Are you moving to a new home or looking to start decorating from scratch? When it comes to designing and decoration, one element that steals all the focus and attention is the furniture. Furniture tends to take up most of your interior space, proving how essential it is to pick one carefully. It has the potential to make or break your space and, at the same time, play a vital role in defining the interior design style and colour scheme.
Choosing the best furniture for your space can be pretty fun and playful. You can be as thoughtful and creative as you want, from considering the colour palette to your interior design style, space constraints, and family members! So, let’s look at these seven tips for choosing furniture that stays longer and beautifully transforms your home.
1. Determine Your Interior Design Style
What’s your style? Do you admire the clean and crisp lines of modern and minimalist style or something in arches and curves for contemporary and bohemian style? It’s essential to know your preferences before choosing the best furniture pieces that resonate with your personality and the space they’re styled in.
For instance, the mid-century design prefers clean lines and iconic shapes in the furniture. The modern farmhouse appreciates the use of rustic woods and exposed frames! The coastal interior design style embraces the use of whites and blues and rattan and wicker! Yes, every style has an associated style of furniture. It’s crucial that you closely observe the features of every piece of furniture and carefully pick the best one.
2. Determine the Colour Palette
Your furniture plays a major role in defining your room’s colour palette. Now that you know the interior design style, you’ve probably narrowed the colours and schemes you must choose for your home. For instance, the modern and minimalist styles prefer the use of neutral colours like off-white, grays, and beiges. On the other hand, the eclectic, bohemian, and glam style prefers the use of bold colours like emerald green, deep blue, or mustard.
Know what your colour palette would be, and based on this, choose the couch, accent chairs, ottomans, and loveseats accordingly. You can either choose from a monochromatic or a contrasting colour palette! All the furniture could be from the same colour family but different colours or contradictory yet cohesive.
3. Think Functionality and Purpose
Before you choose that perfect piece of furniture, it’s ideal to know its true function. Do you intend to use it throughout the day for lounging, or is it just for the guests? Should the furniture define aesthetics or practicality? Based on this, you should pick furniture that either answers one of them or both! For instance, if you’re looking for extra storage, choose ottomans that can also be used to store extra blankets.
If it’s a family room where you’re going to spend most of the quality time with your loved ones, choosing a sectional and not a couch is ideal. If you have older people at home, try to avoid high or uncomfortable furniture to sit on!
4. Consider Kids and Pets at Home
It’s important to keep an eye on this aspect! Do you have kids or pets at home? If either of them is yes, you need to consider additional factors. Choosing fabrics that don’t stain easily and furniture that doesn’t have sharp corners is what you must be looking for. It doesn’t just make your space more functional and practical but also more welcoming and warm.
For instance, choose leather fabric as it is easy to maintain and take care of! Avoid shag rugs since your pet can quickly shed hair and make your space look messy and unorganized.
Pro tip: try avoiding ample use of clean whites and off-whites as it’s harder to maintain!
5. Measure and Know the Size
Getting stuck with a very large or small furniture piece can be quite intimidating. It’s a waste of money, time, and also resources. Whether it’s the living room, bedroom, or dining room – every space has a different rule to be dealt with! It’s ideal that you measure your room carefully and then smartly measure the furniture.
And all this while, ensure that you’re allowing ample space to move around and circulate. Otherwise, your space will look cramped, messy, and unwelcome.
6. Choose the Focal Point First
First and foremost, purchase the focal furniture of your room. For instance, it’s the couch in the living room and a bed in the bedroom. This will help save you time and make purchasing the remaining furniture pieces easier! Once you have finalized these major focal points of your room, start picking the adjacent furniture, accessories, and decoratives.
This will keep things on track and prevent making costly mistakes later. Remember not to be too matchy – consider also picking contrasting items to give your room a sense of visual interest.
7. Know the Budget
An essential aspect that you can’t ignore is the budget! You don’t want to pick high-budgeted items and let the overall project budget go down the drain, right? So, it’s important to know the priorities and invest in quality furniture that will stay for a longer time. For instance, investing the highest on the couch and accent chairs is something to look forward to! Meanwhile, buying a throw pillow worth $100 is a big no-no!
A couch will stay for a longer time and is worth the investment. Meanwhile, decorative accents like throw pillows and centrepieces can always be refreshed!
Summing It Up
Furniture plays a primary role in any space. It’s like a jewel of your room that has the power to control how the space will look and feel! Carefully choosing one will give you returns in the long run. So, are you excited to get on board choosing furniture?
Ready to refresh your home?