There are at least three big-ticket purchases you’ll ever make in life: a house, a car, and furniture.

The risks may not be as high when you buy a couch that doesn’t match your interior design as when you buy a secondhand home that you later found has plenty of repair issues. However, your furniture can still cost you some fortune as years go by.

Having that said, you will—as much as possible—want to do your home furniture shopping right the first time. So, keep this guideline in mind that will save you from making the following mistakes when shopping for living room, bedroom or dining room furniture in Singapore.

Forgetting to Measure

Measuring a furniture item to see if it will fit where you want it is one thing. But, making sure that it will fit through all the entryways into your home, is another. Many homeowners tend to forget this step and often find themselves shipping the furniture back to the retailer at their cost.

It pays to take measurements of all the entryways to your home before shopping for furniture, to make sure you have enough space to accommodate it.

Disregarding Proportion

While on the subject of measurements, don’t just think about how you’ll get the furniture in, but how much space it will take up in your home as well.

It doesn’t look good to push your couch against the walls just to make them fit and you don’t want your guests to squeeze between too-tightly packed living room either. Thus, you’ll want to have at least three feet of space between each furniture item for ease of passage and access.

Ignoring Colour

Have you ever noticed that the colour of the walls looks different depending on the time of day? The same goes for upholstered furniture and yet many homeowners forget to factor in the colour of the material when shopping.

As many paints do, furniture colours may look different in your home where there’s plenty of daylight that shines through than they do when you saw it in the back corner of the store. So, be sure you pay close attention to the colours so you’ll not realise a little too late that they just aren’t right for your home.

Sacrificing Comfort and Functionality for Looks

Each type of furniture is available in every style, look, and colour imaginable, making it a little difficult to shop. However, it doesn’t mean that you should go the easier route by opting for something that’s on-trend these days.

For instance, a dining table with bench seating may be fast-selling these days, but it may not be as comfortable as you needed them too. So, regardless of how appealing or in a furniture item is, remember to shop for a piece that you’ll not regret buying sooner or later.

Impulse Buying

There are two likely results in impulse buying. First, you’ll buy everything all at once and go over budget and second, you’ll go straight for a complete set.

While we understand how much you want to have your place furnished immediately, you’ll want to be careful in buying all your furniture items at once or buying a matching display set. Otherwise, you’ll barely have the flexibility to add something more elsewhere.

As a rule of thumb, we suggest you splurge on essential items including a couch, dining set, and bed then mix and match your way to add different accent pieces for your home. Give yourself plenty of time to assess whether each item will match your lifestyle, and more importantly, the overall look you’re after.

Remember, people usually spend months searching for the perfect house and weeks for the perfect car—and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take all your time when shopping for furniture.

Ready to get started? Shop for furniture at Snow Globe today!

We offer almost every furniture imaginable in Singapore from essential pieces—dining tables and chairs, couches, beds, and accent pieces—study tables, console tables, coffee tables, and many more.