“Har ghar chup chap yeh kehta hain, ke andar ismein kaun rehta hain.” These famous lines from an ad by a paint giant speak volumes about what makes a house home. Every corner of your home has a story to tell about you and every piece of furniture in it reveals a little bit more about you. So, it is okay to take it slow and explore numerous online furniture stores or take the pain of visiting interiors and home decor stores personally to find that perfect winged chair that would set the tone of your living room.
Furniture is one of the biggest expenses in setting up a new home. Even replacing old pieces of furniture proves to be a costly affair. But you can save big by following these simple tips:
1: Shop online
Visiting furniture stores can be overwhelming, especially if you are not clear about what you want. Besides offering a wider range of collection, online furniture stores let you compare furniture pieces based on dimensions and cost while filtering out pieces of your choice by the material used, colour, style and more. Plus, you will save more by purchasing furniture online. The reason is simple; the seller does not have to cover retail and staff-related expenses. The chances are high that most pieces of furniture will be shipped directly from the warehouse, thus saving money for both, the seller as well as the customer. If you are a traditional wooden furniture kind of person, then you would know that gone are the days when you had to hire a master carpenter to make quality furniture from scratch for you. After all, how would you know if the rosewood cot at the retail store is actually rosewood or not? Online furniture stores such as Woodsala bridge the gap between the manufacturers and buyers by eliminating middlemen. This means you get the best quality furniture straight from the manufacturer and that too, at the most competitive price.
2: Wait for a sale
With more and more people buying things at huge discounts online, most e-commerce websites and physical retail stores await an opportunity to announce a sale—republic day sale, festive sale, mid-week sale and more. If not in a rush, you can shortlist things you want on various online furniture stores and track their sale season to get the best deal. You can subscribe to their newsletters or follow them on social media to get the sale alert as soon as it is announced. However, do watch out for shipping charges. Since furniture is a much bigger purchase than most other things, you must push for free shipping. If buying online, watch out for shipping charges mentioned by the seller. Most online furniture stores offer free shipping over a certain cart value. You do not want to end up paying more for shipping than what you save on the furniture.
3: Use discount coupons and cashback apps
Discount coupons and cashback apps come quite handy in availing additional discounts while shopping online. Many brand websites and online furniture stores offer discount coupon codes for registering on their website. Also, it is common to receive their promotional discount codes every now and then. If planned well, you can use these codes to get additional discounts on your purchase. Similarly, many cashback apps offer attractive cashback options on your online purchase. Also, popular e-commerce websites have regular tie-ups with banks and online wallets, where they offer additional discounts and cashback on payments made using the partner cards and wallets.
4: Drop the brand tag
Do not fall into the brand trap. Unlike clothes and shoes, furniture brands are not that popular. In fact, most brands source furniture from the same manufacturers based out of two-tier and smaller cities. Be quality conscious and not brand conscious. One of the biggest advantages of buying furniture from online stores is that you are not at the mercy of physical retail store owners whose claims about the furniture may not match the fact. Online purchasing gives you an option to explore customer reviews and feedback on various customer platforms. Also, it gives you an opportunity to directly connect with the manufacturers who can give you a better insight into the quality and durability of the furniture.
5: Pick low-maintenance furniture
While that off-white fabric sofa set you saw at your cousin’s home in the US could be the perfect fit for your white and blue-themed home in Delhi, it might be a terrible idea to invest in one if you cannot meet the demands of its maintenance. Similarly, with people spending more and more time at home, it is important to have furniture that does not clutter the space or need major upkeep. Also, now that we have started going beyond our local markets to buy furniture, we must not forget where it will be used. For example, a great-looking leather sofa set might prove extremely uncomfortable to sit on in places where summers are too hot and winters too cold. Even if not for life, furniture still is a long-term investment and you do not want to get stuck with something you do not like or is too difficult to maintain.
6: Avoid extended warranty
Nowadays, many brands and stores offer extended warranty on furniture. Think twice before you opt for one. Unlike electrical appliances, most pieces of furniture have hardly any scope of damage until and unless it is physical, in which case anyway it will not be covered under warranty. The extended warranty only increases the cost of the furniture with very less possibility of it actually being used.
With these tips, you can turn your house into your dream home without exceeding your budget for furniture. It is always better to invest time in picking and choosing the right piece of furniture that suits your taste and reflects your personality than rushing into setting your home with the most common and locally-available furniture. After all, you are to see and use it day after day.
