Picking the right furniture for your home might seem overwhelming, especially when given so many unique options. From deciding how much you should spend to finding the right style for your home, there are many factors that go into the decision process. With help from Nicole Gray of Fix.com, you can get prepared with her guide to essential furniture shopping! Learn how to set a budget and how to decide what is right for you.
Getting to Know Your Home
Everyone has their own way of shopping, I’ve always been an impulse buyer, which can sometimes help, but in this scenario can only hurt. Of course, when you get the keys to your adult abode, the first thing you want to do is jump on your furniture in your pajamas while consuming copious amounts of wine – bad idea. The first thing I recommend is you and your home getting to know each other.
This home is going to be yours for the foreseeable future; you liked her enough to invest in her, so treat her well and take your time. Sit in your would-be living room and soak up your surroundings. Where can you imagine cuddling with your significant other? Where do you see your sister venting about her latest exam marks? Take a trot into the kitchen – where do you see yourself having your morning coffee? Baking treats for a charity bake sale at work or setting a beautiful table to celebrate your promotion? This will help you decide where you want to put your furniture essentials and your statement pieces. These are questions that need answering, and that should never be rushed.
Set a Budget With a Timeline
Once you’ve had a feel for your space and you have your mind made up, it’s time to check out your local furniture stores. Every city in every state has a ridiculous amount of furniture store options, so how do you pick? First thing you want to do is set a budget; you do not need to furnish your home in a day, a week, or even a month. Start with your essentials – what do you need in order to live in your new home? With that said, most furniture stores (especially budget, surplus, and warehouse stores) have bedroom and living room sets that are just slightly more expensive than the bed or sectional by itself, in the end saving your money for three to seven pieces. A few key things to look for when shopping:1
- Examine the finish
- Look beneath the surface
- Scrutinize the details
- Know the placement
- Consider the condition
If everything looks great after your examination, the next thing you need to do might hurt: you need to walk away.
Shop Around
So you found your perfect living room set, or at least you think you did. What now? Well, now is the most painful of the steps – don’t buy the first pieces that catch your eye. It’s easy to fall in love with a furniture set when you can find it all in one store close to home; the convenience alone puts a sparkle in your eye and an itch in your palm! You need to remember, however, that there are plenty of other options out there, and you need to make sure that at the end of the day you’ve exhausted all of them.
Americans spend 3,212 hours a year in bed on average, not including TV time (if they have a TV in the bedroom) as well as leisurely reading.2 Buying the first bed you fall in love with is an impulse you will have to resist, because this bed will hold you for over 16,000 hours in the next five years. Think of each furniture store as a friend with its own personality; you’re looking for different pieces in different rooms that will serve many purposes and last you years to come, so buying everything from one store could potentially be foolhardy. Cover your bases and see what other stores have to offer before you take the plunge.
Source: Fix.com Blog
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