Furnishing a home can be a major investment. You have the necessities – a table, bed, dinnerware, and a place to sit. Then you have the “nice to haves” – wall art, fancy lighting, a glam rug, and accessories to tie the space together. When you’re excited about decorating, and anxious to get started, the line can easily become blurry between the two categories. Which is why we love Apartment Therapy’s post on when to splurge and when to save when furnishing your home.

Here are some of their tips:

Splurge where your health is concerned.
This means mattresses, office chairs and work surfaces at the proper height for the job at hand. If you’re lucky you may find these items at a bargain price, but generally I’d suggest budgeting more for items which directly affect your health and comfort.

We would also add that along with furniture that affects your health, products that affect your health. Consider going with a low or no VOC paint to cut down on odor. Hirshfield’s offers Preserve LOW VOC INTERIOR LATEX FLAT with Microban® antimicrobial product protection and Benjamin Moore Natura® Zero-VOC Interior Paint.

Splurge on statement pieces.
These are the pieces that you love, that you’ll take with you when you move, that make your home feel like yours. The Eames chair which detracts from the big-box store sofa, or the vintage armoire which makes putting away the laundry fun. It goes without saying that falling in love with pieces that are also functional is advisable, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

I don’t think we could agree any more with this one! Falling in love with a piece of furniture is really something special… it happens to me almost every time I make a stop over at the Hirshfield’s Design Studio!

Save on storage.
Storage is possibly the most property and lifestyle-specific area of furniture, meaning it changes as you move from home to home and interest to interest. There are no doubt beautiful bookcases, cabinets and wardrobes out there, but it can be frustrating to blow your budget on one, only to find that it doesn’t fit in your new place, or doesn’t hold for your newly-acquired collection of vintage globes.

Isn’t it true that every time you move you find yourself buying new crates, containers, racks and shelves? I still don’t understand the phenomenon, but I can attest to its truth!

Save on occasional-use items.
This includes side tables, garden furniture, guest room pieces and extra dining chairs (hey, I’d even suggest saving on your regular dining chairs, unless you’ve got a large family or throw frequent dinner parties). Pieces that don’t get much play can be upgraded as and when you have the money, so try to save your cash for the main events, like your sofa or reading chair.

It seems the things you use the least are the things that cost the most! The fancy dining room table, the formal living room sofa, the “guest” china… Homes are meant to be lived in, so invest in pieces you actually want to use!

Hirshfield’s is your local Minneapolis-St. Paul paint retailer. The experts at Hirshfield’s are here to help you with everything from window-treatments to paint colors. Hirshfield’s manufactures paint right here in Minneapolis.