How to Shop for Furniture Online

Over the next several weeks we will be rolling out a series of blog posts to guide you in your online furniture shopping experience. Each post will focus on a specific topic or a specific room in the home to help you make informed decisions when shopping for furniture online.

There are many benefits to shopping for furniture online. You aren’t limited by geography in your search, you have a wider selection to choose from, and you can shop at a leisurely pace from the comfort of your own home. But when it comes to purchasing large investment pieces like furniture, it’s crucial to do your research before buying. We’ve compiled some tips and strategies to help get you started.

Consider Style and Layout

Often times when shopping for furniture, figuring out where to start can be the hardest part. A good place to begin is by getting a sense of what style of furniture fits your taste. Whether it’s modern, traditional or something else entirely, once you’ve determined what you want, you can start looking for stores or even brands that fit your style.

Once you’ve narrowed your search, you need to know what pieces you are looking for. Over the course of the next few blog posts we will be suggesting classic room configurations to help get you started.

Measure, Measure, Measure

Whether online or in person, measuring is a critical aspect of buying furniture. Once you’ve chosen your room layout and you know the type of pieces you are searching for, you need to have an idea of the general size and shape of each piece that will best suit your room.

When you find an item you you like, find the dimensions online and use painter’s tape to build a layout of where it will go in your home. For taller items like a bar-height dining set, consider using cardboard boxes or foamcore to mark off the space for the height to give you a better sense of volume and depth. Leave the mock-ups in your home for a few days before making the purchase. This way you can ensure it’s the best layout and size for your space.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind that some furniture is extendible (i.e. dining tables, pull-out sofas, and recliners) make sure you account for the larger version when doing the measurements.

One other important measurement is the entryway to your home, or if you live in a multi unit building – take the elevator or stairwell into account. Will the furniture arrive full assembled? If so, make sure it can fit through the entry.

The More Photos, the Better

The biggest challenge with purchasing anything online is that often details like color and texture can be drastically different than what you see online. Whenever possible, choose a store that has a brick and mortar location so if you are feeling uneasy about the details, you can pop in and check it out the real thing in person before buying.

At Casa Spazio, we are open 7 days a week to accommodate our customers, and offer fabric swatches for you to take home. Even if you are outside of Chicago, Casa Spazio can ship you fabric and leather samples so that you can be confident in your decision making.

If you aren’t able to make it to the store/showroom, make sure you do an extensive image search through Google Image Search or Pinterest to see as many photos as possible of the piece you are considering. Look for photos that showcase the piece from different angles and zoom in on the texture when possible.

Pinterest and Instagram are great online tools to use when deciding on colors for each piece of furniture. For example, if you are considering a green couch but are unsure what chairs to pair with it, search “Green Sofa” in Pinterest to get some inspiration. Or trying searching relevant hashtags on Instagram like #greencouch or #greenfurniture. Use this same approach to view different room layouts, or combinations of furniture, textures and colors. There are hundreds of thousands of home interior photos available to you on Pinterest and Instagram to help inspire your online furniture purchases.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will be diving deeper into specific pieces of furniture and specific rooms in the home with more details and strategies on how to shop for furniture online to help you in your search.