A very nice computer armoire & a furniture finish file cabinet for the home office so all the clutter could be closed up & out of sight. The home office is off the foyer.

The curtains, believe it or not. We live on the 3rd floor in the center of a city, but we have a huge row of trees directly outside and another across the street, so when we first moved here, I thought I wouldn't put up curtains at all (our windows all have shutters anyway). But I fell in love with some fabric and had them made with it after all. I designed them myself but as you can see from the photo the "design" is just a simple border. In the living room and dining room, I used silvery gray with a blue-to-lilac border; and in the tiny master bedroom I used pewter with a rich plum border. All in iridescent dupioni silk that diffuses the light beautifully. We live in a very bright sunny area (Greece) so I'm very glad I did put up curtains after all (plus all those trees are deciduous and we moved in in the summer!). They were quite expensive because we have more window than exterior wall in our house, but we also saved a lot of $ because we decided to wait to invest in furniture and are only starting to buy the $$$$ stuff now (3 years after moving in!!). Photo isn't great and cuts out the black Murano glass chandelier but you get an idea.

The first 3 "big" ticket items I bought for my house when I first moved in were spur of the moment buys. The china cabinet came from an old barn that sells very little in the way of furniture - its my linen closet in the downstairs bath. The couch is a small L-shaped sectional purchased from a cabinet shop that was going out of business - its owner had gone into interior design and this had been a sample - I got a good deal on it. The sideboard is from a place that refurbishes older pieces, often painting and distressing the body, but sometimes leaving the top in lovely refinished wood as with this piece. All of these pieces had to fit my scale-challenged house, and armed with measurements, I found they did. If I didn't make up my mind on the spot, each would've been snapped up. Most subsequent pieces have been purchased in the same fashion. Only rugs have eluded me - I hunt and hunt, but have no luck finding anything I even like, much less feel worth spending the time to consider purchasing! Am attaching the 3 first arrivals into my life and my (then) new house.

First house a new tract home with lots of windows got blinds throughout. It was the 1980's so of course we got verticals for the patio doors. Current home got real solid wood bookcases to end 15 years of living with MDF or cinder block shelves.

Post Laundry Room Flood. We were led to purchase new wood floors in master, laundry room and throughout the first floor. The original floor was discontinued. So, it could not be patched and it had to be removed.
(This disaster struck on my second night at this house & Christmas Eve.) We love our new floors!!!

Sadly, a new roof. Not fun at all.

Closet organizers....no regrets!

The first big purchase I did for my place was granite countertop. Made a huge difference in appearances but my pockets were definitely hurting haha.

Good quality wall to wall carpet to cover all the hardwood on the main floor and stairs. This was 37 yrs ago, so that was the norm. After all, we didn't want our babies crawling on that hard wood. Twenty years later, when I had the carpet removed, the wood below was in quite good shape, but the stairs were terrible. The were hot pink and I had forgotten that we had removed a runner where the colour was even darker. I couldn't find stair carpet that I liked, so I painted the stair tops navy and the risers yellow with stencils every three stairs "temporarily" (this before this was being done). I love them still 10 yrs later. They are less slippery, and even the worn parts suit this old house.

In my addition, efficient washer and dryer.

A faux brass bed that we bought out of a storage unit (new- the guy had several in there and they were wrapped up). Still using it. We had spent the first two months of marriage in my sister-in-law's basement with a water bed. Didn't want to install the water bed here...So now some of the wood from the water bed is serving as shelves, and the mattress (bladder?) is keeping weeds from growing underneath the fuel tank.

In my new to - be - renovated house my most important first purchases will be the fabulous light fixtures, something I have had to scrimp on in the past.

We bought a beach house a few years ago -- totally empty -- and vowed it would not be furnished with left overs and cast offs. First trip to the furniture store -- bought canvas slipcovered sofa and loveseat, plus a striped chair, a pub height dining table that everyone just adores, and a sectional for an upstairs loft room that overlooks the water.

I was a bit worried about the sectional -- the room is 18x10, with one door on the 18 foot interior wall and windows on the other three, so while it looked like it should fit, it was a bit dicey until it was actually in place. And it's FABULOUS. Our favorite room!

A custom bed. The story behind this is: I inherited a family heirloom dresser - originally made by some ancestor when the US was still colonies, and which the family story goes was transported by ox cart from Vermont to New York when New York was still the wild frontier. When I originally got the dresser, it had multiple layers of paint on it, and had been kept in a barn for years where it got bird droppings and who knows what else on it. Upon inheriting it, it was sent out and professionally refinished to a beautiful walnut finish. It's the nicest piece of furniture I own. I wanted to make my bedroom into a sanctuary where I can relax and unwind at the end of the day. So after a lot of thought, I went to Hardwood Artisans and ordered a custom bed that would compliment my beautiful dresser. It is made of cherry with a walnut stain, the lighter slats are birds-eye maple. It is very solid.

porch bed!

New fridge.

When we moved in, we had nothing,,just a mattress:) The first big purchase was the Sketch sectional by Ligne Roset. After that, we bought one item at a time since all of them were pricey and we didn't want to rush and buy something that we didn't like.

I started with the front door;)