Make Your Home Your Own Without Breaking The Bank - By: Binh Pham

"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. " John Howard Payne gave us this quote, with at least the last phrase being familiar to many of us.

Our home is our refuge; and includes the place, people, and maybe pets where we can relax and regenerate after being out in the world. Our home reflects our personality, our likes, and our values. It is the primary place where we entertain ourselves and friends, where we study and learn, and where we sustain ourselves through food and sleep. But we don't have to break the bank to make it our home.

As we move into our new home, we get to create it as we want it to be. Think of it as an artist's palette. What textures, colors, and areas of the house do you want to design for each person and each use?

Yes it is very exciting to embark on creating your new home, but before going out to buy a lot of stuff just to say you have a dining table, couch, TV, and bedroom set, take a little while to think about how to best have your home reflect your needs and values. If you are starting from scratch, there are temporary solutions such as air beds and card tables that you can use before investing in expensive furniture and furnishings.

Here are some of the questions to answer before you go shopping. Remember there is no right or wrong answer, this is your home. The questions are simply to get you thinking before you go shopping and acquire stuff that may not fit into your overall scheme.

Functional questions:

In what areas will the family congregate to eat, watch TV, and play games?
If children are in the home, where will they study?
If pets are in the home, where will they 'hang out'?
Where will you conduct the business of your home such as paying and filing bills?
If you conduct a business out of your home, where will it be based?
Where is the private space for each person to sleep and store personal items such as clothes? Note: Of course bedrooms can be shared, but each person needs his/her own space.
Where will you store cleaning products, toiletries, linens, food, cooking and eating implements?
Do family members have hobbies which require working or storage space?
Where will you store off-season or home maintenance items?
Which are the private spaces for the family vs. the public spaces for people who are visiting?

Aesthetic questions:

Do you want a common color theme throughout the house or want each room with distinctive colors? This affects not only color of walls, but also flooring, window treatments, bedding, and furniture.
Do you want a common style throughout the home such as traditional or contemporary?

Once you have answered these questions you are ready to begin acquiring the items to fulfill your needs. There are many traditional furniture stores from which to make your selections, but I encourage you to check out other options also such as thrift stores, consignment shops, unfinished furniture stores, and assemble yourself stores such as IKEA. Even though I've been a homeowner for many years, most of my furniture has come from the less traditional sources. Most recently I bought a kitchen table and chairs from a thrift store for $30, which I refinished for $10 using "oops paint" from home improvement stores, and have gotten a lot of use out of the set.

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The testing procedure itself is also a key factor to determine the option.

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