Ready for some furniture tips and advice that will make buying, re-upholstering, or painting furniture easy?  Furniture is your biggest decorating investment, and that makes it so important to choose the right pieces.  It is difficult balancing between price and quality.  Where is the best place to shop for the best value?  How do you choose a piece of furniture that is in style, but not a temporary design trend?  Does every piece of furniture need to match in the room?

Furniture: A Big Investment

These are very typical questions my clients ask me when they are looking for furniture tips and advice.  Choosing and buying furniture can be a daunting task.  Furniture is a big investment, and can make anyone nervous on pulling the trigger on the right piece!  So, below are a few tips to get you started in the right direction!

Furniture Tips and Advice

1.  Focus on one room at a time.  Don’t get sidetracked!  Staying focused on one room, and then completing it, is the best feeling in the world!  One room at a time, period.

2.  Decide what pieces will stay, and what pieces must go.  Can you keep an old table, but give it new life with paint?  Do you love the structure and design of a chair you already own, but it needs to be reupholstered?

Grab a notebook, and write down what pieces need to stay and what pieces need to go.  Make a note of a piece you want to give a paint makeover, then return to my blog to “Learn How to Paint Furniture”.

3.  Now that you know what pieces are staying, it is time to focus on how you will arrange your furniture.  Take a minute to read my post on “How To Arrange Furniture”, then return back to this post.

4.  Buying Furniture:  Have you made a list of what pieces of furniture you need to purchase?  I wish purchasing furniture was as easy as clicking a button, dropping it into the shopping cart, and hitting the checking out button.  But, unfortunately it takes time.

Advice on Buying Furniture:

a.  Take your time.  I know, who has a lot of time to furniture shop?  Being prudently slow will pay off in the end.  I promise.

b.  When choosing upholstered pieces, really examine the fabric.  Does it feel like it will stand the test of time?  Is the fabric too thin, and light-weight?  How well will it clean from spills?

c.  Buy new or upholster the old?  Many clients ask me this question, and my response varies.  If the piece is extremely well made, and has great style and is comfortable, then re-upholster.  For an average occasional chair, you can spend around $500-$600 for fabric and upholstery labor.

If you need a of couple occasional chairs that may only be sat in “occasionally”, I would lean toward buying new.  Target, Pier 1, and World Market have beautiful, well-priced occasional chairs.  T.J. Maxx Homegoods is another great place to shop.

d.  Buy used!  I typically don’t buy upholstered furniture used, but I love hunting for accent tables, dressers, dining room table and chairs, and foyer tables at garage sales and Craigslist.  You can find steals!  If you are a female, and are not comfortable shopping on Craigslist, there are tons of Facebook Buy & Trade Groups for women only.  Simply Google Female Facebook Groups in your area.

e.  MY BIGGEST FURNITURE BUYING SECRET – I have shopped on-line for furniture and found close to wholesale prices on certain lines of furniture.   For example, I found a Paula Deen dining and table set on-line for a fraction of the price of my local furniture store.  I went in and talked with a salesman to see if they would price-match, and they did!  I saved over $1000.00!  No, that is not a typo.

My Paula Deen dining table set.  Love.

Selecting pieces for your home isn’t about going to a showroom and duplicating a typical, uniformed look. This is YOUR home, your LIFE, a place where you should feel comfortable, nourished, and loved. I love the saying, “your home should rise to meet you”.  Make it yours!

Once you have completed this Step 2 Furniture Tips and Advice, you are ready to move onto: