Ever decided to pop into a furniture store on a whim? As you walk around you may start to realize that you like what you see, but aren’t sure what’s right for you. You may even be tempted to buy something off the showroom floor without fully considering all the aspects of your space. After all, it’s just so comfy and looks amazing in that store display.

While we love a carefully curated “eclectic” look, we don’t ever recommend making furniture purchases on a whim. A successfully designed home or room has many layers that all work together. Furniture is just one of those layers. Designing a beautiful home starts from the very base layer during construction or renovation and goes all the way through to the finishing touches with furniture, art and decor. Proper furniture planning is an important step when we design your home from start to finish.

Buying Furniture Starts with Planning

Our planning for the furniture phase of a project starts with these five important questions. Each question helps us to determine what goals our clients have for furniture in their home. Listening helps us get to the heart of a client's overall aesthetic preferences, usage and desired longevity for that particular space.

“A successfully designed home or room has many layers that all work together. Furniture is just one of those layers.”

Asking these 5 questions before buying furniture help us to create beautiful and functional rooms to delight our clients! The answers to these questions guide our furniture design and selection process.

5 Questions to Ask Before Buying Furniture

What type of space do you want to furnish?
Who uses the space and how often?
What do you focus on most when making purchases?
How long do you intend the space to be used in this way?
What are your design goals?

Let’s take a look at each of these.

What type of space do you want to furnish?
This question helps determine the types of furniture pieces that will be needed. For example, a bedroom will have different furniture needs from those of a game room or a dining room. Types of rooms we provide furniture design for include:
- Formal living room
- Family room
- Guest Suite
- Game Room
- Bedroom
- Primary Suite
- Bunk Rooms
- Kitchen & Dining Rooms
- Multi-purpose rooms
- Outdoor rooms
Who uses the space and how often?
Throughout the furniture design process we are curious to know more about who uses the spaces and how to help create optimal functionality for them. These answers run the gamut depending on family structure and lifestyle needs and can include…
- Who
  - Adults
  - Family members with special needs or those aging in place
  - Families with young children
  - Empty Nesters
  - Vacation Renters
- How often
  - All day
  - In the mornings/evenings
  - On formal occasions
  - When guests visit
  - Ski season
What do you focus on most when making purchases?
When we ask clients this question, we want to know more about how they prioritize the following…
- Quality
- Value
- Added features or customization
- Convenience
- Good Service and Warranty
How long do you intend the space to be used in this way?
Knowing the answer to this question helps us to guide you to pieces that will stand the test of time for the desired longevity of your project. This question might also sound like…
- Is this your forever home?
- Are you planning to move in the next 5 or 10 years?
- Do you plan to upsize or downsize with your next move?
What are your design goals?
This question helps us know more about what you want the space and the furniture to look like. Do you want to create a space that is…
- Comfortable and relaxed
- Formal and tailored
- Dramatic and unique
- Mixes in treasured heirloom pieces
- Showcases iconic furniture pieces or a curated art collection (or both!)

Answers to questions like these inform us to guide the direction of your unique custom furniture design plan. We can then recommend appropriate products to fit your needs and goals.