How to Select a Recliner
July 26, 2021
How to select Bed Room furniture
Questions to Help You Plan a Bedroom
It always helps to spruce up a room—you know, out with old, in with the new. The top two factors that hold us back from doing so, though, is time and money. However, don’t fear, for there is a way to avoid spending too much of either of these—through planning. Ask yourself a few questions before you jump into redecorating the room, such as…
Who’s bedroom is it?
First thing is first—think of the person, or people, who use this room. If it is you, then you probably already know what you like and dislike in furniture and decorations. However, if it a family member, you may need to ask for their help in choosing these pieces. Even if it is a guest room, consider asking people who visit you often what they like in room so they can be comfortable when they stay for the weekend. And, if it is a kids bedrrom or teen bedroom, think of what themes they have a big interest in—perhaps cartoon characters for young children, or a rockstar theme for a middle schooler.
What do you need in this room?
After you think about who is going to use this room, tailor the furniture and décor to their specific needs. For example, a married couple is going to need extremely different furniture than their toddler will need in her nursery.
So, start with the bed and ask who will be sleeping in it. If it will be someone very tall, consider looking at beds and mattresses labeled ‘XL’ or extra-long. Or, do you have children you expect to be sleeping in with you often? Consider a large queen or king, maybe even a California king.
Next, look at the furniture around the bed and work your way out. Do you need one night stand or two—one for you and one for your partner? What about lamps—do only one of you read late at night? Think about how many clothes you currently have, and if you have limited closet space, do you need an armoire? And don’t forget things like a dresser and a mirror.
How much are you willing to spend?
Of course, this question needs to be answered before we go any further. A budget is essential for even high-end bedrooms because you can often get more for your money in unexpectedly cheap items. And, if you are concerned about not being able to get enough on a low budget, try the following:
- Buy piece by piece: You can certainly buy one thing now and leave the rest for later. Start with what you know you need, and then come back to add more in a month or two.
- Buy used pieces: Try secondhand or thrift stores for cheap thrills; you never know what you might find!
- Buy from big-box stores: Mass merchandisers, like Walmart and Target, offer quality furniture for low prices. They can offer things for cheap because they sell high volumes, so even though the pieces aren’t unique, they are affordable and often very trendy.
Which items are most important?
Along the lines of budgeting, think about which pieces in the room are most important to you, and then put the most money into those items and buy them first. For example, if you suffer from back complications, invest in a high-quality mattress before anything else. If your current mattress is fine for you, maybe you want to put decorations above everything else.
How big is your room?
Next, make sure all the items you are planning on getting will fit in the room. It doesn’t make sense to buy multiple wall paintings if there are a lot of windows already taking up the room’s wall space. Of course, you want to make sure you get all the essentials you need in the room, but you also don’t want to make it look too crowded. You can use an online room decorator to plan how all of your new items will fit in the space, or you can draw a scale size of the room on a piece of paper and write down measurements of both the room size and furniture by hand.
What is the room style?
This, the last part, perhaps, can be considered the most fun. After you have all the technical parts of your new room’s look planned out, you get to be creative and decide what style of pieces you are actually going to buy and put in the room. Of course, this will be dependent on your likes and dislikes or, maybe, the room’s theme, if you have one. However, above all, make sure you get pieces that work together, and you should only incorporate one or two contrasting colors. For example, you can contrast black, white, and orange for a small pop of color, or you could go with a bolder look of purple and yellow.
You may also consider whether you want furniture that is contemporary or classic at this stage. Contemporary pieces will look modern and have straight edges, like a basic nightstand that is one neutral color, while classic pieces may look more whimsical, like a dresser with sea shell engravings on it. Whichever you choose is fine, though make sure you stick with it so that you won’t have any clashing contrasts.
