If all else fails, buy succulents! 

Although I say that jokingly, I also say that with a twinge of seriousness. Because after you've moved into a new place, even with everything, you'll still find yourself wanting to put your special touch on this new place.

But where do you start?

What do you get?

How do you bring it all together?

The one common thread for me every time I've moved is that I'd slowly get my marquee pieces then I'd layer in my decor. Now, this isn't because I have amazing self-control -- I wish! But for me, it's a few things that keep my impulses in check, with budget reigning in at #1.

It's very easy for me to be an impulse buyer -- I see, I love, I buy -- but with my home that would give me extreme anxiety because I'd worry about overspending, and/or finding something better (or cheaper). I lament returning things & for my home, I literally have to live with these things, so my pockets have always done an awesome job at keeping me in check.

Listening to my pockets resulted in patience I didn't even know I had. And after a MASSIVE move, this is imperative!

For example, I was convinced I'd need table lamps in the living room; but after living with our sectional & tables for a while, I saw how we were really using the space & realized that one floor lamp worked best for us.

So where do you start? 

With what you can't live without! 

For us, that was a sofa, a bed, and dressers. Now the latter is actually only a result of us not having nearly the amount of closet space *insert eye roll here* we expected when we first moved; so with that, we ended up needing a place to put our stuff, in addition to a place to sit and sleep. And, to be honest, even the bed was flexible because we had an air mattress and had also decided on a sleeper sectional. The sofa, however, was non-negotiable because we could literally eat, sleep, work, and relax there.

Knowing a sofa was going to be first, by default so was a rug, because let's be honest -- no one wants to lift a sofa or a sectional to then place a rug.

Work smarter, not harder! 

Most of the decisions should be made with this in mind because moving is hard enough; decorating should alleviate that stress -- like the calm after a storm!

Early on I knew roundabout what my color inspirations were, so this was top of mind for every purchase.

But what if I don't know what colors I want? 

Easy.

Neutrals!

I can tell you all these tried & true ways to choose color but if you want to just jump right into it: 

Build on neutrals with pops of color in pieces that you can easily switch out later! Boom!

P.S. My color inspiration photo is a real photo I took after we moved into our current place. AMAZING!

Having a color palette guiding us was definitely a great start but it's still very grounded in neutrals -- our sofa, the largest piece in the room, is grey! Same is the case for our bed -- oh so very grey!

Because if tomorrow we decide to abandon all of our senses & go in a completely different color direction, like this dramatic volcanic maroon & gold situation, we can still build on our 2 marquee pieces.

By introducing our rug, my desired palette starts to take form, followed my our pillows, floor lamp, and other peripheral pieces. These were all purposeful choices, making sure I could thread my colors evenly throughout. Suddenly my grey IKEA sectional has come to life!

There's a cohesive look and "theme" carried throughout, although not necessarily identical; and as each room in our apartment evolves, it makes picking up additional pieces that much easier -- the vision becomes clearer and it's no longer this big, daunting task.

So often people go into furnishing and decorating after a move with the mindset that it has be perfect or that it has to happen all at once, but that's not reality. Not a single room in our apartment was bought all at once because in addition to making sure things coordinate, you also want to make sure things fit and flow.

Seeing it all at once is already overwhelming but imagine seeing it all at once with no clue how it makes sense for your everyday living.

I remember having a client who'd previously purchased a complete bedroom set -- bed, dresser, armoire, nightstand. Gorgeous set but it was also big as life! Not only did all the pieces not fit in the room -- at least not comfortably -- but they still didn't meet their actual storage needs. This one of the many reasons I don't buy complete sets, and it's also why I say sometimes you need to move in & live in the space, as you slowly introduce pieces. Had they done this, they would've realized they needed hanging storage not folded. But you live to learn.