Tips In Furnishing A New Condominium/Apartment

First of all, I'd like to lay out my credentials for writing this article. I honestly have no idea about interior decoration, or buying furniture, or the aesthetics of home living. My idea of interior decoration is buying lots of anime figurines and putting them into glass shelves while hoping that they'd one day appreciate enough to be actually worth being stored in such a fancy location. What I know about furniture placement and procurement, I learned from The Sims and Pet Society, and trust me, those are NOT good sources of information. Being a tool of the modern age, my idea of a home is one with a fast computer in it and a good internet connection. That said, I'll admit now that I am no authority when it comes to these things.

HOWEVER.

I know for a fact that save for a few overseasoned rich housewives and metrosexual homebodies, a lot of you are no better than me when it comes to these things. Which is why I think that my experience counts far more than Martha fucking Stewart. Because lets face it, fuck Martha Stewart.


1. If you're going for the "this looks like shot right out of a lifestyle magazine" look, prepare to shell cash. Lots of cash. A 28 square unit condo furnished with lavish Italian furniture would fetch you no less than 100,000 in main pieces alone. Honestly, prior to having to do this on my own, I didn't even know Italians built furniture made of anything other than bricks (as seen in any movie with Romans in it)
If you're shit out of budget like me, or just can't care, that's the only time you can fetch cheap.

2. Get a pencil, a measuring tape, and a notebook where you can place all your notes. Carry it with you ALL the time. You'll never know when good furniture will come up, like a fattened deer hopping out of the woods during hunting season - you'd look pretty stupid not having the right tools. Speaking of which, the moment you get your unit, start measuring every single polygon in the house. It will be invaluable later on.

3. Fastest way to figure out a good layout of the house is to go online and find a digital modeling software. There are tons out there, and I personally used http://www.floorplanner.com/ One thing I'd like to note about these softwares are they're like politicians during a campaign - they're good for giving you an idea, but they're worth shit in practice. Still, an idea can never be a bad thing.

4. Unless we're talking about glass Chandeliers.

5. Use yarns and masking tape to outline the ideal sizes of furniture you want. By lining up your flooring with yarn, you get a better perspective of what your unit will look and feel like long before the furniture arrives. You can walk through the whole thing, and start figuring out where walking might prove tricky, or where sex will be awkward.

6. Take into consideration the locations of outlets. Most apartments and condos already have fixed outlets. Learn to budget them. Avoid clumping highpowered equipment like the aircon, ref, and television together to avoid accidental overloads. Common sense.

7. When buying televisions, players, and the like, avoid SM, Abenson, and other mall outlets. Visit smaller direct-import stores that can lop off up to a whopping 25% on the same models you see at the Mall. I honestly don't know how they keep those prices so low, but when you see a guy from SM shopping for supplies in the same store as you, you just know you're going to be able to bag a steal (hopefully not literally) I bought mine at AVX Harrison Plaza Manila. It's a pretty old, famous, credible place.

8. Perform modifications to your house in this order:
- Installations of major fixtures. Aircon, Water heaters, Vents, Shelving, Cabinets, Dividers
- Installation of minor fixtures. Coat hooks, door locks, Curtain placements
- Bringing in of furniture
- Bringing in of electronic equipment
- Personal stuff
- Women you met at the bar
Preferably in that order so as to not get dirt from the installation on the next piece of item you need to install.