Dear Readers:
With so many furniture stores coming and going lately, a lot of people have been asking me about buying quality furniture. Okay, here are some basic guidelines to consider:
1) What do you need furniture for? How many people must you seat? For what activities?
2) What size will you need? Can you fit it through the doorway? Up the stairs? (I can’t tell you how many people forget these last two.)
3) Do you need built-in or movable furniture? Built ins are neat and efficient, look more contemporary, and can be very versatile. On the other hand, where you place them is where they stay.
4) Can you reuse any of your current furniture? Consider slipcovers and reupholstery first.
5) Must your furniture be custom designed? Obviously, built ins must be. Get references.
6) Address safety concerns - Are there sharp corners where children can be scratched? Will the chair tip over? (A possibility with 3 legs, or casters.) Will the fabric be too close to a heat source? (Especially bedding.) Can you see the glass top on the cocktail table?
7) Does the piece come with a warranty? For how long? Will the store repair problems?
8) What is the cost vs your available budget? What is the lifetime cost (initial cost + maintenance cost + cost of disposal + cost of replacement)? Often, the more expensive piece that will last for 20 years is a better buy, even if the initial cost is high.
9) Does the style fit in with the rest of the décor? Here I must interject a word of caution about “eclectic interiors”. Everyone thinks they have one, which apparently makes whatever they’ve done to their rooms okay. The definition is to juxtapose at least 2 styles in a pleasing way, while mixing old with new. Is it just me, or does that imply something deliberate? I don’t think it means: Fill a room with a hodgepodge of every style under the sun, kind of like the “Old Curiosity Shoppe”. One should use both restraint and some sort of a plan. Two good solutions are to have one style predominate, and use a second one for accents; and make the really disparate pieces more compatible by using similar colors and upholstery.
10) Are you purchasing the furniture from an established store with a good reputation or from a discount supplier with little history and no customer service (and therefore, questionable customer satisfaction)? As always, Buyer Beware.
