Choosing Furniture For Your Home
Furniture is what makes the home, otherwise, you have nothing but four walls. Your choices reflect your style, taste, and personality. Selecting furniture is exciting, but with so many options, it can be tough to decide what’s worth investing in.
The American furniture market is huge, with a total market value of $220.90 billion USD. In this guide, you’ll learn how to choose the best furniture for your home, whether you’ve just moved in or are looking to renovate the family homestead.
Start with a Theme
It becomes easier to select furniture that compliments each other when you already have a theme in mind. The one rule about choosing home furniture is never mixing and matching themes.
There are several themes you may choose, such as:
- Contemporary – Metallic and angular furniture.
- Casual – Woods and earthy-toned furniture.
- Country – Soft florals with a focus on color and comfort.
- Eclectic – Custom, artisan, or ethnic furniture.
- Traditional – Dark woods and antique furniture.
Your chosen theme doesn’t matter because it reflects your style and tastes. All that matters is once you’ve opted for a theme, you stick with it. For example, combining contemporary and traditional furniture is always a recipe for disaster.
The Needs-Based Approach
Within the world of interior design, there’s often a risk of focusing on how a piece of furniture looks rather than what it’s used for.
Furniture is there to be used, and a home is there to fulfill your needs. Think about what you and your family need. How does your furniture make your life more comfortable?
For example, if you’ve got a spouse, you may want to invest in a larger queen or king-sized bed. Likewise, a bunk bed could be in order if you have two siblings of a similar age.
Some people work from home and may want an office that comes with a desk and a bookshelf to accommodate their jobs.
Your lifestyle will also play a part in the type of furniture you bring into your home. For example, households with pets and small children may want to skip the antique pieces or a leather sectional sofa due to the risk of damage.
Consider Your Size/Layout
Every home is different, so expect to work with what you’ve got. However, unless you’re opting for a total home makeover, the chances are you won’t be knocking down any walls or adding in new extensions.
Each room will have its unique dimensions you need to adapt to. Think about the size and scale of each space and how your furniture choices play into that.
Just because something fits into a room doesn’t mean this is the right move. Consider the space you have and how cluttered a room would feel. It’s all about compromise.
Time for Custom Furniture
Any home renovation project will require time to get all the furniture into your home and to bring those rooms to life.
Investing in custom furniture is one of the best ways to make your home truly unique. Customized pieces are always unique because they either come as part of a limited run or are made by hand.
Establish your budget and timeframe early, so you’re not disappointed. When searching for custom Amish furniture in Tomball, TX, take the time to visit furniture shops and speak to the person making your pieces.
Although custom furniture is complex and expensive to make, even a single piece of custom furniture can completely transform the look and feel of a room.
Begin with Anchoring Pieces
It can feel overwhelming if you’re planning to upgrade your entire home. Start with the foundation of each room by choosing anchoring pieces.
Anchoring pieces are the bigger pieces of furniture that dominate a room. These pieces include the sofa in the living room, the bed in the bedroom, and the dining table in the dining room. Once you have established which anchoring pieces are right for you, you can easily build from there.
The point of the rest of the furniture is to build up around the anchoring piece. There should never be more than a single anchoring piece in each room, or you risk leaving your room looking chaotic.
Matching or Non-Matching?
There’s a long-held belief that furniture has to match. Matching furniture sets have always been the standard, but interior design standards have changed.
Relying exclusively on matching furniture sets risks leaving your home feeling like a carbon copy of every other home on the block.
Get inspired, and don’t be afraid to mix things up a little. Not everything has to match up perfectly. A great piece of custom furniture or a colorful vase in the corner can give your home that sense of uniqueness you won’t find when buying furniture by the suite.
Furniture is an Investment
Always remember that your furniture choices are an investment. It says a lot about who lives there, particularly when it comes to selling your home.
It also underpins the importance of not opting for the cheapest set of furniture possible to get the project over and done with. There’s a reason why the furniture of 100 years ago can still be found in homes today.
Be willing to splurge on the furniture that really matters, such as the sofa, dining table, or display cabinet. It’ll last longer, look great, and increase the resale value of your home in the long run.
Conclusion
Upgrading your furniture is an exciting time, but don’t feel compelled to upgrade everything at once. Most homeowners find it easier to replace their existing furniture items piecemeal steadily. This allows them to invest more in higher-quality furniture that’s designed to last.
If you have the budget, don’t be afraid to enlist the help of an interior designer who can advise you on different furniture options for your home.
What’s your favorite piece of furniture at home?
