Shopping for furniture can be both exciting and challenging. On one hand, the thrill of purchasing a brand-new dining table set or a cupboard that can elevate a home is undeniable. On the other hand, selecting the right piece that fits the vibe and space of a home involves plenty of preparation and forethought, both of which make the overall process somewhat overwhelming for shoppers. To make one’s buying experience better, here are some common mistakes to avoid while buying furniture:

1. Forgetting to measure the doorway
Many buyers realize it too late that their purchased furniture pieces are larger than the doorway of the rooms where they will be placed. Measuring the doorway of a room in which new furniture will be added is one of the essentials of designing and furnishing one’s home. It’s also a simple process. All one needs to do is take a measuring tape and measure the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the doorway. Also, buyers are advised to measure the dimensions of one’s building stairways or elevators if they reside on one of the upper floors. Doing all these will prevent them from purchasing furniture that will not enter their building, house, or room.

2. Not taking one’s requirements into account
There is no such thing as “ideal design” when it comes to homes and individual rooms. This is why, when readers see an 18th-century Victorian design element or piece of furniture that looks gorgeous on the latest copy of Architectural Digest, they must remember that it may look a little out of place in their own home. Essentially, while purchasing furniture, one needs to ask themselves two basic questions: how will this piece of furniture be used? and will it be beneficial to one’s lifestyle and family? Asking these questions is essential, as one needs to bring in new furniture to enhance their home and not turn it into an architectural museum.

A few examples of lifestyles influencing furniture purchases include not buying leather sofas and couches if one has a hyperactive canine in their house, not purchasing furniture with hard edges if one lives with an irritable and rampant toddler, or preferring chairs with recliners if one has a senior citizen living with them.

3. Buying all the pieces at once
In many cases, buyers tend to purchase separate pieces of furniture all at once to avoid running out of stock in stores. However, buying many pieces at once is a bad idea unless one is buying a furniture collection, such as a full bedroom set or a dining set. Doing so can lead to overspending and owning furniture pieces that don’t go together.

Ideally, one should buy one item at a time. Doing so helps people have the time to familiarize themselves with the furniture’s dimensions, color, and texture. Living with a given furniture piece for some time makes it easier and faster for individuals to coordinate and purchase the rest of the furniture.

4. Rushing the buying process
Rushing through the process is almost universally considered a bad practice while shopping. Purchasing furniture is a major emotional and financial decision. Rushing through the process can lead to several costly, irreversible mistakes. While looking for furniture pieces, one must not just find a beautiful piece of furniture, evaluate its price, and add it to their shopping cart. Instead, buyers must study the model and image of a given piece of furniture. For instance, if one is purchasing a chair, will it be a wooden or plastic chair? If it is wooden, will the wood be synthetic or solid? The latter one offers higher quality, so that should be purchased.

In this way, analyzing every aspect of furniture before buying it helps shoppers get the best models on the market.

5. Being unrealistic about maintenance
Unlike smartphones and, for many users, cars, buying furniture is a long-term investment. Therefore, while purchasing furniture, one must be realistic about the normal wear and tear the furniture will be subjected to. One must also assess one’s willingness to clean and maintain it or hire someone to do it instead. Every piece of furniture is different, so each surface needs different cleaning and care. Once buyers know these things and act correctly, their furniture will last many years after purchase.

6. Asking too many opinions
Every house is distinct. A house’s overall design and furnishing theme depend on the homeowner’s preferences and tastes. Therefore, different people will offer distinct opinions and accounts when buying furniture. This also means that not every opinion will be the “right” one for one’s house. Moreover, listening to too many opinions can simply confuse buyers and result in them buying furniture that neither suits the overall aesthetics of their home nor their tastes.

7. Failing to pay attention to color
Color is an often underrated and overlooked facet when one designs their home. Ideally, buyers should purchase furniture pieces that do not look overpowering from a color perspective. Buying furniture pieces that are out of sync in terms of color simply makes a house or room look unfinished. Such pieces also stand out like a sore thumb compared to the overall design of their surroundings. Therefore, bringing home a sample sheet or pillow of the color that a given buyer needs their brand-new furniture in is a wise way to see if the given color matches well with the surroundings of their room or house. If it does, then one can purchase furniture of that color.

8. Paying too much or too little for furniture
The costliest does not equate to the best when it comes to furniture. And neither does buying the cheapest help. However, one must assess the quality of the pieces they buy before putting their hard-earned money into them. Essentially, high-quality furniture tends to be in the pricier range in the cost spectrum.