Furniture for you: A guide to choosing quality items you need

One of the joys of being a first-time homeowner is that you have all the freedom to choose how your home will turn out. From paint color, tiles, wall textures to sofas, mini plants, and a grand chandelier in the living room, it’s all up to you.

At first glance, the process looks all exciting and fun—and it is—until you need to decide what to bring home. You might find yourself overwhelmed with all the choices freedom has given you.

Here are five basic tips on how you can best edit your options and find the best-suited quality furniture you need in your new home.

Pick a theme. Your home reflects who you are. It’s best to think of what you like rather than what your future house guests would appreciate. Would you prefer a simple minimalistic and modern design or a classic Victorian-era type of home?

You'll be able to short list your furniture and home decor items once you decide on the theme you want. Based on your theme, you could now follow a pattern when choosing the style of your cabinets, sofas, desk drawers, and more.

For example, if you prefer the classic, modern style for a theme, a black Feo Sb-Ashanti Sofa Bed may fit your design. The leatherette upholstery with a clean and simple design may blend well with a modern minimalistic style.

Stick to a strict budget. Don’t go overboard with buying. Keep in mind to only buy what you need rather than want, then plan ahead by deciding how much you want to spend on a certain piece of furniture. This way, when you get to the shop, you will only look at the designs based on your available budget.

You have to realize, however, that the quality of an item could also depend on its cost. For a mom who prefers linens in silk or cotton, the cost may be higher than the linens made of the usual fabric. With this in mind, you have to decide on which furniture or decor you would want to be of quality. This will help you decide on which items you should spend more on.

Do a space check. A small sofa may not be the perfect fit in a high-ceiling and wide-open living room. A king-size cabinet may cramp up a studio-type bedroom. Mind that the available room space is of the essence.

Buying items without knowing where to place them will only give you a headache once everything is delivered to your home. A reference picture of the rooms and a list of their measurements would be very handy when you're picking out your items in the store.

Think of the people. Consider these points when picking furniture: How many people will be using your sofa at a house party? How many friends would you allow to spend the night in the guest room after a get-together? How many people should the dining table occupy?

You don’t want to suddenly regret buying a small sofa when your 12 siblings suddenly invite themselves into your home, as they usually do, or regret buying a very big guest-room bed when you know your friends all live nearby.

If you are that homeowner with a small space but that many siblings or friends, a sofa bed may be best to help you both consider space saving and your future guests. An Avant Sofa Bed, for example, is a versatile piece of furniture that looks like your average sofa but, with a few easy movements, can be transformed into a bed which allows your visitors to sleep comfortably.

Visit a one-stop-shop. Once you've planned out everything, the next important decision is where to buy them. For a new home owner, or someone doing a major renovation who needs to buy a lot of new furniture, a one-stop shop would be perfect.

In the Philippines, AllHome is one of the biggest furniture stores you can visit. The home depot shop offers a range of individual items for your home, as well as sets that you can buy for your living room, bedroom, guestroom, kitchen, and any other household areas.

Besides the example furniture mentioned earlier, AllHome also offers appliances, construction items, hardware, paint-related products, electric items, and many more. With online shopping, customers can now also check their website and filter out their specific budget and design to find the items they need.

For those on a tight budget, AllHome provides monthly sale promos and free assembly of large and other collapsible furniture. This lessens the extra hassle of carrying and reading a manual on how to arrange the piece exactly as you saw it in the store.

Getting a new home is an exciting adventure and you certainly don't want to ruin the experience due to inefficient buying or choosing the wrong items. With this basic guide, you can now design or redesign your home, hassle-free. 

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Editor’s Note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring and educational content created by PhilSTAR L!fe in collaboration with brands like AllHome.