How to choose the right furniture for your home.
Whether it’s your first home or you are moving for the 4th time and constantly need to adapt to new home sizes or just simply want to change the look of your home, buying furniture can be a lot of work, a lot of money and a stressful experience.
What are the most critical things you should consider when you buy furniture for your home?
1. CONSIDER THE FUNCTION OF THE SPACE AND ITS USERS.
The first thing you need to do when buying new furniture is to determine the real function of the room the furniture is intended for. By real function I mean the way you and your family use the space you want to buy furniture for, not the way a room is generally intended to be used.
My favourite example to use is the “Formal Dining Room”. In several houses the Formal Dining Room is an additional dining area that only get used for family gatherings or the occasional dinner party. It’s often separated from the Kitchen by a wall or it can be a separate room all together. Let’s say you need to buy furniture for this room; You need to think about how often you would use this room and if you would have more effective use for this space, like for example, your kids craft room or your reading and study area where you can have your desk with a laptop on it and a nice comfy chair to drink your coffee on. If formal dining and dinner parties with family and friends are common in your household and they are important to you, then you will buy a quality dining set. If you don’t host much or you feel you can host your dinner parties in your every day Dining Room, and don’t have much use for a Formal Dining Room, then you can purchase the type of furniture that would suit the alternative function of this room, like a lounge chair, a coffee table and a desk with a chair. You would add a nice rug and a library and make it your own sunroom or study area.
Another good example is your Living Room. Observe how you move through the space, who uses this area the most and what is the main activity in this area? If you have toddlers that are learning to walk you would want to avoid coffee tables with sharp corners and glass tops. Perhaps you would consider easy to wipe and clean fabrics for your sofa and arm-chairs.
If you like to entertain, make sure you have enough side tables and coffee tables near your sitting areas so your guests can put down their drinks without having to search for a spot…
(The picture shows what was supposed to be our Formal Dining Room, which we have made into our kids craft space.)
It is critical you observe the way you and your family use the space you want to furnish to determine what are the most appropriate furniture to buy.
2.consider your GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT.
Once you’ve figured out how you use the room you want to furnish and have an idea of the type of furniture you need, you should consider where you live and what are the most suitable furniture for your area.
For example, if you live by the beach, (lucky you!), you wouldn’t buy your furniture at Cabela’s…It seems pretty basic, doesn’t it?
However, there are some exceptions; You may own a water front cottage at the lake in a northern area surrounded by spruces where you can enjoy nice summer days at the beach and at the same time hunt and snowmobile in the winter. What do you do? Do you furnish your place with coastal style furniture or do you go with log cabin style furniture? That’s a pickle…If you like both styles you may have to compromise with something more neutral. If you like the coastal living style and your partner loves antlers everywhere, you may designate specific areas to specific styles, (although it’s tough to define where one style ends and the other one begins). Perhaps the open areas are furnished and decorated with coastal and nautical items and the bedrooms can display log cabin furniture, antlers and furs…It could make for a very interesting and eclectic space!!
3. CONSIDER THE EXISTING ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS WITHIN YOUR HOME AND THE STYLE OF YOUR HOME.
Like the geographical context, the existing character of the home and its architectural elements are important factors to take into consideration when selecting new furniture.
In the big scale of things it’s important to identify your home architectural style, whether it’s a mid-century modern home or a new built or an even older home. Your furniture should adapt to the style of the home or, if you are creative and have the skills to combine old and new in a tasteful way, you can adapt modern furniture in an Edwardian home or use vintage furniture in a brand new modern home.
Here below are some examples.
Modern and contemporary furniture in a heritage home.
Image Credit: Fresh Home
Antique furniture in a contemporary home.
Image Credit: Mad About The House
Other architectural elements of your home may affect the way you choose your furniture, such as slanted walls, curtain walls, interior walls materials and accents and even fireplaces.
For example; If your home has slanted walls or curtain walls, your furniture should be more on the modern side. You may have a stone wall in your house and the type of stone used may determine a style of furniture. Different fireplaces determine different styles of furniture as well.
4. START FROM A FOCAL POINT.
What is the centre of interest in your home? It’s most likely to be found either at the entrance or in the Living Room.
Whether it’s a fireplace or a built-in library in a dividing wall or even a piece of art, focal points are those elements defining the character of your home.
You can either completely contrast or adapt your furniture to the style of this focal point.
5. DETERMINE THE BASIC ELEMENTS YOU NEED FIRST.
Once you’ve determined the function, the user and the style of your furniture, the next step is to determine what are the basic elements you need.
In the Main Entrance you’ll probably need a bench and if you have room a console table.
In the Kitchen you mostly have built-in cabinets, (millwork) so you won’t really need any basic furniture in here.
In the Living Room you’ll need, (depending on the size of your home), a couch, two armchairs and a coffee table.
In the Dining Room you’ll need a dining table and the amount of dining chairs your can fit around it.
In the Bedrooms you’ll need a bed (or two depending on the room type) and one or two nightstand. If you don’t have a built-in closet, you’ll need a wardrobe and a dresser.
Bathrooms, like kitchens mostly have built-in cabinets.
Start looking at these basic elements to find the products you like. It will be easier to add smaller accent pieces of furniture once you’ve selected the basics. This will also help you gauging where you are at with your budget. Some non-basic items can be purchased later on or from a different source to save money if required.
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6. MEASURE YOUR SPACE BEFORE YOU BUY.
This is a classic! How many times have you heard of people buying furniture to not being able to get it into the house or to the final destination? It mostly happens with couches, large TVs and appliances, so please, measure your space, your doors, hallways and all possible obstacles you may encounter and have to avoid to move in those pieces of furniture you can’t disassemble!!
It’s also a good idea to measure the furniture you intend to buy against the space you want to place it in. Some people go to the extent of ghosting the area a particular piece of furniture will occupy on the floor with masking tape.
The trick is being able to visualize the furniture you want to buy within your space. You may find a couch that fits your room from a width and depth perspective but the overall proportions may look massive if you have a low ceiling. To avoid this issue, more and more furniture sources are providing augmented reality on their smart phone sites and apps, a visualization tool intended for smart phones that allows the user to see a particular item placed in his very own home.
7. CONSIDER QUALITY VS. COST
Buying furniture it’s not like buying clothes. You don’t go through them as often as you do with your clothes so you need to make sure you buy quality items. You may spend more money up-front but it will last you for a very long time and it will save you money in the long run.
You need to do your research to determine if the quality of an item you like is worth the cost. I have seen many overpriced furniture items that did not justify the quality of the product.You can pretty much find products reviews on everything these days!
In broad terms, the construction or frame of your furniture item needs to feel heavy and solid; Ideally built out of solid wood. Avoiding particle board and aluminum is recommended. If you can’t see an item in person because you are buying on-line, make sure you read the specifications and pay particular attention to the materials used for the body (structure) of your piece of furniture. If it matters to you, you’ll be able to find the country of origin as well.
If the furniture you are buying has cushions, like chairs for example, it’s also really important that you check the quality of the filling material, the stitching and the fabric properties and grade, (water and stain resistant, easy to clean, etc.).
You want to buy furniture that is built to last. It can cost you more money but it will last you longer. Several furniture dealers provide payment plans to make even beautiful, quality furniture affordable.
8. AVOID TRENDS.
As mentioned here above, buying furniture is not like buying clothes that you can replace once a trend is over. Furniture should last you longer than a trend, hopefully! If you ask me, I would avoid trends in anything interior design and home decor related. Since everything needs to flow together, from the style of your home, to the finishes you select for your floor, from the colour you choose for your walls to the furniture you buy.
You are safe if you buy or already have solid wood furniture as you can re-paint or stain it as the trends change or the years go by. You may have to change the upholstery if the furniture item in question is an upholstered chair. These are all things you need to keep in mind when you buy your furniture. You may choose the right piece that meet all of the above criteria but then you don’t know which finish it should be or which type of upholstery is best. My recommendation is to avoid the trends and go with something you like and makes you feel comfortable in your space, something you see your self liking for a long time. It generally works when you choose neutral colours. Neutral colours don’t have to be boring. There are many accent colours that are neutral and can be integrated with so many other finishes and colours.
9. Finishes and colours.
This tip on finishes and colours naturally follows the previous tip on trends. However, what I want to stretch on in here is how your taste can meet your lifestyle.
Once again, it’s all about being realistic about what works for you and your family.
You may love pastels colours velvet cushioned seat on a bleached white chair frame but it may not work for your lifestyle. How do you keep these chairs clean around the table with wine spills and food? So what do you do? Do you give up on your dream chair? Absolutely not! You get that chair! Instead of buying 6 for your dinner table, you buy one or two for your desk in your bedroom or home office or as an accent chair by the Main Entrance! If you really like that chair, you can buy 6 of them for your dining table in a different finish; perhaps the frame is stained so it’s easier to wipe it clean and you select a stain-resistant fabric for the seat cushions. You simply change upholstery and stains on the same item to meet different needs.
You need to be practical in those areas of your home that get the most traffic and use and you can afford to splurge on your aesthetic needs in other areas of the home that only you use or don’t get used very often.
10. MAKE SURE IT FEELS COMFORTABLE AND WELCOMING.
Now that you’ve soaked in and understood all this information on how to select the right furniture for your home, you need to step back for a moment and think; “Is this furniture going to make this space feel comfortable and welcoming?”
Have you ever walked in someone’s home that has spent a lot of time and money researching furniture, where to buy it and what to place where and it still feels sterile and quite not right? Some houses are more difficult to furnish than others, it really depends on the rooms layout but sometimes, something is missing. Perhaps it just needs an area rug to bring things together or a piece of art on the wall or an extra three side tables..
Your Main Entrance and your Living Room are the rooms that need the most attention. They shouldn’t feel too cramped but they shouldn’t be too empty either. You should be able to have a comfortable conversation with someone in your Living Room without using an intercom to be able to hear one another. You should be able to fit at least 4 people facing each other without having to seat next to each other on one couch.
Whatever you do, make sure your home feels comfortable to you and your guests.
I hope you find this information helpful!
As always, feel free to comment here below with any questions you may have!
Cheers!
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.