How do I find my own style and make my house a home?

[LadySybilLikesCake]

I'm sorry if this is a bit daft. Most of the items in my house are either hand me downs, presents or bought because they were cheap, so my house isn't 'me'. I can't decorate and I need to replace things, like the sofa and the bed, which were cheap and I needed a bed IYSWIM, but I don't know what to look for or where to start (apart from decluttering). My budget is PAYE so I have plenty of time.

How on Earth do I make my house a home?

John lewis do free home decoration advice. Make an appt and go in with pics of the rooms you want to decorate. It's free. Not sure how good it is though

Is that a way for them to sell you things though? I love JL, I'd have to sell a kidney and a lobe of liver to decorate it from there though. I can do a few bits and bobs but a 1k sofa is out of my budget

I have an appt next week so will let you know. I don't plan on buying much from there though.

Ikea also do a home design service. I think it costs £200 but redeemable against purchases

Oh, thank you!

I'm going to get a couple of bits from Ikea (console table, draws, wardrobe), I'd like some solid pieces too though, things that will last. I can't get my wardrobe up the staircase (it sweeps round slightly at the bottom and the wardrobe is solid so it can't get round), so it need to be flatpack. The curtains are too thin from there too. The house is victorian with sash windows so I could do with some ultra thick ones for the winter, so I'm looking for these.

I used the ikea service and it was really good but mine was room layout help. So they came and spent three hours in my house and drew up proper drawings with autocad showing what furniture would fit where. Was a big help, they will mix in current pieces with ikea bits.

I used the ikea service and it was really good but mine was room layout help. So they came and spent three hours in my house and drew up proper drawings with autocad showing what furniture would fit where. Was a big help, they will mix in current pieces with ikea bits.

I used the ikea service and it was really good but mine was room layout help. So they came and spent three hours in my house and drew up proper drawings with autocad showing what furniture would fit where. Was a big help, they will mix in current pieces with ikea bits.

I get magazines like ideal home and cut out pictures of stuff I like and keep them in a scrapbook (probably sounds really sad!) I use it as inspiration, and for comparison if I'm trying to find a cheaper version of something. They have some useful advice on building a colour scheme like the 70/20/10 approach where your main colour is 70% of the room, a second 20% and third 10%. That rule of thumb has worked well for me.

I'll have a think. I stuck some pins on pinterest for ideas, my house is a victorian terrace, no bay window, kitchen on the back, living room and a dining room, 2 bedrooms and a large bathroom above the kitchen. It could do with a lick of paint to be honest but I'm not allowed I can change the curtains and the pictures though so this would help.

Ikea isn't far from here, I need to work out what I want though (and save for it).