If you have never lived on your own before, the knowledge that you now have domain over an entire apartment can be a bit of a power trip. Many novice decorators will immediately make all rooms of their new apartment appear like a dorm room gone wrong, while others simply become overwhelmed by the prospect and live with bare white walls for months on end. Here are a few basic decorating tips for the first timers out there.

While it can be almost impossible to make things match when you are decorating from online classifieds and the local thrift store, try to not have pieces in your home clash. It is acceptable to have a natural stained desk and a white painted bookshelf next to each other, but try to avoid dark stained woods next to light stained woods and back and forth throughout your entire apartment. Try to pick a theme or style and stick to it.

One common mistake that many novices make is to try to fill up every square inch of space they have with stuff, which is not only impractical but it destroys the flow of your apartment. Having enough room to walk around in is very important. If you plan on entertaining on a regular basis, you don’t want guests to feel claustrophobic when they visit you, so having enough room for people to stand and walk around is vital.

Decorating for the first time can be a bit stressful, but don’t give up!