Shopping for Furniture
Hopefully you haven't experienced this scenario: you see something you love at a furniture store, you buy it and are so excited to have it delivered. But wait, there is a problem. It is delivered and it is too big/too small/wrong color/wrong shape... It is so frustrating to be excited for a furniture delivery, only to have it not work in your room. There are some things you can do beforehand to make the process simple and successful. Here are my furniture shopping tips!
1. Be prepared. I know this sounds simple, but most people go to a furniture store only knowing they want a "beige couch". There are so many more details you need to know before you can invest in that piece. Measure your room and then measure exactly where you want the piece to be. Have a maximum and a minimum. For example: the couch can be 8ft long max, but no shorter than 6ft. I would prefer 7ft. Measure how high you want it on the wall. When you are in a furniture store, everything looks smaller than it is because the stores are usually quite large. Many people have gotten a couch or chair home only to find it is much higher than they wanted. If you happen to have current furniture in that room, measure it and specify if you want the new furniture the same height/width or smaller/bigger. The current furniture gives you a great visual of what you like/don't like. Also, draw out where the windows and doors are and how much space is between them.
2. Bring along photos of your room. I know you know what your room looks like. But take some pictures, print them out, and take them. When you get in the store, your mind will play tricks on you and you will remember your room in a certain way. You make think, "Our walls are about that same color blue." or "Our ceilings are really high. We can buy a big piece." When you have pictures of your room, it gives you a true visual of what you have at home.
3. Have as many physical samples with you: paint chips, fabric swatches, stain color, accent pillows... don't trust your memory. Get as many samples to take with you as possible. I always carry a file with everything from one room. I can get a true picture of that room with the physical samples with me.
4. Bring inspiration photos with you. Know what look you would like to achieve. It will help keep you on track as you look at rooms full of furniture in the stores. It will also help any decorators who are helping you know what look you want your room to have. But....
5. Be open to something new. If you want a blue couch and plan to paint the walls gray, but you find a perfect gray couch you really want, be open to a new thought. Maybe you could have a gray couch with blue walls. But sleep on this one. Take photos of your new dream couch and go home to visualize it there. If you still really love the new idea, let inspiration take you in a new direction.
6. Know your budget. I know this isn't the fun part of furniture shopping, but you have to know how much you have to spend on a room so that you don't get off track. If you decide you have $2000 to spend in a bedroom, it will keep you away from the $3000 beds.
7. Think long term. No crazy patterns on big pieces. Purchase a neutral chair that you can put a floral pillow on versus a floral chair. In a few years, when you don't like floral anymore, you can get a striped pillow and your neutral chair still works.
I hope these tips help you the next time you are in the market for new furniture. The more preparation you do, the better. Armed with your file full of samples and photos, you can't help but make a great furniture decision that you will love.
