When buying anything in general, we often get excited to go to the store or go online to shop for the piece that first appeals to us. This little excitement often leads to regretful purchases. No one wants this, especially for the furniture that we are destined to use for years.
To prevent an unsatisfactory purchase, take a slight pause and read this quick online furniture buying guide.
Do Not Impulse Buy Your Furniture
The last thing you want to do is to impulse buy your furniture. Before starting your furniture hunting and your most awaited home upgrade, take a look at these steps to know what is ideal for you.
1. Assess your furniture needs
Whether you are working on a new BTO or upgrading your HDB flat, you must set clear priorities before making a big furniture purchase decision. For first-time homeowners, consider where you sleep, where you cook and eat, where you relax, and where you store your items. Once you fill your home with the essentials, accent furniture can follow later on. If you plan to revamp your home, before looking for furniture that needs an aesthetic update, try looking for a piece of furniture that requires an update in terms of its function.
2. Measure your space
Do not estimate; measure. One of the major mistakes that others make when buying their furniture is buying a unit that is either too bulky or too small for their space. Having the wrong size of furniture will affect your ease of movement, comfort, and design. To prevent this, make sure to correctly measure the size of your room and consider its configuration, whether it is a square room, an open space, or an irregularly shaped room. You should also measure your prospect area where you plan to place your furniture, the entryways, and the walkways. Make sure that you'll have enough traffic to transport your furniture and to move afterwards.
3. Consider your lifestyle
Your lifestyle will determine what kind of furniture will work for you. Do you have a fast-paced lifestyle? Do you love staying at home most of the time? Do you work at home? Do you have kids? Do you have pets? How do you sleep? What are your hobbies?
Various furniture pieces and materials can cater to different needs. A silk sofa, for example, is not as child-friendly as other types of sofas. For those who work at home, an ergonomic office chair will surely provide more benefits than a regular stackable plastic chair.
4. Select a Theme
It is now easy to find design inspirations that reflect your style and personality. You can check through Pinterest, blogs, magazines, or different social media sites. Compile your design inspirations to create a mood board. Also, spend time looking for your ideal furniture online to get a good view of its design and price.
Make a Furniture Buying Checklist
To help you shortlist your furniture options, here are the major home furniture pieces that you should consider:
Living Room Furniture
Your living room is a place where you relax, watch your favourite Netflix series, play games, bond with your family, and entertain guests. As a space with multiple roles, you want your living room to be as beautiful and functional as possible.
The main goal is to get a cosy sofa that can cater to your seating needs. This largest piece of furniture in your living room will serve as the focal point and set the tone for the entire space.
A coffee table is essential to keeping your living space intact. It will also serve multiple purposes like food serving, entertaining guests, providing additional storage, serving as a mini-study table, and more. An efficient coffee table offers endless living room design possibilities.
A TV console with the right height will add luxury and comfort to your living room, especially for those who love to sit and watch for hours.
Accent furniture pieces like side tables and ottomans are needed to anchor your design and serve as additional storage and seating solutions.
Bedroom Furniture
If there is one room in your house that you should never ignore, it is your bedroom.It is where you sleep and recharge your body after a long, tiring day. It is also where you set up your home office or study corner, where you put your study table and office chair. Here are the bedroom essentials that you should check out.
When it comes to styling your bedroom, it is vital to focus on comfort and function. But of course, you can still achieve the look that you want with a few design tricks. A sturdy bed frame shall support your cosy mattress that balances body support, comfort, and breathability. If you sleep with your partner or other family members, you should also consider a mattress that works with different sleeping styles.
A wardrobe shall cater to most of your bedroom storage needs, including your clothes, bedding, towels, and other essentials. Some modular wardrobes include locked drawers for tinier accessories. If you have a smaller space, you can maximise your vertical space with a tall and slim chest of drawers.
Bedside tables are known to anchor your bedroom, but aside from this known function, these small best friends offer accessible storage solutions for your bedroom while adding aesthetic appeal to your space.
Speaking of aesthetic appeal, nothing can top an elegant dressing table that comes with a vanity mirror and complete drawers to keep your items organised.
Dining Room and Kitchen Furniture
To enjoy a scrumptious meal with your loved ones, an efficient cooking and dining space complete with cosy and stylish dining room furniture and storage solutions is needed.
As the centrepiece of your dining room, your dining table must be big enough to cater to your family members or additional guests, while being small enough to give room for traffic. The dining chairs shall compliment your dining table in terms of design and function. Online furniture retailers offer dining sets with matching dining chairs and tables. Some also mix and match different colours in one set.
For storage, dedicated furniture like your sideboard or buffet hutch is needed to store your plate collection and silverware. A kitchen cabinet will help you organise your kitchen appliances, utensils, and other kitchen essentials.
If you are into hosting gatherings but do not have enough space for additional dining chairs, consider getting stackable plastic chairs or a dining bench that you can tuck under your table when not in use. To create a stylish and multipurpose kitchen counter, consider getting some bar stools.
Look for Local Online Furniture Options
The internet can take you to lots of places without the need to go out of your home. Look for online furniture shops in Singapore with good products, reviews, and after sales services. Even when shopping on a tight budget, it is important to prioritise the quality of every item you buy.
Carefully check the materials to see if they fit your needs, the sizes, and the look of the furniture. Most importantly, make sure that your new furniture can serve its purpose for a longer period of time.
If this is your first time buying home furniture online, we suggest you look at the reviews, where customers upload actual pictures of the products and share their experiences.
Customers are mostly straightforward when it comes to the quality of the products and the after sales services. Some isolated cases of unsatisfactory quality and delivery are expected for every online retailer. However, if most reviews are negative, it is your cue to go to the next site.
Also, always check the return policy. A trusted online furniture shop offers a convenient return process. This will help you guarantee that you can still return defective items.
One handy tip when shopping online: Do not hesitate to ask for assistance. If you have questions regarding the materials, sizes or are unsure about the product, you can rely on the trained customer teams to assist you.
Visualise the Furniture in Your Space
You already have your mood board, and you have created your home furniture list. This is now the time to visualise the look of your home with all the furniture that you plan to buy. It is important to be satisfied with the overall vision of your space before you make a purchase, or you will end up with something that will not make you happy in the long run.
- Make sure that the final look is balanced and cohesive.
- Check if your furniture pieces cater to different functions. If two pieces perform the same function, prioritise the one you think will benefit you more.
- Do you plan to change your design often? If yes, choose furniture pieces that can fit various interior styles.
Furniture shopping is not meant to be complicated and stressful. You can even browse online to look for your ideal furniture at 3 a.m. If you master the art of making smart decisions, you are a few taps closer to your dream home.