Organizing and Prioritizing Your New Space
  

Organizing your new space is an exciting process, whether it’s a studio apartment or your first home. The process itself can seem overwhelming when you’re first starting out. Where to find paint? How to narrow down textiles for the living room? How much will a new countertop run me?

My mom gave me some terrific advice to stay organized when we bought our first home a few months ago. She purchased a bag-size notebook with tabs, paper, and a ruler that clips into the binder. Mine is roughly 8 1/2 inches by 7 inches. Avery makes several options in their mini binder collection. There are probably loads of different styles and brands. My advice is to go to the store and pick out what fits in most of your bags and what looks most workable for you. Besides, who doesn’t like to go back-to-school shopping?

There are so many ways that you can start the process of building out your new space. We started by taking out and replacing all of the blinds in our house. It was a project to say the least. We also put in new beadboard around our counter and replaced almost all of the faucets in the bathrooms. Our next steps are foundational ones, like finding area rugs and deciding on window treatments. They say to live in a space for a few weeks before you decide what needs to be updated first. This is great advice, and it brings me to my checklist for y’all:

Tab out your spaces.

Purchase enough tabs so that every space in your new place has its own tab. That means entryways, half baths, main levels, etc. Mentally divide out your space if your main area is an open layout. I split ours into a dining area, middle main area (which I treat as a landing), and living area. See if you can find erasable or dry-erase tabs in case you change your mind on rooms. For example, a second bedroom becomes an office, man cave, or nursery down the road.

Curate your wishlist and star your top priority items.

Once you have your spaces tabbed out, it’s time to create your wishlist. Jot down anything you’d like to change in each space. Start with one space and work your way down. This will be a huge help as you go through projects and check them off.

Next, star the items on your list that are priority. It really does help to live in your new space for a few weeks. A few of our items that I had written down at first ended up being replaced a few weeks in with others as we lived in our space.

Take measurements and sketch out your spaces.

You might be wondering why I stressed that your notebook should fit in most of your bags. Here’s why: shopping. Your design notebook will be your shopping companion every time you head out to Pottery Barn, Target, or coffee with your interior designer. You’ll have all of your measurements, swatches, and paint colors easily accessible in one little book.

Your next step is to take some time and sketch out the basic layout of your spaces. Where are the doors? How wide across is the room? How big are the windows?

Measure your windows, any nooks where a room may jut inwards, how far a staircase comes into a room, etc. Having your measurements will be such a huge help when you happen across a beautiful antique sideboard and the dealer is ready to negotiate. Be prepared.

Collect and organize your paint samples, swatches, and trims.

Knowing your color schemes is almost as important as knowing your measurements. Will that pillow at Home Goods really work in your den? Is this the right shade of blue? Are these acrylic lamps too aggressive for the palette you chose for the master bedroom?

Collect your swatches and mark where you used a certain shade of paint (cabinets? walls?) in each space. Keep them with your fabric samples in a clear pocket folder in your binder, or, if you’re as pillow crazy as I am, a separate Ziploc bag. Pro tip: always, always ask for a sample of your fabrics, even if you’re buying a few yards already. They’ll always cut an extra strip for you. It will come in handy so many times to reference back to and find it if it ever gets discontinued. 

(Madewell top here; J.Crew tassel necklace 66% off here)

Be patient.

Finally, be patient with yourself. It takes time to curate your home, find the right paint, and achieve the look you’re trying for. Take the stress off, pour a glass of wine, and start measuring!

Happy designing!