Buying furniture is one of the hardest decisions you can make for your home. To buy the right piece of furniture, whether it’s a sofa or a dining chair requires some thought. That’s one of the reasons I started The Design Basics, to alleviate the confusion when it comes to buying pieces. But I wanted to share my furniture buying tips I use when specifying pieces for clients.
Interior Style Goal
As always, I start with the interior style goal and colour scheme. This forms the design strategy for the project. Knowing the end goal in terms of your interior style helps in making decisions for your interior from kitchen handles to coffee tables to cushions.
Different styles lend themselves to different shapes and lines. For example, if you like Mid Century Modern, your furniture will have a slim horizontal line. If you like French Provincial, your furniture will most like have a curved line. For example, the cabriole leg in a dining chair.
Knowing your colour scheme will also help you decide on the colour of your furniture. Generally, when I decide on a colour scheme for clients, I work to ensure that it’s applied in a balanced way through the pieces I specify. For example, in a black, white, grey colour scheme, if you have white walls, I wouldn’t necessarily go for white dining chairs. I might choose grey dining chairs and a black rug.
Size & Shape of Furniture
It may be a no brainer, but the size of your furniture is important. Not only in relation to the space but to other pieces of furniture. A large dining table with small dining chairs doesn’t work. A deep sofa in a narrow space doesn’t work.
The shape of the furniture is also important. For example, a round dining table in a small square or rectangular space doesn’t work.
What furniture you buy is directly related to functionality. Recently I specified a six-seater dining table for a client. Then two members of the family moved. My clients became of three and the six-seater dining table was too big.
So, when considering furniture consider functionality. This is true too for sofas. Many clients want L shaped sofas to accommodate many people. But, people don’t interact with each easily sitting side by side. So maybe two three-seater sofas are better for entertaining large amounts of people comfortably.
Price of Furniture
Always buy the best quality furniture you can afford. This doesn’t mean the cheapest. Quality relates to materials, warranties, and country of manufacture. Once a piece of furniture is in your home, ideally you will have it for a long time.
Something that you look at and use every day should tick a few boxes in terms of aesthetics, quality, functionality, and price.
There are more furniture buying tips here to help you make the right choice for your interior style goal, colour scheme and space. But if in doubt our furniture packages are designed to help alleviate the confusion of buying furniture and help avoid costly furniture mistakes.
