Furniture-Buying Advice

Furniture buying can be equally exhilarating and exhausting. You will, after all, be living with the decisions you make for at least several years — or even through several generations!

Bringing new furniture into a home usually is a special experience. The care you put into selecting those furnishings will be reflected in a perfect synergy of room environment and decor.

New bedroom furniture and living room furniture, dining room furniture can transform your current residence into the home of your dreams. You do not need to move into a new apartment or buy a new house to get that sense of renewal and rejuvenation so many of us desire. With beautiful, high quality furniture you can achieve the comfort and style you have always wanted.

New living room furniture, bedroom furniture and dining furniture can give your home a bold, modern look full of sleek, clean lines or a traditional feeling with soft, upholstered pieces. Whatever style of d�cor you choose, you and your family can enjoy total comfort and relaxation in your transformed living spaces.

Here are some basics of buying furniture. This list is designed for less experienced shoppers, but almost anyone can benefit from a refresher on how to make the most of your furniture purchase:

Set a realistic budget: When buying furniture, it’s always best to set a budget for all of the items you desire and for the specific goods. For example, you know you have $3,300 to spend on dining room furniture, so roughly $2,500 goes to the table and chairs, and $800 goes for lighting. Don’t be tempted to get too far out of range in either category, especially if financing comes into play. On the other hand, don’t budget too low and have to adjust the overall figure on the fly. Be sure you know what quality furniture costs and be realistic in the initial budgeting process.

Match up cost and longevity: Smart shoppers have a vision of how long each piece of furniture will be in their lives. Patio tables and chairs would be a good example of goods with a relatively short life. Proud parents often overspend as they put together baby’s first room, only to find baby doesn’t pay much attention to his surroundings for the first year, much less his room’s decor. High-ticket items, on the other hand, can be passed on through the generations. A dining room table and chairs would be a great example of this. These can be powerfully sentimental heirlooms, if the high quality is there from the beginning. You can’t get that at IKEA.

Always measure with care: As with a furniture budget, you need to know what sizes will work for your rooms. Tight fits often become “no fits.” Be sure to take into account any elevators, doors, stairwells and hallways the delivery men might encounter. Returning furniture because it won’t fit through the door is among the worst experiences in furniture buying. A high-quality couch cannot be forced through a tight space.

Envision the room: One way savvy new-home buyers get a grasp of what is needed and which sizes will work is via home furnishing software. A good example of this is the Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite. Or the HGTV Home & Landscape Platinum Suite. You create the room in the computer, and then place various sizes, shapes and colors of furniture into the space. Of course, good old imagination works well in most cases, assuming your room measurements and interior design color scheme are on target.

Take digital photos of the actual rooms and print them out for any shopping expeditions. With an experienced furniture salesperson or designer, these can be quite helpful. Even a short video captured on your cell phone can help a furniture consultant envision your living space. Of course, boutique-style one-on-one furniture consultations can be extremely helpful, especially if you’re buying numerous objects and spending a lot.

Know your manufacturer: Many of the important elements of furniture can’t be seen by shoppers. With living room or dining room chairs, for example, there could be any combination of straps, fabric webbing, cushioning padding, springs and support braces. Few shoppers will know much of anything about these elements. Relying on name manufacturers (big or small) who have a reputation for quality and worksmanship can make all the difference. Dynasty Designs Furniture works exclusively with furniture manufacturers and builders of the highest quality. Visit our online boutique furniture showroom to see examples of their work.

Interior design sites or furniture-related forums can be helpful for gauging manufacturers’ reputations, although be aware that every business comes in for criticism on the web. Your cell phone or iPhone’s browser will help you make spot checks on the makers of furniture you’re considering.

Pay attention to delivery terms: Furniture delivery usually entails either freight or “white glove” shipping, depending on the distance and cost factors. With freight, you’ll usually have to do the unpacking and set-up yourself, although some deliverymen can be quite helpful with the promise of an appropriate tip. White glove movers will unpack and assemble the furniture, relieving you of the hassle and risk of doing it yourself. If the furniture is heavy and awkward, have a plan for moving it through the house once the delivery is made.

Have a rough idea of what it costs to ship and deliver furniture. There are shipping calculators available online, such as those for UPS Stores and FedEx. These may or may not be helpful, depending on the size of your goods. The cost of shipping should be part of your price deliberation. Make sure your retailer is competitive on shipping and delivery options.

Many buyers try to close a furniture buy with a demand for expedited delivery. While these techniques may work with discount furniture operations, most high-end retailers run on tight schedules with little room for exceptions. In some cases, the cost of delivery can be negotiated, but as often as not you’re just working with the seller’s margins on the goods. You might want to specify, however, that the delivery men haul away their packaging or even used furniture (such as mattresses) and get that in writing.

In some cases, as with custom-made and imported furniture, the delivery times are subject to factors beyond the retailer’s control. Working with a service-oriented furniture seller that has close ties to the manufacturers — such as Dynasty Designs Furniture — can be a big help in getting accurate information on shipping and delivery times. Overseas shipping requires patience, plain and simple.

If you’re buying from an online furniture retailer, provide a link with directions to your home using one of the map services found online, such as MapQuest.