Shopping for living room furniture can often feel intimidating as it’s typically the heart of the house, but we’re here to help ease the nerves and make it an easy (and maybe fun) experience! Whether you’re only searching for one piece or a completely new living room set, there’s a few things to keep in mind.
1.Have Your Measurements Available
It’s a known fact that there’s a size-complexity in furniture. Showrooms in this industry are usually massive studios with high ceilings, causing buyers’ perceptions to often get distorted. To avoid believing that whatever you see in the showroom will fit, feel, and look the same way at their home, room measurements are important. Taking the extra step to have your measurements available, either via a floor plan or taking them manually, is extremely helpful when deciding which furniture shapes and sizes will best fit your living room. If you live locally, we are happy to come to your space to take the most accurate measurements.
2. Get A Rendering Of The Design
As important as taking measurements is, having a 3-D rendering allows you to see the big picture of the project and your space. Working with an in-house design consultant is helpful as a figurative road map to the final product. With this service, not only will you get to visualize how the furniture fits, but you’ll see the color harmony, walking space, and the balance between the sizes, shapes, and materials.
3. Balance Is Everything
When it comes to scale and shapes, you want to be sure that the furniture not only fits in your living room appropriately (re: measurements,) but that the pieces flow flawlessly with each other. Just like tall ceilings look better when decorated with big artwork, sofas work best with larger coffee tables. The same thing goes with mingling shapes. For example, if you have a more modern, angular sofa, consider buying a round coffee table such as our Amada Coffee Table. Along with playing with different shapes and scales, mixing colors and textures is rarely a bad thing when putting a living room scheme together. If your aesthetic tends to pull more monochrome, that’s when texture-play really stands out. Try throwing a woven fabric on the sofa, a microfiber suede on the armchairs, and a gloss lacquer on the coffee table for the perfect balance of modern and sophistication. Balance is everything when designing your home.
4. Consider Your Lifestyle
Do you have children or pets? Do you tend to host weekly dinner parties or spend your evenings watching TV on the sofa? It’s a smart move to choose furniture according to your lifestyle and how the materials, layout, and functions suit it. For larger families and friend groups, our modular sectionals can be built as big as your space allows. Options such as the Met and Mony also function as loungers with double depths, perfect for movie nights and relaxing. Pro-tip: take inspiration from your favorite spaces and we can help create the same vibe while appeasing your day-to-day life.
5. Know The Functionality
As mentioned above, dual-function furniture is always a good idea. Pieces like sleeper sofas, extendable dining tables, and storage beds are great solutions for maximizing function and space. In addition to these pieces, we also have coffee tables that double as extra seating with removeable ottomans, headrests that adjust to your comfort level, and adjustable sofas that allow for deeper or more narrow seating. Our sideboards can double as entertainment units, entryway or dining room consoles, and consoles behind the sofas, complete with vast storage inside. Furniture that has multiple functionalities is great even for large spaces—who wouldn’t want added comfort or more organized storage?
6. Ask about construction
Always inquire about how the furniture is made and what the structure consists of. In our sofas, we use a steel tube structure for the frame. Depending on the volume of traffic your sofa will see, that’s when the build of the seats comes in. We use high-resiliency foam supported with no-sag zig zag coil, sometimes with a layer of goose feathers on top for added cushion on select models. Also, we are the only company that offers a lifetime warranty on the structure of our furniture—no strings attached.
7. Compare Materials And Maintenance
Knowing the purpose of the furniture is one of the first places to start when deciding on materials, especially if it’s used more frequently. We often recommend using ceramic rather than marble, due to the high-absorbency and likelihood to scratch found in porous marble. Engineered wood also stands the moisture-test against natural wood, making it ideal for dining and coffee tables. We have over 150 fabric options (including 50 leather and velvet,) and more than 20 different finishes and materials to choose from, giving the client an opportunity to find the perfect option for their needs and lifestyle. It’s also extremely beneficial to purchase from a company who manufactures their furniture rather than works with vendors. This is helpful when needing spare parts or repairs during the lifetime of the furniture.
8. Read The Reviews
Higher-priced doesn’t always mean higher quality! Whether you’re shopping for furniture, for clothes, or for cars, reading company reviews is one of the most important first steps. Maybe a brand has great quality products but doesn’t keep their promise regarding the warranty, or potentially a lesser-known company has rave reviews from loyal customers who return to buy from them year after year. Quality customer service is just as important as quality product.
