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Tips For Smart Furniture Shopping

February 10, 2020

Fresh, modern features. Wide open space. Your taste and style. Now that you’ve bought your brand new home in Vancouver or the Tri-Cities, there’s nothing more fun than filling it with your personality! The furniture in your home not only reflects your preferences, it determines how you enjoy the comfort and coziness of your home. Take a look at a few of our favorite tips when furniture shopping for your gorgeous new home.

Furniture Shopping Tips

Have a budget. We recommend setting definitive parameters for how much you can and should spend on all of your furniture. This way, you’ll go into a showroom with a confident plan in mind, and save yourself time by looking at only the right pieces for you and your home.

Measure. Knowing exactly how big your rooms are, and how much space you have for each piece, will make the process a breeze. You can even create “mock furniture” with masking tape to get a good sense of where and how furniture will fit into a room. Pro tip: don’t forget to measure doorways and stairways!

Conditions matter. Think about how and where you’ll be using each furniture piece. If you want an upholstered chair near a window, consider how the fabric may fade over time. If you need a general-use table that the kids will be using on a daily basis, make sure the finish is tough and the construction is sturdy.

Know the lingo. If you’re buying something expensive like leather, know the terminology before you start. Grades, kinds of dye, treatments, textures, and finishes matter when it comes to what you like and what you can afford. And of course, don’t be afraid to ask any questions!

Get up close and personal. As convenient as it is to shop online, buying furniture in person is your best bet. It’s important to see colors and textures up close, as well as sit on sofas or chairs, touch the legs of a table, etc. Better quality furniture is heavy, so being able to pick it up to check sturdiness will help you make decisions.

Judge the book by its cover. The paint or stain on the surface of a piece should be smooth — no bubbles or streaks. You should be able to see the grain clearly though stain, but should not be able to see anything through an opaque finish. Wicker or rattan should not have splinters or frayed sections. Ends should be smooth and the woven sections should not be clogged with paint.

Pay for delivery. Finally, save yourself the headache — and backache. Struggling to get heavy pieces of furniture into your new home doesn’t make move-in day any easier. Instead, let the experts take care of it. Trust us when we say it’s money well spent! You’ll be able to enjoy your brand new home that much quicker.

From all of us at New Tradition Homes, enjoy the fun of styling your new home with furniture!