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2 Perfect matching isn't necessary. Your bed frame, night tables and dresser do not all have to come from the same matching bedroom ensemble purchased at the same furniture shop. The living room end tables do not have to be miniature versions of your coffee table. Dining chairs do not have to be the exact same style as the dining table; heck, they don't even have to be (gasp! the craziness!) identical to one another. In fact, oftentimes you'll find that two items that are completely different from one another in style, shape or color will complement each other much better than ones that seem much more closely related on first glance, but whose differences are just enough that they really clash when the items are forced together. Moreover, there's just something kind of dull about rooms in which everything is absolutely perfectly the same in style; it creates a kind of visual monotony that's kind of deadening even when the overall style is nice (think hotel room). So free yourself from the idea that furnishings must be purchased in matching sets. If you see something you genuinely love but it's completely different from anything else in your home, throw caution to the winds and make the buying plunge. A little eclecticism is good for the soul.

3 Love the things you buy. With a passion. Now, I'm all too familiar with the frustrations of being a budget-challenged quasi-adult attempting to create a fab pad on very limited means. I know it means you sometimes have to make compromises, settle for less, exercise patience while you wait till the day when you more time or more money. Nonetheless, I see no point whatsoever in shelling out your own hard-earned cash on any item with which you are not absolutely enamored. It's one thing to make do with an item that you acquired for free (or nearly so, as is so often the case with thrifted goods) -- and in fact, I wholly encourage folks to take advantage of said goods, as their not-perfectness combined with the fact that they're worth almost nothing means that they offer a prime opportunity for DIY creativeness, with little lost if your attempts turn out to be disastrous. But if you're going to be paying real money for something -- like, more than you'd plunk down for your average meal -- don't settle for something that you're not that crazy about simply because you're too lazy to keep hunting or you think it's the best you can do. Save up until you can buy the true object of your affections; keep shopping until you see something you genuinely adore that's also within budget; even -- occasionally -- give in to the urge to splurge (this does, natch, mean cutting back on other spending… but oh, is it sometimes worth it). Buy with love -- it's the only way to ensure no regrets.

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