5 Tips for Smarter Furniture Buying 01/12/09

I’ve learned that the hard way over years of home improvement and interior design projects that it’s easy to make costly furniture-buying mistakes! Here are a few things I’ve learned about shopping for furniture – I hope they’ll help you shop smarter:

1. Don’t just make a spur-of-the-moment furniture purchase, especially for an expensive item. Ask if the retailer will allow you to take that sofa you love out “on approval.” Usually, you have to leave a credit card number or deposit, but you’ll be able to take the sofa home to see how it looks in your living room…and find out if it’s comfortable for you.

2. Ask if the seller has a “restock fee.” Let’s say you’ve bought a $500 chair, but you get it home and hate it. Many retailers will accept the return, but they’ll charge you a 10% restocking fee to cover their time, effort, etc.

3. Don’t buy cheap furniture for your children’s rooms. There are a lot of cute, inexpensive things out there that seem perfect…but most are made of MFD, which is just not as strong or stable as solid wood. Their lighter weight makes them far easier to tip over, and all it takes is a wet water glass to make the laminate bubble up.

4. Be careful that the fabric you choose is suitable for how the piece of furniture is going to be used. I fell in love with some silk, and stupidly, I put it on my dining room chairs. The very first night we used the chairs, someone spilled red wine on one of them…and the silk can’t be restored to its original condition.

5. Don’t expect any piece of furniture to last forever, especially without care. When you buy a car, you expect it to begin depreciating as soon as you drive it off the lot. Why do we expect furniture to retain its value indefinitely? And why do we wash and clean our cars far more than we do our furniture?

Give yourself permission to compare your options…and hold out for what you really want. You’ll be glad you took the time to explore and you’ll be much happier with your home’s décor.

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