hit a wall and it was stressing him out.
He’d break into a sweat with each successive search.
He found out it was difficult to find an area rug that went with his other recently-purchased items, especially the drapes and throw pillows.
As Scooby Doo would say, “Ruh roh!”
His “fix it” options were:
1. Have a rug custom made (yes, you can do that, but it’s pricey!), or
2. Change his coordinated fabric items like the window treatments and pillows, (ouch!)
or
3. Live with a “good enough, but not great” rug (waaaaah!)
He eventually figured it out, but he could have saved himself the headache if he’d known the rule-of-thumb I’m about to tell you about.
In case you were curious, he went with option one, but he wasn’t originally planning to do that, so his pocketbook was in pain for a while.
Okay, I bite…what is the rule-of-thumb for the order of decor purchases, Michelle?
The rule-of-thumb is, you shop for the harder-to-source items first.
This is the main idea behind a buying plan.
How do you know what is the harder to source items? Well, that’s a little tricky if you don’t shop much for home improvement items and are “in the know.”
But I can give you some starting places. Because I’m nice like that. You can consier this a “designer secret.”
Rug by Elan Byrd
FIRST ITEMS to buy for interior decoration (in no particular order):
-
-
- AN AREA RUG
- AN ITEM YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH (and would be heartbroken if it was no longer available)
- AN UNUSUAL SIZE ITEM (if it’s key to your design)
- A “ONE-OF-A-KIND” ITEM
-
If you are swooning over that huge Chihuly glass chandelier, or you absolutely must have that one-of a kind Memphis style bookcase, these are the types of things to start with first.
Regardless of what it is, if you can’t imagine living without it or it’s the kind of thing that will disappear in a week and you know you want it, that’s a first purchase item.
Pieces that have difficult size requirements are another good place to start because your choices will be limited.
And yes, attractive area rugs are often difficult to find.
Is there a second tier of items to consider?
Yes!
SECOND ITEMS to buy for interior decor:
-
-
- FABRIC PATTERNS THAT NEED TO COORDINATE WITH EACH OTHER
-
If there are often several fabric pieces that have designs (like plaids, polka dots, stripes) that must coordinate with each other, you would buy them at the same time, like Kim’s drapes and pillows. If he’d had another graphic fabric that related to those, like a floral chair, or a ikat ottoman, those would have also been part of the group.
THIRD ITEMS TO BUY for interior decoration:
-
-
- SOLID COLORED FABRIC PIECES
- NEUTRAL COLORED ITEMS
- FURNITURE PIECES MADE WITH GLASS, WOOD, METAL, CERAMIC, ETC. (That don’t qualify as first tier items)
-
Items that are neutral colored, or have solid colored fabrics, or are made of glass, wood, metal, etc, can often have many easy to coordinate alternatives, so those can be purchased later.
Okay, Michelle, what if we’re doing a remodel?
Wait, what is the difference between decor and remodel? A remodel is changing things that are connected to the building, decor is the furnishings that can be moved around. Some easy-to-change items like lighting, drapes and paint can straddle both categories.
Is there a rule for what to buy first when taking things down to the nubbins (ie: remodeling)?
Sure.
FIRST ITEMS to buy in remodeling:
-
-
- FLOORING
- STONE (MARBLE, GRANITE, SLATE, ETC)
- A UNIQUE PIECE
- A “MUST HAVE!” ITEM YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH
- AN UNUSUAL SIZE ITEM (if it’s key to your design)
- UNUSUAL-COLORED LARGE APPLIANCES (ie: cobalt blue stove)
-
If you’re doing a remodel, find the flooring first, especially if it covers the majority of the house.
There will be elements in different rooms that all need to work together. Floors are a unifying factor, which means choices can be more limited.
It goes without saying (although I’m going to say it), you should confirm the floor goes with your big items that are already installed in the rest of the house. I’m talking cabinets, countertops, other connected flooring and architectural features like fireplaces and stairs.
My friend Jen’s purchasing order mistake! Another cautionary tale
Speaking of floors, this reminds me of a friend who called me in a panic. I’ll call her “Jen.”
Jen didn’t hire me at the start of her project, of course, because we’re friends and friends don’t hire friends for some reason. So she was making all the decisions by herself.
She called in a panic. She said needed help finding a floor. Sure, call me now when there’s a mess to clean up (eyes rolling). Heh. I say that, but really I was just happy that she called me to help at all.
And so I jumped in to discover this horror; She had already installed new kitchen cabinets, countertops and backsplash tile before even looking for flooring!
She learned the hard way that it was very hard to find a floor color that worked in the kitchen with cabinets, countertops and backsplash, living room with fireplace, dining room, AND hallway. Not to mention how it would look butting up against two different bathroom floor tiles, and bedroom carpets.
Taking into account all the additional coloring, she couldn’t find any flooring she loved that made everything look pretty together.
We looked around, talked it through, and made a choice. And I can tell ya, it wasn’t perfect.
Too bad, so sad. And I’m not saying it lightly. A kitchen remodel is usually a homeowner’s biggest expense.
She’d have done better to start with the flooring and purchase her cabinets, countertop and backsplash afterwards to coordinate.
H*ll, what she really should have done was to call me at the beginning of the project to pick my brain.
Here’s a tip, if you have friends with skills, ask them for help. Your friend will feel great that you trust them. And it won’t drive them crazy to see you go down in flames when you get it wrong trying to do it all yourself.
What else should you buy first in a remodel situation?
Just like in decorating, in remodeling it’s also good idea to buy rare, or size-challenged elements first.
And, just like in decor, if you found something you can’t live without, THAT’s another thing you could buy first.
Design is like fashion…it changes. Get it while it’s hot!
A mistake I made when buying stone
I’m being a little redundant because I have “A Unique Piece” listed as a first buy. I’m mentioning it because lot of people don’t realize that stone is a unique product.
Mother Nature makes it. It’s not made in a factory. It’s cut and polished in a factory, but basically, it’s a chunk of rock.There are not a huge number of choices in stone, and each piece of stone has it’s own designs, shades, and coloring.
That’s why you pick out the specific pieces of stone in person.
Also, if you get boxes of stone tile, you should check all the pieces to be sure they look very similar to each other. One box could have come from a different part of the mountain, which could look very different than the other pieces.
You don’t want to find out the creamy shade of stone you saw is no longer available and the stone with the same name is much more yellow now.
I’m wincing as I write this.
I had a “sample” piece of countertop from a place filled with pre-made countertops. I used that to shop for a marble mosaic backsplash tile.
Everything looked lovely together at the time. But it all got purchased a month later. I showed up after everything had been delivered and installed. I felt the flush of embarrassment in my face and a bit of confusion as to why the tile now looked horrible with the countertop!
I’d show you a picture of it, but I was too horrified to take any photos at the time.
Here’s a lovely marble mosaic backsplash created by designing couple, Alex and Cynthia Rice of Old Sea Grove Homes in Florida, so you don’t have to look at my ugly mess.
On to my story.
What happened? Well, I didn’t realize that the samples from the stone countertop AND the marble backsplash were not going to look exactly the same as the ones that were installed later. Mother Nature pulled a fast one on me!
How could I have done it differently?
I could have reserved or purchased the stone countertop, then compared it with the stone backsplash tiles right before buying them.
I could have also checked to be sure the backsplash tiles all came from the same lot because the color would be similar and opened boxes to confirm they all have the same coloring. It’s a little more time and sweat, but the extra work is worth it.
What should be next on your remodeling buying list?
SECOND ITEMS of buying for remodeling:
-
-
- CABINETRY, COUNTERTOPS, APPLIANCES, TILE (buy them all together)
-
Remember, ideally you’re buying as much stuff together as you can, but if you want the smoothest experience, some items are best not left purchased apart.
Most appliances come in standard sizes, so they’re interchangeable. There is a fair amount of flexibility in cabinetry and it’s pretty easy to find ones that work. Non-stone countertops like quartz and solid-surface have lots of options. Tile too.
All of these are a little easier to find replacements if you need to substitute.
THIRD ITEMS of buying for remodeling:
-
-
- LIGHTING
- HARDWARE
-
There are a ton of choices for lighting and hardware, so if you don’t get the ones you originally picked out, you’re likely to find others that you like.
Of course, if they are special or unique or you’d cry on your croissant every morning if you didn’t get them, then they’d land in the “buy first” category.
Why is paint a terrible first purchase?
Because paint is easy-peasy. There are hundreds of thousands of nuanced options to choose from. You’ll undoubtably find just the right paint color to go with your other items.
So leave the exact paint color decision for later.
In fact, paint can be one of the very last decisions you make.
It’s okay to have a general idea of which color you’re aiming for, like, say, coral colored walls for the dining room. But you can decide towards the end whether it’s going to be Benjamin Moore’s Coral Gables 2010-40 or Dark Salmon 2009-30.
If you’re saying to yourself you want to paint before you put all your new stuff in, I get it, but you should at least make sure you have the hard stuff figured out and ready to buy before choosing your final paint.
And, by the way, if you’re having a heart attack just trying to figure out your paint, please visit my post “Interior Paint Distress Disorder” for shortcuts to help you keep a smile on your face when picking out paint.
REVIEW: Here is the general order to purchase items if you can’t purchase them all at once.
FOR DECORATING-
FIRST ITEMS
-
-
- AN AREA RUG
- AN ITEM YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH (and would be heartbroken if it was no longer available)
- AN UNUSUAL SIZE ITEM (if it’s key to your design)
- A “ONE-OF-A-KIND” ITEM
-
SECOND ITEMS
-
-
- CABINETRY, COUNTERTOPS, APPLIANCES, TILE (buy them all together)
-
THIRD ITEMS
-
-
- SOLID COLORED FABRIC PIECES
- NEUTRAL COLORED ITEMS
- FURNITURE PIECES MADE WITH GLASS, WOOD, METAL, CERAMIC, ETC. (That don’t qualify as first tier items)
-
FOR A REMODEL-
FIRST ITEMS
-
-
- FLOORING
- STONE (MARBLE, GRANITE, SLATE, ETC)
- A UNIQUE PIECE
- A “MUST HAVE!” ITEM YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH
- AN UNUSUAL SIZE ITEM (if it’s key to your design)
- UNUSUAL-COLORED LARGE APPLIANCES (ie: cobalt blue stove)
-
SECOND ITEMS
-
-
- CABINETRY, COUNTERTOPS, APPLIANCES, TILE (buy them all together)
-
THIRD ITEMS
-
-
- LIGHTING
- HARDWARE
-
So there you have it my dear. It’s not a perfect rule-of-thumb, hiccups could still happen. But it’s a good place to start!
Live Happy, Design Buddy!
Michelle Winter
Hey There! I’ve been designing interiors for 20+ years, and I’m only 30. Go figure (wink) Enjoy reading for inspiration and information on interiors and life styling.