Furnishing a New Home: Choosing Home Furnishings and Furniture

When furnishing a new home, it is essential to plan ahead before purchasing any home furnishings, and even more importantly, your home furniture. These items can be expensive, and it is too late to find you have made a mistake once you have paid for them. So plan out each room, one at a time, and decide on the fundamentals first.

Home Decorative Style and Color

You may have a decorative stye in mind for your entire home, or even just for one room. Themed rooms are eternally popular, while other might prefer a more contemporary style for their home or even a retro look. Whatever you decide, your decision must be made before you buy one single tin of paint, because that tin could easily determine the style and finish of your home furniture.

You must keep in mind the type of furniture you generally like, however, and bright reds and oranges tend not to go well with dark leather upholstery. If you like traditional home decor, then decorate traditionally, but if you prefer something bright and modern, there is plenty white, red and blue leather going around, not to mention the massive range of fabrics suitable for upholstered chairs and sofas.

Whether you have a certain style to which you want to conform when choosing home furnishings, or you have nothing particular in mind, you should at least have a preferred color scheme. You may want your living room in matching shades of ochre, cream and brown, or a vivid creation of oranges and lemons.

Home Furnishings Come First

Wall coverings, carpets, drapes and furniture upholstery all come under the umbrella of home furnishings. Your furniture is functional, but what people see when they first enter a room is your furnishings and decorative style. Your theme, if you have one, and your primary color scheme, must be reflected in these softer aspects of home décor.

When furnishing a new home you are advised to decide on a primary theme color before even looking at home furnishings. Of course, if you see a fabulous rug, carpet or even a wallcovering that you love at first site, you can match everything else around that. You can normally continue the color theme into your choice of furniture which should therefore be the last item on your agenda

Variations of your main color (white, red, yellow, blue, browns) can be used in the various components of the room. The carpet, wall coverings and drapes should match or even contrast as discussed below. Ochres and creams go well with traditional stained oak furniture, if that is what you are considering. The upshot is, once you have chosen your color scheme and the way you want a particular room to look, you can then choose your furniture to match that look.

Contrasts Work

If you prefer contrasts to subtle matches, then white or black leather furniture can go with anything in fact and some find black and white an interesting contrast for a room. If you prefer a fabric, then these are available in almost every color you think of - vivid primaries and subtle pastels and tints. You can easily amaze yourself with your artistic talents, because many people that think they have no talents can often come up with some breathtaking color contrasts in their dining room or bedroom.

Many people tend to stay conventional with a living room for their own reasons, but try something different elsewhere in their home. It is not the purpose here to change your mind, and because of the time and costs involved, it is probably best to follow your head with the main rooms and your heart with the spare bedroom or even the dining room and try to let your talents express themselves.

Choosing Your Home Furniture

Once you have decided on your main theme and colors, it is time to select your furniture. Since upholstered furniture can be selected to match or contrast with your décor, we shall focus on solid wood furniture for now.

Items such as solid wood wall cabinets, entertainment consoles and hutches, dining room furniture, accent tables and occasional furniture are difficult to get wrong. For a light and airy room, light oak, satinwood and spruce or pine are good, and you can also have solid woods such as oak and beech finished in light shades or even painted white, yellow or any other color. Veneers are also excellent ways of topping off solid oak or maple with an attractive lighter shade of wood.

Black rugs with white furniture look very modern, but think of the cleaning! If you have pets and a young family you will likely want to be practical, so patterns are best for these households. Nevertheless, the choice of home furniture is yours. The fundamental aspects of the advice being offered when furnishing a new home are to choose your style and colors first, then select the home furnishings and finally your furniture.