Where do you turn to for home decor inspiration?

For many of us, it’s our social media feeds. Dramatic before and after shots of renovated homes or redecorated rooms can be satisfying to scroll through, but feel out of reach and overwhelming. 

Catherine Jia runs an Instagram account called Slowly Home Club, documenting the evolution of a 1970s apartment on Gadigal land in Sydney that she bought with her partner in 2022.

She says the idea for the account came from her intention to furnish her new home slowly and sustainably.

Consequently, Ms Jia says it took about a year-and-a-half to be satisfied with her interiors.

She says slowly cultivating your own personal style can also stop you from overcommitting to trends that you might love one month, but not the next.

“I have a home interiors inspiration account, but I actually don’t take too much inspiration from what’s out there [on social media]. I just buy what I like,” she says.

Ms Jia says a lot of her big furniture pieces are the result of diligently hunting for second-hand items on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. She says checking regularly, which for her is before bed, can be helpful.

Ms Jia says making a list of what you need and prioritising the big items is a good way to get started.

“Try to broaden your horizon and see what else is out there on the market, instead of just going to a one-stop shop.”

Ms Jia says she and her partner were lucky to have the luxury of time to “envision what we wanted” before they moved into their apartment.

Ms Jia says not everything she buys is second hand or sourced sustainably but she tries her best to purchase with longevity in mind.

‘Work out what you want and then trends come and go’ 

Michelle Wilkinson is a program coordinator with Halve Waste.

The initiative is aiming to reduce all wastes in involved local councils along the New South Wales and Victorian border to landfill by 80 per cent by 2030.

Ms Wilkinson is all for a slower and more considered approach to home styling.

“We really do see waste follow trends,” she says.

There’s even been “a really big influx” in household furniture such as couches.

“The trends have always been there,” Ms Wilkinson says, but there’s been a shift.

“A lot of items have become really cheap to purchase, brand new, and so things that you might have only replaced once or twice in your lifetime are now almost a disposable item.”

Ms Wilkinson says the common denominator is low quality.

She says op shops and tip shops are “still fabulous options” for finding good quality household items, but online shopping and trading platforms have expanded the market.

She says you can think of it like a wardrobe and aim for good quality basics.

“Work out what you want and then trends come and go,” Ms Wilkinson says.