The prospect of new home furniture is equally exciting and daunting. On one hand, you’ve been craving a living room refresh with comfortable and modern pieces, but on the other, you know there is plenty of preparation and forethought involved—lest you are forced to make an in-store or online return. And we all know that’s a hassle.
But fear not! We are here to help you avoid common mistakes when buying furniture—check out our top 7, below.
1. Not Measuring Beforehand
First things first: Don’t forget to measure the dimensions of the room you hope to fill with new furniture pieces, whether it’s your living room, dining room, home office, or bedroom. A room mockup, which is essentially a rough sketch of your room’s layout, will help you determine how many furniture pieces your room can afford without feeling congested and what sizes will be conducive to an unobstructed traffic flow.
Checking and double-checking your room’s measurements in addition to the dimensions of your entryway will ensure compatible purchases and smooth delivery into your home.
2. Going Too Trendy
As is the case with fashion fads, it is possible to live to regret buying into certain home décor trends. Instead, we encourage you to sleep on it. As you’re giving yourself some time to think about this potential purchase, consider how it’s going to fit into your home and if its style is compatible with your longstanding taste, lifestyle, and the rest of your furnishings. If you’re still in love with the idea of that green velvet couch, then go ahead and buy it.
Regardless of how modern and attractive the piece of furniture looks, just keep in mind that you will have to live with it (and often, on it) for years to come.
3. Not Taking Your Lifestyle into Account
While a living room design that looks straight out of Architectural Digest sounds irresistible, you have to keep in mind that your home is a dwelling, not a museum. Especially if you live with your family, your home is likely a lived-in space that sees a lot of traffic. When you are furnishing a common space, you must ask yourself, “How will this piece of furniture be used?” and “Is it beneficial to my family circumstances?”
For instance, if you have a hyperactive dog, you might want to avoid a leather sectional. Likewise, if you have a rampant toddler, a hard-edged coffee table might create a hazard. If you’ve got a young Picasso, a white linen couch is a bad idea. And if you live with a senior, you might consider a lift chair recliner to enable easier mobility.
In the interest of pursuing furniture that keeps up with your lifestyle, don’t forget to read the product specification sheets for more information regarding manufacturer care instructions, construction, and durability.
4. Not Reading Customer Reviews
Product reviews from shoppers will indicate whether the furniture looks and feels as advertised. While one bad review shouldn’t necessarily deter you from a purchase, we recommend steering clear of any products with several bad reviews that indicate poor construction or issues with use.
If possible, we also recommend scoping out any photos that consumers have uploaded with their reviews so you can get a good idea of how the furniture will appear in your own home.
5. Buying All Pieces at Once
Unless you’re purchasing a furniture collection, like a dining set or full bedroom set, we advise against buying separate pieces of furniture at once. We know it’s tempting, but doing so might lead to overspending and buying incohesive pieces.
If you install one item at a time in your room, it gives you time to familiarize yourself with its dimensions, texture, color, and style so that you can then coordinate the rest of your furniture. A haul can result in too many competing textures, different wood finishes that look too disparate from one piece to another, and tables that are too high or too low for your seating—among other unfortunate scenarios.
Before you build an eclectic collection, do some research: See how several different expert designers mix and match pieces to get a real feel of how contrast can work in a room.
6. Rushing the Process
When it comes to major investments, we often settle for what is available so that we can get on with our lives, but make no mistake: Spontaneous purchases can turn into costly mistakes; it’s not enough to just stumble across a beautiful piece of furniture, evaluate the price, and add it to your online shopping cart. We advise you to protect your wallet and dig a little deeper.
Along with studying the product model and image, take a close look at the description, but don’t just scan those words; take them in. If you’re looking at a wood dining table, you might want to check if it’s made from synthetic material or solid wood—the latter is of higher quality and is sure to last longer.
In short, we encourage you to conduct your research, whether that means scouring several online catalogs or browsing furniture stores to compare options in terms of their construction, brands (and their reputation), quality of materials, colors, styles, and price points.
7. Buying from Big-Box Stores
Too often, furniture sourced from big-box stores is not manufactured for the long haul. Since these products are mass-produced, they may not be built with the same level of care as tactful, well-practiced hands. For products that stand the test of time, put your trust in hand-crafted furniture from local businesses (including yours truly).
Along with expecting higher quality from hand-crafted furniture, you can anticipate good value. This is to say: Instead of letting short-term costs deter you from making this investment, we implore you to think about the long-term benefits it will bring. Due to their sturdier craftsmanship, hand-crafted, locally sourced furniture outlasts ready-made pieces, so you can expect to enjoy them for much longer.
Call or Visit Us
While we are a small business, our furniture selection is anything but! Check out our Furniture catalog to explore our array of available products in a variety of styles, from traditional to contemporary. To learn how you can start furnishing the home of your dreams, call or visit our friendly staff today—we are always happy to help.