How I Made Furniture Shopping Not Suck
It’s official, my $800 Wayfair couch just isn’t cutting it anymore. This sweet couch was more than I have ever paid for a piece of furniture, even more than my mattress, and within 2 years it’s time to be replaced. My fiance’s cat decided it needed to be used as a scratching post and the stuffing just looks so much better on the inside than it does sticking out. Plus, the cushions never stay in place, and I’m constantly readjusting them - it’s so annoying. So, it’s time for me to grow up and buy some real furniture.
Almost everything Lee and I have in the house is either a hand-me-down, purchased used, or from Ikea. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ikea, so there isn’t a problem there, but the issue is most of it just does really go together. When we moved to Boston we didn’t have much space at all, and there were only two rooms in the whole apartment, so we didn’t really need much.
Now, things look a little different.
We went from 955 sqft and 1 bedroom, to over 2,000 sqft and three bedrooms. Needless to say, we definitely have the space for more furniture, and Lee’s philosophy is just fill it with what we have, and mine is leave it empty until we find something. Of course, he won.
Our house has plenty of furniture now, but as I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t really create any type of style profile or really even work together. I can’t even call it eclectic honestly.
So, I decided it was time to find some real furniture and create a home with actual style. I started where all great home projects start: Pinterest. I just started searching random things like white living room, grey couch, oversized chair, and vintage style. It took me a few days, but eventually I kind of stumbled across an aesthetic that worked for me. It’s a bit mid-century modern and a bit modern farmhouse, but either way, I’ve got a direction.
Once I found a style I was happy with I decided to try and find the furniture to match. I decided I wanted an oversized chair with an ottoman for curling up a reading, and I needed a sectional with a chaise so Lee had room to stretch out. I think it’s really important to decide what pieces you want BEFORE you start shopping, otherwise you won’t really know what to look for, and it will be overwhelming.
With my pieces in mind, I used my Pinterest board to determine the color palette I wanted to stick with. My dream was a white slip covered couch, but it’s not practical, and honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be in style much longer - people are realizing a photo ready couch is easier with darker colors and more durable fabrics.
The couch we have now is grey, and it’s been a great color for us, so we wanted to stick with it. The big change is leather. I’ve never been a lover of leather, but with the design style I fell in love with I realized how great leather looks when paired with clean lines and more modern design. I wanted to try a leather sofa, but Lee wanted to stick with fabric so it would be more comfortable, which means my oversized chair and ottoman would be the leather pieces. I’m actually excited about that because it reminds me of the vintage library I have always wanted!
It only took a day or so using my handy dandy Google searching skills to find what I wanted. I’ll be honest, I decided to stay away from online only retailers because I think it’s so important to actually touch and feel something this expensive before purchasing. I did not do that with my last sofa, and while I was fairly happy when it arrived, I like to think I got a little lucky. I wanted to find pieces that I could drive to a store and physically touch. Also, I wanted to go to a store to look at exactly what I wanted, NOT drive to a store and HOPE I find something. I cannot justify spending that much time driving around to a million places and hope I find what I want. Just not how I want to spend my time.
I was able to find what I wanted at West Elm, and luckily there is a store in Birmingham. Another reason I wanted to go with a store like that is their design services. They have designers in store that can help with colors, floor plans, and overall room design - it’s just a really nice touch. Not only were we able to go in store and look at what we wanted, we were able to see and touch ALL of the fabrics. I had originally decided on a linen fabric, but after looking at some others and talking to the designer about wear and tear, we decided on a performance washed cotton. The performance fabrics are treated to withstand a little more than daily use, and with animals, and hopefully kids, we knew we wanted to go that route.
I know that West Elm is more expensive than some other popular furniture stores, but again, I am prepared to spend money on exactly what I want, and I happened to find that there. Also, their furniture collections made it easy to find pieces designed to fit together, and their fabrics allow us to add pieces from other collections that will also fit our style.
We left with a plan for exactly what we wanted and needed, and the designer even recommended we wait for a sale to purchase. We aren’t in a hurry, so it sounded like a plan for us. It felt good not to be pressured, and it was also great to feel great about the pieces we picked. We loved them online, and seeing them in person helped solidify our decision. I highly suggest everyone take that route!
Furniture shopping sucks. It’s expensive, time consuming, and it can be frustrating if you don’t actually have an idea of what you’re looking for. I’m not an interior designer by any means, but starting with figure out what style you want should probably come first, and then everything else can kind of fall in place from there!
Love,
Lilly
