Planning Your Ideal Home as a Couple

Being a newlywed is an exciting time in any couple’s life. For the most part, it’s about finally settling down to spend your life with your soulmate and raise a family. In addition to this, it also requires planning a home that accommodates both partners’ unique style and decor choices.

This can be challenging if you and your partner have varying tastes or have never lived with anyone before. With that in mind, this post takes a quick look at the top tips to help newlyweds plan an ideal home without the stress of dealing with limited finances or conflicting style choices.

Identify “Must-Haves” and “Nice-to-Haves”

The next step involves identifying the surrounding amenities and specific features that your home should have. This will ensure that no one feels as though they’ve ended up with the short end of the stick, which can lead to early tension. List all the features that you want your home to have, as well as the ones that would enhance your space.

Newlyweds Need the Right Insurance

Seasoned married couples and insurance experts can agree on one simple rule and that is that newlyweds need renters' insurance from day one. Marriage involves merging your life and your home, which also increases the risk of damage and loss when an eventuality occurs.

Essentially, newlywed renters' insurance protects your personal belongings, provides liability protection, and also provides liability protection. Merging your possessions and your wedding gifts can leave you with a bunch of new property that you need to insure.

Opting for a quality insurance policy, such as the one from Lemonade, will offer you the following coverage:

-        Belongings pre-marriage

-        Engagement and wedding rings

-        Wedding gifts

-        Furniture and home decor

-        Appliances and cookware

-        Heirlooms and antiques

-        Cash gifts

-        Tools and camping gear

In addition to covering your existing and new valuables, quality renters' insurance also covers medical and liability costs associated with potential accidents at your new home. More good news is that newlywed renters' insurance is more affordable than you think, and quality options from Lemonade enable you to choose coverage from $10,000 to $250,000.

This gives you peace of mind that you’ll be covered for just about any eventuality. Always opt for insurance options that can be amended and upgraded as your needs change.

Always Begin With the Budget

Planning your ideal home should always begin with establishing a budget. This involves combining income, debt, and credit scores to establish what type of home you can afford to rent. Experts recommend sticking to 25% or less of your monthly gross income on rental payments.

Personalize Your Space

Personalising your space is essential to creating a home that both parties will be comfortable with. Choose subtle colours, functional furniture, combined with vibrant accessories that highlight both parties’ personalities and decor style.

If you’re working on a budget, start by using what you have and upgrade over time. Use online tutorials and decor items from your local home improvement center to create a comfortable space that’s both functional and cosy. Be sure to create a space that incorporates both parties' likes and previous items. This often means choosing completely new design styles from what you had before.

Review More than One Property

As with buying a space, renting should also involve reviewing several options. When looking for the perfect rental, you’ll not only want a home that’s close to your work, but is also comfortable. It’s a good idea to look for a home that already has modern features such as energy-efficient tapware or quality flooring.

This not only ensures that your home is affordable but also requires less ongoing maintenance. Speak to your landlord about any potential design changes you may want to make. Typical examples here include hammering nails into walls, or painting walls specific colours.

Choose a Design Style

Once you have an idea of where you’re going to rent and how big your home or apartment will be, it’s crucial to choose the design style for your space. This can be anything from researching modern Bohemian design ideas to opting for a simpler, minimalistic approach.

When both partners agree on the preferred style of their ideal home, the next step is to take inventory of combined items and decide what’s going to fit into the space. Depending on your style and the size of the home, this process may require getting rid of excess items. It’s a good idea to donate these.

Final Thoughts

Merging your life with someone else’s doesn’t have to be stressful. The correct planning, combined with a healthy dose of decluttering and compromise from both parties, will make the process so much easier. In addition to this, always begin the process by investing in quality insurance that has been designed with your newlywed situation in mind.