March 3, 2025
Homebuyer’s Remorse: I Hate My House, Now What?
Buying a home is a huge milestone, but what happens when it doesn’t feel like the dream you imagined? If you’re experiencing homebuyer’s remorse...
You’ve unloaded the final box, and the moving truck has driven away. Now, you’re staring at empty space and blank walls, dreaming about the ways you can turn your new house into your dream home. While it may feel tempting to finish your home quickly, or perhaps unsettling to live in a half-finished space for an extended period of time, there are many advantages to taking your time.
Slow decorating, also known as the wise, restrained older sister of “add to cart” decorating, aligns with many sustainable interior design trends by prioritizing intention and thoughtful consumption. Here’s how to create a sustainable home that feels like a reflection of you, not a reflection of today’s trends.
At the core of slow decorating is a rejection of instant gratification. It means slowly but surely furnishing and decorating your home with love, intention, patience, and authenticity. You’re taking the time to collect pieces you love, and that fit the space perfectly, rather than simply buying things that are only good enough because you want a fully furnished space quickly.
While there are obviously some disadvantages and discomforts to living in a space that isn’t complete, there are plenty of advantages to make up for it in the long run.
Slow decorating naturally steers you toward quality over quantity. If you’re committed to taking your time, shopping around, and designing your space thoughtfully, you’re less likely to make impulse buys or fill your home with clutter. Without the pressure to chase trends or fill your space quickly, you’ll also have time to research construction, materials, and craftsmanship to choose pieces built to last. The result is a home with fewer, better pieces and far less clutter down the road.
When you’re not simply purchasing the latest viral couch or recreating a furniture showroom in your living room, you make space for pieces and decor that exude your unique personality. It doesn’t mean swearing off anything popular or mainstream, but rather choosing items with discernment and combining them with meaningful touches that bring you joy and evolve over time.
Slow decorating lets you live, work, play, and exist in a space before committing to a specific furniture setup or layout. You can take your sweet time figuring out how the rooms should flow and how to use both positive and negative space to support your habits and lifestyle.
Furnishing a full home rapid fire means footing a hefty bill all at once. With slow decorating, you can spread out your purchases over time without shocking your bank account. Plus, you have plenty of time to comparison shop, find great deals, and check out budget-friendly thrift stores and marketplaces, all without an overwhelming sense of urgency pushing you to buy, buy, buy straight away.
Mindful shopping and consumption are inherently more eco-friendly and environmentally responsible. When you decorate slowly, you’re more likely to choose pieces with a long-term plan in mind. While cheaply made, impulse purchases may end up in a landfill in a couple of years, pieces chosen carefully and intentionally are likely to last for a long time, resulting in lower environmental impact.
You’re sold on the benefits of slow decorating, but where to start? Here’s how to get into a slow decorating mindset.
In many ways, the slow decorating interior design technique means getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, rejecting the dopamine hit of impulse purchases, and shopping with patience and restraint. Your home won’t be perfectly polished in time for a housewarming party, and it may feel half-finished for quite a while—and that’s okay.
Start living in your space and collecting data. Embrace the quirks, establish your new routines, and observe how you and your guests actually move through the space. Take note of how noise travels, the window placement and lighting, and other natural elements of the space (which can help with both design choices and energy efficiency).
By taking the time to truly feel things out, the result is a home designed with function and practicality in mind.
Once you’re ready to start selecting furniture, focus on the biggest, most essential pieces first. This way, you can get a clear picture of how much space you have left in the room once the priorities are covered. Then, continue taking inventory of how the rooms flow and feel before adding smaller touches and accents.
You feel like you’ve fallen in love with that gorgeous dining room table or luxurious sectional, but is it love or lust? Before you swipe the card or schedule a delivery, take a beat. Measure your space again. Outline the dimensions of the piece on your floor in painter’s tape. Sleep on it.
Does it make sense for the room? Is it made with sustainable materials? Will you still love it a year from now?
Just because you’ve always shopped at a specific online retailer in the past doesn’t mean it needs to be your one-stop shop this time around. Half the fun of slow decorating is collecting pieces from all types of sources, whether it’s shiny and new from a fancy store or lovingly refurbished from the flea market or a vintage shop.
Shop for quality and sustainability first and foremost. You’re not aiming for matchy-matchy perfection, but rather layered, authentic pieces that reflect your personality and evolving design style.
Slow decorating is about giving your space time to come together. When you’re not rushing to fill every corner, it becomes easier to choose pieces you’ll truly enjoy living with. At CORT Furniture Outlet, many pieces are part of a circular model where furniture that’s been thoughtfully reused is ready for its next chapter, making it easier to decorate at your own pace while making a more sustainable choice. Browse online or visit your local showroom to find pieces that grow with your space.
