I had purchased “grownup furniture” before.
But I don’t think I was ever so excited about a furniture delivery as I was on that Saturday morning when the china cabinet arrived.
The cabinet was our first purchase together as a married couple, and I was so excited to fill it with our china, crystal and other wedding gifts.
I imagined a lifetime of setting the table from the china cabinet, as we hosted meals for friends, our parents, extended family and eventually our future children and grandchildren.
Buying furniture is a practical exercise. You need a place to sleep, a place to sit, a place to eat and a place to store clothes and china and the other stuff of life.
But I also think it’s important to tap into your emotions when choosing and buying furniture for your home.
You’ll make memories around that coffee table, as you prop your feet on it and cuddle on the sofa with your sweetie, as you share wine and good conversation with a good friend and as you color in a coloring book with your toddler.
In my opinion, mood, style, function, quality and price all matter when choosing furniture for your home. Today, in partnership with Havertys, I’m sharing my 6 tips for choosing furniture for your home.
I think I know a little something about furniture.
I’ve certainly bought enough of it through the years, even making a few regrettable buying decisions that have made me a wiser furniture buyer.
I also live near High Point, the furniture capital of the world, and I’ve worked in the industry. Every time I go to the High Point Furniture Market, the trade show for furniture retailers and manufacturers, and tour designer-styled showrooms full of gorgeous furniture, I come home with a list of rooms I want to redo and refurnish
And there’s that hobby/side business of mine of taking old furniture and making it new again with paint.
1) Make a Mood Board
Before you start shopping for furniture, I think it is helpful to make a mood board.
A mood board will help keep you focused on the mood and look you want to create in your space. When you’re out shopping for furniture, it’s easy to get distracted by all the pretty — and that’s when you can make expensive mistakes.
I recommend spending some time on Pinterest and on furniture store sites, like Havertys, to do a little pre-shopping before you actually hit the stores. Buy some home decor magazines and start collecting inspiration photos.
2) Take Your Time
Though we’ve lived in our house for more than three years, every room isn’t completely finished or furnished. I’m still looking for “just the right thing” for certain rooms in the house.
My current challenge — nightstands and lamps for our guest bedroom. I’m still looking for ones I love.
I’m giving you permission to take your time when furnishing your house. Don’t feel you need to rush in and buy something you don’t love to fill a space, especially something expensive.
I shop everywhere for furniture: at retail stores like Havertys, online, antique stores, yard sales, flea markets and even my mom’s house.
I won’t buy an expensive piece of furniture I don’t love, but I might pick up a yard sale piece that isn’t perfect, knowing that I can make it over or replace it later without guilt when I do find what I love.
3) Know Your Measurements and Use Space Planning Tools
I use an app on my phone to keep notes about home design projects, furniture and accessories I’d like to buy for our home.
In that app, I also keep room dimensions and other key measurements. Because there’s nothing worse than getting a new piece of furniture home only to find out it doesn’t fit where you thought it would fit.
I’m also a big fan of room planning software to help you visualize your space before you furnish it. It’s great for trying out furniture placement without killing your back.
I used a room planning tool online when I was redoing my home office and craft room, and I even taped out furniture I planned to use before buying it.
This visual exercise helped me decide to go with a smaller craft table than I originally thought I needed, and I’m so happy I did.
4) Splurge Where it Matters
Not every piece of furniture you buy will be an heirloom, but I really do think it pays to invest in quality.
There are certain items you can probably count on replacing, like sofas and upholstered chairs as tastes or styles change or they get threadbare from use.
But things like your dining room table or china cabinet could be with you for as long as you own your house — if you choose a timeless style and buy furniture that is built to last.
Later down the road, you may choose to refresh these pieces with paint or a new finish.
Even upholstered pieces can last for years if you invest in a quality-made piece of furniture in a timeless style. You can always have a fabulously made sofa or chair recovered.
5) Buy What You Love
As much as you may be infatuated with a design trend, I wouldn’t recommend that you let the trends influence your major furniture buying decisions. Buy what you love today and what you will love 10 years from now.
Try out trends in pillows and other accessories or upholster a side chair in a fabulous modern fabric.
It’s easy and fairly inexpensive to change the look of dated upholstery when you tire of it.
6) Go for a Collected Look
The most beautiful interiors always seem to have a collected look, as if the homeowners spent a lifetime searching for the furnishings and objects in the space.
Be mindful of that as you shop for furniture.
It’s OK to mix and match different wood tones and paint and fabrics and patterns and even styles, like blending industrial with glam or rustic with chic.
That’s how you create a home that is uniquely you and find furniture you’ll love as much in 20 years as you did when it was new.
Havertys has some great “forever” piece of furniture. and now’s a great time to shop with them.
Share your Havertys purchases on Instagram using the hashtag #HavertysInspired
Be sure to visit Havertys online at:
- Havertys website
- Mobile Site
- The Havertys Blog
Havertys helps you bring your vision to life. Visit Havertys.com to find a store near you, detailed product information and design tools to guide you in your home decor purchases.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Havertys. The opinions and text are all mine.