Real talk: Picking out furniture for your home can be overwhelming and stressful, especially if you’re particular about nailing a certain look. While a lot of folks really don’t care about aesthetics and just buy furniture for functionality, other people prefer to have a visually pleasing house to go home to.
Whether you’re moving into a new flat or doing a bit of remodelling at home, there are certain things that you need to consider when buying furniture. How we wish it’s as easy as working on your nails or having some barbering done or picking up items in the grocery, but no. Even if you’re not that particular about aesthetics, you need to factor in some things when you pick the right items for your home. On top of your budget, that is.
Get the right inspiration.
One of the things you should avoid when picking out furniture for your house or flat is impulse buying. Before you put on your clothes and step out to go shopping for your furniture, do your research first. Get inspiration for the type of look that you want to pull off.
Look at the architecture and design books and magazines. If you don’t have access to these, you can easily go online and Google it. There’s plenty of resource material for this kind of stuff. You may also go over some Instagram accounts or Pinterest boards to get some fresh ideas.
Plan to the very last detail.
One of the trickier things about buying furniture is knowing how it will complement the space and the other pieces around your home. It’s a lot easier if you’re starting from scratch and you have plenty of space, but if you’re simply updating a small home, it might be a bit more challenging. Thus, giving more thought to your plan and paying more attention to the details around your home matters.
From how much space is available to the way the doors and windows open to where your radiator and vents are located, you need to carefully work around all of these details so you know which pieces of furniture are ideal for your space.
Prioritize the essentials.
Wouldn’t it be great if you can get everything that you need in one go? However, for most folks, the budget will be the main hindrance to doing just that. So what are you to do?
Prioritize the ones that are necessary.
It’s so easy to get distracted with pieces that you really don’t need for now like a coat hanger, pedestal, extra shelving units, and others. What’s important for now is that you focus on the essentials.
If you’re buying online, filter your search to the ones that you need for your space. Don’t browse through every bit of item on the site, otherwise, you might end up impulse-buying.
Test it first before you make the purchase.
If you’re shopping at a physical store, you can ask the attendants and clerks if you can try out the pieces you’re interested in to see if they’re suitable for you.
Try out the mattresses, sit on chairs, get an idea of how a table feels like when you’re seated or standing up. Some stores let you do that to ensure that you get the exact item that you want.
As for upholstery, you can simply ask for some samples to bring home so you can see how they will look combined with all the other pieces that you already have.
Plot it out in your home.
To give you a better idea of how things will sit in a certain spot, you can use masking tape to plot out the furniture pieces on the floor. Get the dimensions of the items that you’re interested in and start masking them on the floor of your home. This will give you a good idea of how much space it will consume and how your movement will be like once it’s there.
Always do this because most furniture in shops seems smaller than they really are. You can also utilize design and layout apps or just simply go online and look up how to arrange furniture.
Check the dimensions.
That being said, make sure that the items you pick out will fit in your home. This is why getting an idea of its measurements is always a good thing. It allows you to check if they will fit through your door and if they will sit well in your space. For those living in more spacious houses, you can probably skip this although it is a practice recommended by the experts. If you live in a cramped flat, then you definitely should do this.
See? Choosing the right furniture for your home isn’t as easy as it seems. A lot of things could go wrong if you don’t know how to look for the right pieces. We hope that you find this article helpful and that we’ve made things easier for you the next time you go furniture-hunting.
