Thinks to Consider Before Buying Furniture: a Few Commonsense Tips
Many people start furnishing their rooms with choosing and buying furniture. In fact, it isn’t the best approach: there are things one should do before choosing new furniture, not after. Even top quality Italian luxury furniture you’ve long dreamt about won’t make you happy if you pick the furniture that doesn’t meet your requirements or arrange the items in a wrong way.
Your needs come first!
There’s a yarn – well, it can well be called a cautionary tale – which is pretty popular with students that study design. One designer completed a superb design of a yacht interior. It was a masterpiece of a design; every inch of the space was used optimally indeed. The client liked the furnishings a lot but… there was a slight hitch that eventually resulted in complete re-design of the companion cabin that took plenty of time and cost big money. The only drawback was that… the fridge was just an inch too small to hold a six-pack of the yacht owner’s favorite beer.
So, the basic idea is clear: it is your comfort that comes first. You are going to use this furniture for years, so your preferences and even whims do matter. And so does the size of your room.
Estimate how much room you have
However impressive the piece of furniture you have your heart set on, don’t hurry to a furniture store or press ‘Buy Now’ button on a website that sells luxury Italian furniture. Take a break. Before this item is ordered and delivered to your home, you should know exactly where it is going to stand and be absolutely sure that every piece of furniture in the room will be on its right place.
Start with determining the basic dimensions of your room by means of a tape measure. Don’t forget to measure width of the doors, hallways, and stairs leading to the room to make sure that your potential purchase will pass through the entrance.
Pick up a sheet of graph paper, a pencil and draw the plan. Mark the location of doors, windows, electrical sockets, and heat registers. You can use paper cutouts to stand for the pieces of furniture you are planning to buy as well as those you already have and are going to leave in the room.
Alternatively, you can download special software for this purpose that will enable you to draw the plan and test various options of furniture arrangement.
Leave enough room for yourself
The aim of drawing the plan is to ensure that all the furniture you need will fit into the room, leaving enough space for people to move there, enter and exit the room without difficulty. So, make your travel path wide enough and make sure doorways and windows aren’t blocked.
Even in the coziest arm-chair it’s difficult to feel comfortable if your legs constantly bump up against the coffee table. Therefore, place your coffee table within easy reach from every seat but leave 14 to 18 inches from it to the armchairs or the sofa.
If you have a side table, remember that its height should be at the arm of the sofa or slightly below it.
If you enjoy reading, make sure that the place where your reading chair is going to stand is well-lit. An additional lamp will come in handy.
Each edge of the dining table should be at least 48 inches far from any other piece of furniture or the nearest wall. Otherwise, it would be difficult to pass behind the chairs.
The bed should be at least 36 inches far from a swinging door; also, allow 24 inches or more between the side of the bed and the nearest wall.
Cozy furniture for comfortable life
Needless to say that the optimal set of furniture directly depends on how the room is going to be used and how many people will use it. So, it is reasonable to choose the furniture that will fit the purpose of the room best.
For example, if the room is mostly used to watch TV, a comfortable couch and armchairs are must-have as well as, perhaps, a coffee table or an ottoman. If your room is going to be used as a home office, you will obviously need a computer desk and a comfortable chair.
Don’t forget that there should be enough seats for all family members plus a few extra ones for visitors.
The room’s size also matters a lot. If your living room is relatively small, a large sofa will leave little space for anything else, including people – so, you’d better go for a something smaller such as a loveseat. Multi-functional furniture is another good solution for a smaller room.
What’s the focal point of your room?
When talking of the furniture arrangement, designers use the term ‘focal point’, i.e. the point, around which the main pieces of furniture will be placed. It could be a fireplace, a window with a grand view, a coffee table, or a TV. The focal point depends on the purpose of the room and it should be determined way before you start actually choosing the furniture.
When deciding where to place every item, think of maximum comfort. If you often have visitors, the room should be furnished accordingly, i.e. the people shouldn’t have to turn or twist to see one another and talk. So, arrange the furniture so that they will be facing each other; the optimal focal point in such a case would be the coffee table. If you mostly watch TV there, it is the TV that is the focal point of this room. That’s why all the seatings will face the TV.
With the purpose of the room and the focal point in mind, it would be easy to decide what pieces of furniture are really necessary. Now it’s high time to browse websites for luxury Italian furniture like Bellavista Collection or to hurry to a furniture store.
