3 Guidelines to Furniture Selection

When working on some interior design projects, your clients are going to want you to work with the furniture and home décor accessories that they already own, repurposing and rearranging existing resources to create a new look. However, with many others, you’ll be given a design budget and expected to shop an entirely new look for an individual’s home- from wall fixtures to furniture pieces. In doing so, here are three key factors to consider every time you’re about to make a major furniture purchase:

• Practicality- The first and foremost thing you need to consider is whether an individual piece of furniture is suitable for a client in terms of both function and cost. If it breaks the budget you were given, move on and pick something else. It is part of your job to work within your customers’ financial guidelines and you should make an effort to find pieces that execute your vision while still respecting their initial budget recommendations. Secondly, make sure the piece is practical for their lifestyle- if you’re working with a mother of several young children, a high end leather couch might not be the best addition to her living room, for example.
• Style- Secondly, you need to consider the overall mood you’re looking to achieve in a given room design. If you’re hoping to style a tranquil, spa-like bathroom for example, a cheetah print shower curtain wouldn’t work, regardless of how much you might like the style of it otherwise. Never try to force a piece of furniture or décor into the mood of your look simply because you’re especially drawn to it on its own.
• Harmony- Always remember to consider the elements of proportion and scale before you add anything to a room. If you’re unsure how to determine balance in an interior design, check out this article as a guide getting started.

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