Believe it or not, there is a right and wrong way to approach furniture shopping. We’ve all fallen victims to at least one of the five things I am about to mention, including myself. So I created a list; it’s based on my observations, client history, research and statistics along with just some obvious common sense. Furniture shoppping shouldn’t be a daunting task but it is a pricey one so making sure you don’t fall into one of the listed traps can go a long way in your overall journey to a happier life.

1. Buying Because You Like It.

How many times, and answer truthfully, have you purchased something because you just love it and have to have it? While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that and actually encouraged on some occasions as part of the therapeutic “treat yourself” mentality, it’s not a recommended approach to buying furniture. Decor, definitely just not furniture. Because of its size, furniture should always be treated as part of a collective, as in, furniture will always be placed in a space along with other things. Whether it’s a home, an office, a garden, a shed.. whatever you’re about to buy needs to play nice with the other things you own. Buying big pieces of furniture on a whim creates what I like to call an “eclectic feel”, things just don’t fit together and ultimately that feeling is carried inside you as well; the occupier of the space. The love fades away and the money is wasted. I usually see this happen in 2 scenarios: when starting with empty and/or larger spaces and when replacing an older item; we go shopping online or in person and something attracts our attention so much that without hesitation we buy it and thus starts the chaos.

2. Buying Because You Need It.

Every piece of furniture you own has a lifespan as much as some of us hate to let go. The biggest mistake one can make is living in denial until you’re desparate. Henry David Thoreau put it best when he said “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desparate things.” So waiting until the last minute gives you the idea that you are desparate for that new bed or rug or couch. I know you might be thinking, “but there are some things that just get damaged or suddenly fail and that automatically puts me in a desparate situation”. I disagree, I personally think there are no desparate situations, you just created that in your head to avoid the leg work.

If you NEED something, make it a priority! Score time out of your day or week to do your research and plan. Instead of watching TV that night, start putting images together, reading reviews, researching prices and seeing if what’s available fits within your overall space. Buying furniture out of desparation just takes you right down the path of buying things because you love them in that moment or worse, think “they’ll do”.

3. Buying On A Budget.

Don’t yell at me right now, budgets are great. I live and breath budgets. But they have their appropriate time of appearance in the purchase process. One of the many things I learned as a designer is to find out your niche first. When I presented my clients with the estimated budget per project at the beginning of the selection process, so in my case, showing the estimate along with their mock-ups, they made decisions that are budget-based and that didn’t necessarily always mean it’s their favorite or preferred choice. But when I started omitting the prices from my mock-ups, the choices became truly based on what speaks to them most; the budget part always worked itself out. In the long run, that leads to much happier and satisfied customers. The same applies to you, starting with the budget isn’t ideal because the priority should never be the money. Your priority should always be comfort, function and cohesion. There are endless ways of finding or making furniture that fits your budget once you figured out your style otherwise, it’s a waste of time and money which is the antithesis of even having a budget.

4. Relying On ‘Ikea’.

Ikea here can be a literal or figurative figure. It can stand for inexpensive, easy, one-stop-shop, familiar.. you fill in the blanks. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Ikea and have shopped there multiple times. But it has its time and place. The sad truth is many, and I mean MANY, make it (or its equivalent) their go-to place without giving a second thought to anything else. According to research, in 2021, 775 million people have shopped at Ikea. In 2022, 822 million! (Statista, 2022) Isn’t that just crazy? You create your home identity based on what they have in their catalogue and not based on your own personality. I am a huge proponent of thorough research and supporting all sorts of businesses from your local mom and pop all the way to the giants but that means RESEARCH! Look at other places, see what others have to offer first before recommitting to the old habit.

5. Over-Researching

One of my biggest life takeaways from working at Apple is that every skill has an over, under and a middle. They called it “over-use / under-use” so there is such as a thing as too much of a good thing in their eyes and I actually agree. When it comes to purchasing furniture, you can definitely over-research. I typically see this with people that love to research but have no idea about any characteristic of what they’re looking for. There are tons and tons of choices for a single item, then add the internet and now you have access to all the choices in the world for that single item! If you don’t have a vision to guide you, but love to research your decisions, you WILL be exhausted and ultimately you’ll either not commit or you’ll buy something “that’ll do”. Both are caused by mental drainage.

My Solution

If you can see a pattern in what I’m saying, the point of furnishing is that you love your space, the whole ot it and how you feel within it. Buying furniture without starting with your personality in mind just takes away from your own peace. Being in design really helped me figure out a pretty easy process that anyone can apply. If you’re willing to put in the work and want to have a harmonious envrionment, it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

Start by taking photos of what you already own and the space your new furniture is going to fit within. Then comes the research piece, whether your shopping in person or looking things up online, get in the habit of taking photos/screenshots and bookmarking the things you love. These photos/screenshots are what’s going to help you figure out your style and I would even argue that they’re the most important part of this process.

You don’t need a fancy app or even have any designer skills. If you’re tech-savvy, open an empty document and start throwing those photos together. If you’re not tech-savvy, print it all out and create a vision board. How would your existing space look with “this couch”, would it be better with “that couch” instead? The point is to help yourself envision the space first to make solid, cohesive choices. Guess what else you’re starting to dwindle down? Over-researching! Instead of looking up “couch”, you’re now looking up “blue sofa” as certain styles and colors start eliminating themselves.

Now you know you need a blue sofa and are starting to like a specific style. Time for your budget to make its appearance. Do any of your remaining choices work with your budget? IF something does, great! Your search is over and time to commit! However, if nothing does and that happens, dropping those same images you have left back in Google will populate very similar styles and colors with a variety of prices. Instead of you wasting your time endlessly searching without a clue or wasting your money buying something you don’t love, now you know exactly what you’re looking for and how much you’re willing to budge. Maybe your priorities will shift or maybe you can call your local furniture store and try to bargain or maybe you’ll look up how to make your vision come true with a DIY project. A solution will present itself but the most important thing is that you didn’t sacrifice what you actually love and need in your dedicated space over money.

The goal in furnishing spaces isn’t to get things that will “just do”, the goal is to create a harmonious space that satisfies your soul on a deeper level. Treat that space as part of a sacred experience that you spend your life in, so why compromise?

Reference:

Statista. (2022, September 12). IKEA - Statistics & Facts. https://www.statista.com/topics/1961/ikea/