Partnering up with Value City Furniture to do a whole room make-over has by far been such an honor! The staff has been so helpful and I have learned so much about furniture. It seems that no matter how much you have already learned there is always more to learn. I guess I would not be a blog about Consumer Education if I was not learning and saving while learning myself! Today, my savings tips are all about pre-planning and knowing what you are purchasing before you make a mistake and spend time off of work waiting for a delivery only to find out that it needs returned because you did not PLAN!.. Time is money and not saving time is not frugal!
I always say the best consumer is an educated consumer and Jason at Value City Furniture, Robinson Township, PA., made sure I knew all about each piece of furniture which made a HUGE difference.
Let’s take a look.
A piece on the furniture list that was being replaced in our current family room was an ugly, old green recliner! It was one of the most used pieces in the room, and it is my husband’s. I obviously wanted to make sure this piece was better looking than this green ‘thing’ and that it coordinated to all the other pieces in the room. See, I had made the mistake, or I had been misled into thinking Green was a neutral color when we purchase the last chair, so Green it was, because that is all they had left in stock. I guess that is why Green was suddenly neutral. Let’s just say, Green was a large clash with everything in the room from the beige couch to the white tables, it was just wrong and it stuck out like a sore thumb! With the GREEN CLASH in mind we looked at all the reclining chairs that matched the sofas! I was actually going to be happy if the recliner was just brown and nearly matched, but what I found is a chair that matched the set with perfect accent stitching to compliment the cocktail tables as well as the color of the walls. The chair itself matched the sofa and it therefore made the recliner we chose the perfect choice.
WHAT I LEARNED ~ LET ME SHARE MY NEW EDUCATION ON RECLINERS
Power Recliner
Not all recliners are made the same! Did you know that if you buy a manual recliner it is BY Hand reclining. Did you also know there are things called POWER RECLINERS? What you need to know is that not all recliners rock, not all recliners glide, and not all recliners swivel left and right. In addition Power Recliners are ELECTRIC and require power outlets so it could very much work against you if you don’t have a power outlet in the room or enough outlets in the room. Closed Chair and then Open.
The recliners I looked at recline. A large difference in the make up of the recliner can range from the plush pillow-top arms, as well as possible storage areas in the armrest, electricity, manual powered, and more. In addition, the way a recliner kicks out can also vary. What I mean buy this is that the kick-out where the feet rest may be all one piece or there may be an opening between where your knees are and where the feet rest. The proper words for this are a full-chaise pad reclining design system, which simply translated is: there are no gaps between the seat and the footrest.
Manual Recliners have Handles or small latches that allow you to PULL on them and that makes the footrest appear. Power Recliners have button that you push and you suddenly recline.
WHY DID I PICK MANUAL?
In my home, with 3 children who have a natural need to touch and pull buttons, levers, and switches, I just kind of figured that they would ‘play’ too much with these controls and probably would not be the best investment. The room is to be lived in and enjoyed and I don’t think that they would enjoy me saying,’Stop touching those reclining buttons’, every time they passed by the sofas and the recliner. Therefore, with active kids and the want for sanity, I erred on the Non-automated chair. I did find out however, I was more in the minority as far as this goes as most people really seem to like the one touch system and use of electricity. I also did not want to have to use all the electrical outlets powering furniture in a room. I thought ahead about the Holidays, decorating and how many things we normally plug in and I felt ONE more plug in was going to be overload.
THE SMALL THINGS COUNT
I really wanted my room to pull together, so I was obsessed with detail! I saw that some of the recliners had accent stitching(stitching a few shades lighter than the upholstery) and some of the chairs did not. I knew that the cocktail tables had a swirled granite color in them and that the accent stitching would compliment the tables, my greatest surprise and happy moment was the fact that the stitching matched the walls! Yeah, I know you are thinking really she is that excited about stitching– let me tell you, and I am sure you already know, it’s the small things that make people happy!
Jason was able to point out all of these items to me, which led to the most effective decision of Which recliner to choose. When it got to my home, the Recliner was not going back because of the need for electricity that the room did not have, it was not being returned for color issues and most of all it was not being returned for its full chaise footrest! I had made a perfect choice in the store and it reflected well in the home! No needs for returns, no wrong choices, no time loss, rather time well spent being educated by a Value City Furniture Consultant that really made sure I knew what Value City Furniture could provide… and WOW did they deliver!
