Furniture Buying Guide

We hope that this furniture buying guide will help you make smart decisions when shopping for furniture. Our sincere hope is that you will do your homework and be satisfied with your purchases. Shopping online is probably the best way to shop for furniture, so have fun with it! Share what you find with your friends on Facebook and twitter.

Furniture, Identify your personal style

Is it casual furniture, contemporary, country, traditional or eclectic? If you're unsure, look at the items around you to see how they reflect your personality--your wardrobe, your car, your magazines, favorite movies, etc. Embrace your own personality and style, but remember how you will you will use your new furniture and keep your lifestyle in mind when shopping around.

Examine your furniture design preferences

Make a list of your favorite colors, textures and patterns. Do you prefer bold colors or pastels? Solids, stripes or plaids? Soft, light fabric covers or rich tapestries? Lighter fruitwoods or darker hardwoods? Pick a timeless design that fits, buying the latest flavor that may go out of style soon will have you shopping and spending sooner rather than later to furnish your home.

Identify your current furniture needs and rooms that need furniture

Do you need bedroom furniture, dining room furniture, living room furniture, kids furniture or entertainment centers? Determine the rooms in need prior to starting your search for furniture. You may also need home office furniture or just plain office furniture.

Consider your lifestyle

Do you plan to have a family or do you already have children? Do you have pets? Are you planning to move soon? These factors may affect the features of the furniture you buy today. A quick tip for buying your kids new furniture, pick something they can grow with. Like a bunk bed that splits into two twin beds, a convertible crib that can transform into a full size bed. Or for your teen, pick something that will still be cool when they head off to college. That Snoopy or Cinderella bed just may not cut it in the dorms, get it? Got it? Good, save your kids the grief and yourself the expense.

Prioritize your furniture purchases

Decide which items of furniture you want or need most, and buy those first. Then build around them. You don't have to furnish the whole house at once. Are key spaces empty? Are certain pieces worn or in need of replacement? Have you been yearning for a particular item?

Determine your furniture budget

No matter how much or how little you want to spend on furniture, you can find good values that suit your style in any price category. There are some great values out there online, just dig a little, do your research. And for the guys out there, here is some practical advice. Make sure your wife is cool with your selection, make her feel like it was her choice, guide her carefully or risk losing your man cave!

Budget your time to suit your shopping style

Do you enjoy doing lots of research and browsing or are you an on-the-spot buyer? Shopping for furniture online can be as easy or involved as you want it to be. Throw impulse buying out the window for picking a whole room full of furniture. If you just need a neat small item to fill a void or a spot, then just go for it, that is different. If it tickles your fancy grab it before that item is out of stock or discontinued.

Explore available furniture resources

Look to the Internet for home programs, books, magazines, catalogs, websites and furniture show rooms to provide inspiration. Keep a scrapbook of furniture styles you like, or don't, who has the time for that anyways? Make a folder in your favorites / bookmarks in your web browser called "cool furniture ideas". Then go to town online and save those furniture sites and items you are digging on. Save that so you don't forget it.

Take advantage of free services

Many online furniture stores offer such benefits as interior-design consulting, room-planning guides, product brochures, etc. There also many online furniture sites that will send you free samples of fabrics and wood samples, take advantage of those! Usually sites that do these little extra things can be trusted and they are the real deal.

Trust your own judgment

Buy what you like, and don't be afraid to be bold or different. Remember: No one knows what you want better than you do. Pick sites that have trust seals and price guarantees. Not all furniture sites are created equal. Do you want to buy from a site that is run by a kid in his pajamas, or a site that pays it's bills, treats their employees with respect, has a good reputation, pays their taxes and has many years of experience? I think that question answers itself. If it doesn't, well then go get some help from your kids that know more about the Internet than you.

Have fun and enjoy the process

Furnishing your home to express your personal style can be one of life's greatest and most enduring pleasures. Do you have furniture that was handed down from your family? Someday your family and kids will have mementos of their life with you in the form of furniture, look around your home, I dare you to say there is nothing there that was not once in someone else's home!!