Choosing the Right Furniture

There are a lot of things to consider when buying a new piece of furniture. Luckily Warwickshire Now is on hand with some handy tips to get you started. Choosing the Right Furniture CONTINUED OVER THE PAGE

Start with shapes that you love, this may sound obvious but trust your own eye. Consider the room as a whole and think about what the main elements are, be practical, and ensure that you provide space for side tables and lamps (you need places to put your drinks and books), if you do this, you’ll have a good idea of how much space you can allot to your upholstery pieces.

Consider the age and location of your property. Country homes and urban homes need different solutions. It’s how the pieces work together that counts, try to avoid three-piece suites, they create heavy blocks in a room, presenting everything on the same level and missing opportunities for something more interesting. Think about the leg heights, it might be good to have some pieces with longer legs as they tend to have a lighter visual impact. Also, consider that we are all different shapes and heights, so think about how you prefer to sit when you’re relaxing. If you like to have your legs up, then make sure the sofa seat is deep enough to accommodate this if it isn’t you might need a sofa with a chaise end or an ottoman. If you like to lie down on your sofa, make sure it is long enough for you to stretch out. Consider that some family members or friends may want to sit higher or lower, have head support, or read by the window, so it’s really useful to have some upright chairs or small sofas that can be pulled into play when needed.

Always measure the space where your sofa is going to go carefully. It’s so disappointing to go through the process only to find that something doesn’t fit. Make sure you measure up your door frames and allow for any tight angles, radiators, banisters or other architectural impediments. Some sofa legs are removable to help deal with access issues.

Choosing a sofa for your home is one of the most important furniture decisions. Make sure that it’s comfortable for you. Even cheap sofas cost a lot of money and frequently end up in landfills so it’s worth spending time to get your decision right. Ideally, your sofa will serve you for a long time before being passed on to future generations, so always buy the best that you can afford. Good sofas improve with age as the cushions soften with use. Regular plumping of seat and pillow cushions will improve their longevity. Once you’ve chosen the shapes you like, you’ll be ready to think about fabrics.

Upholstery Fabrics The colours, patterns and textures you choose for your room can tell a story of understated luxury, playful exuberance, a formal or relaxed approach, and all stages in between. Fabrics create connections between the elements of a room, they don’t have to match so you get to decide how loose or tight you like your associations to be. A mixture of textures in similar tones generally looks more formal, urban and calming, with further interest added by introducing an accent colour or texture that enhances a quality from a treasured painting, rug, or vase. Whilst a more relaxed mixed and mismatched assemblage of colour and pattern can evoke the comfortable, generational layering of the classic English country home.

The way your fabrics are put together allows you to build your scheme and layer it to fit your story. Let practicality play its part; think about how you live and who uses the furniture, dogs, cats, and red wine spillers. Some fabrics have a stain repellent finish which will go some way to keeping things looking good. Pieces in hightraffic areas such as family or living rooms will need durable fabrics, while furniture treated to less wear and tear, such as a bedroom chair, can sport any type of textile. Fabrics are graded with a ‘rub count’, technically known as a Martindale Test. The higher the number the more durable the fabric. As a rule, 25,000 rubs is considered to be adequate for general domestic usage. Think about it as layering, be intuitive and have fun... it’s just like getting dressed but for your home. n