Professional secrets, how to buy furniture properly, is divided by a specialist in creating interior design.
Budget and Duration of Furniture Use
The zero step in the choice of furniture is to realize how important it is and / or how long are you going to use it. It sounds trite, but this stage has an important task - to simplify the choice of psychologically, to prevent the future conflict of interest.
For example, if you are important than the beauty of surrounding things, the alleged time of use does not matter. Buying a temporary, passing thing, you persuade yourself, that you can save, spend time and strength, choosing an economariant, and then buy more expensive - what the soul is going on. Conducting such a feature "on the shore", you can save - only not money, and time, immediately choosing a heart. Or quickly make a decision to postpone the purchase, realizing that now the money for what I like is not enough.
Other extremes - the complete indifference to the form of their own situation - there is no point in considering, since in this case there is no problem of choice.
But in the intermediate situation, when the appearance is important, and the money is sorry for the introduction of rational criteria. For example, consider temporary furniture use for less than two years. For such furniture, it is fundamentally to go to "Avito", in a cheap furniture or even in the construction: "Make item" format allows you to get furniture of a neutral species, the right functional and for minimum money.
Functionality and dimensions
The most understandable stage is the definition of technical parameters. For example, a sofa. Model: straight, corner, semicircular? Dimensions? Sleeping place: Do I need a guest or for daily sleep? Which mechanism is suitable: Is there a place to fold forward or only a book? Do you need boxes or storage box? Does the anti-vandal upholstery need (water-repellent fabrics, "antiques")? As a result, a ready-made search for a search criteria for a hike to the store is both online and offline. It is small - to decide how this set of functions should look.
Design and appearance
The most important part of the work of the interior designer is to answer the question "how the furniture should look like." If you hire a specialist, as a result you get an accurate list of purchases with article articles of specific manufacturers or specific parameters (design, sizes, material, color, decor) for order. But what to do if there is no specialist and you have to choose yourself? You need to find out what you like.
The easiest way is to view pictures on the Internet. Convenient resource for such work - Pinterest. Here is an approximate search algorithm on the sofa example.
- Primary search. Start the search for the word "sofa", keep all the cute pictures on the sofas created for this case.
- Search for similar images. Under each picture you like, the system will offer many similar pictures, and this similarity can be in different signs. For example, you liked the photo of a blue sofa in a flower on wooden legs. In similar pictures you will find many blue sofas, sofas in flower, structures on wooden legs and even completely wooden. Choose what you like, and then check back similar images. The cycle can be repeated 3-5 times - this is a fascinating process, and the results can surprise you.
- Analysis of preferences. When 20-30 pictures will gather on the "sofas" on the chalkboard, consider it carefully and find out that there are generals in your chosen sofas. The purpose of the analysis is to clearly formulate why you like exactly what you have chosen. For example, in the mentioned sofa, you are sympathetic to blue color, wooden parts, upholstery floral print, armrest bends line or it is a combination of these qualities. So in addition to purely technical characteristics you will have exemplary selection criteria for the sofa in the store.
Live testing
This is another effective method. The best way to evaluate not only the degree of comfort (in the case of a sofa - whether it is sufficiently elastic and soft), but also the combination with the situation is to visit the furniture salons, where the furniture is exhibited by non-individual objects, but by integers, rooms. All known example - IKEA. It is not necessary to buy furniture there, but come and try to "live" in different rooms, at least five minutes, it is very useful to understand what colors and textures are comfortable. It may be that you came with a dream about the White Glossy Interior, and you are more comfortable in a gray matte with bright accents. Find out this online is impossible - only personally attending in the real room.
In addition to salons, there are still furniture exhibitions. Exhibition stands are often also drawn up as a room with a finished interior. It can be "trying out" on yourself, feel the furniture, sniff. And this is not a joke: Furniture from high-quality materials should not have an unpleasant odor.
Quality
Live inspection of furniture is also needed to assess its quality. Depending on the type of furniture, this concept includes very different parameters, but there is also the main list, to pay attention to, looking at the furniture.General accuracy of execution
For cabinet furniture - minimum gaps, lack of solubular slots and distortions, neatly screwdrived handles, uniform support (adjustable or simply smooth legs, resistant on the floor), no dents, chips, scratches, solid fitting edges of the chipboard.
For upholstered furniture - smooth seams, no distortion and unnecessary folds, uniform upholstery color without burnt spots, no defects on fabric.
For metal products - minimal smooth gaps in connections, neat, carefully treated welds, a flat colorful layer without chips, bubbles and non-crushes.
Furnitura
This is the first thing to pay attention to, and the last one can save. There are generally accepted German stamps that ask the quality bar, but also less likely accessories can be estimated visually: lightness, smoothness of opening and closing, fixation in extreme positions, noiselessness (the exhibition sample creak must be alert), the exterior appearance (seemingly what is there Watch, but high-quality fittings are done well and looks beautiful and neat).
Materials and technologies
Depending on the material of manufacturing in furniture, various types of compounds are used. Furniture made of wood solid should not have visible metal connecting elements. Technological compounds of wooden furniture should also be wooden. Such furniture is easier, more beautiful, but more expensive and supplied.
If you buy an inexpensive wooden furniture designer for self-assembly, it is impossible to comply with wooden connections, the wooden connections rule: a metal fastener is usually included. This is due to the fact that wooden connections are difficult to perform independently, without being a joiner, - to collect furniture on self-drawing is much easier.
But the furniture from the chipboard and MDF, on the contrary, should be assembled on a metal fastener.
A soft furniture should pay attention to the presence of removable covers - such furniture is much more convenient in care.
Budget distribution strategy
Home furniture can be divided into the basic and extra. For each category - its own strategy of savings, which in the end allows you to get an interesting, "not suiced" interior.
Base - kitchen, cabinet storage furniture (wardrobes, dressing rooms, dressers), leisure furniture (bed and / or sofa).
Additional (accent) furniture - armchairs, puffs, chairs, tables, racks and shelves.
Basic furniture is better to look for a large manufacturer with debugged production and service. You can save on the material, but not on the fittings. It is worth navigating on the average market price, which is calculated by comparing offers of different suppliers. To make an presentation, 5-6 options from large players. Do not pray for a comparison time: in the process, not only the most favorable price is revealed, but also the quality of communication with you as with the client. The more appropriate service before making a purchase, the higher the probability that after it will remain decent. Although guarantees, of course, are none.
But the accent furniture does not necessarily have to be medium in price - it can be quite a penny, desperately dear or and the other immediately. Do not be afraid to mix different price categories in one room - so the interior is fresh and increasing.
To assess simple items (like coffee tables) made from natural materials with small batches or to order, in addition to their own sensations, "expensive - cheap" can be focused on the cost of the material.
Reviews
This is a valuable source of information. The reviews are paid, and both positive and negative. Nevertheless, you can work fine. Here is my way of analyzing feedback.
The positive feedback can be focused on the services like the "Fairs Masters" or Etsy (the same fair, but internationally). There is no longer a review, until you make an order and the wizard will not execute it. And since there are mainly presented private masters and small workshops, they carry personal responsibility for the quality of the product and value the reputation.
As for feedback on large companies on different services, ranging from Yandex.Market and ending with IreCommend, there you just need to look at the reviews ourselves (positive little, because it's not interesting about good), but for the maintenance of negative reviews and How the company works with them. If the negative feedback contains only emotions and evaluations without facts, or it is all spinning around a small scratch on the rear wall of the locker - the value of it is doubtful. If the company even responds to such a review, it comes to communicate and suggests thoughtfully to understand - 10 points in its favor. If the company does not respond to feedback at all or unconventionally snaps - do not get involved. The lack of negative reviews also suspicion, because with large volumes of production marriage is inevitable. It is important not a lack of marriage, but the ability to work with dissatisfied customers and adequately come out.
Successful shopping and cozy interiors!
The article was published in the magazine "House" No. 3 (2019). You can subscribe to the printed version of the publication.