Now that we are underway re-doing the room, cleaning, painting, etc. I have really had to buckle down details, like what furniture I wanted in the room. I traveled to Value City, Robinson Township, PA. and met with one of the Store Managers, Jason. I brought the kids with me and naturally they wanted to test out every recliner, every reclining coach, and all the sectionals! As the kids did their testing of products, I worked with Jason to begin choosing what was going to best fit our lifestyle, our room and what would make the most sense for my family! There are a few things to consider when purchasing furniture and you have to go in knowing what you are after, or it becomes a browsing and thought trip. I went in prepared with: room measurements, current furniture, dislikes, likes and functionality, all which play key roles in determining what you will end up with, and there are a few other pieces we will talk about!
Front Of Store, With Manager Jason
PREPARATION AHEAD OF THE TRIP – AT LEAST THIS IS HOW I PREPARED…
Organization will save you time and money and after all that is one of the concepts of being Frugal! Have you already been out shopping? If so, then you are at the place I was in when I started; already to just pick and move on! I had already envisioned ideas in my mind, shopped and looked, and shopped online trying to see what there was and what I might want. I got a great feel for my style long before I ever got my furniture. You really have to figure out what style you are.
Preparation is key so make sure you get your room measurements before you leave, and snap a few photos that you can carry on your phone, it will make the whole process easier. If you have to make trips back and forth to the store just because you forgot the room dimensions, or measurements of the room you are losing time and money(gas, driving, etc) . I think the worst thing you can do is get to a store is to not be able to remember something about the room, and I assure you, it will happen, even if you know the room inside and out, it is kind of like Murphy’s Law of memory retention — it will just fade! You will want to make a list of the following, in order to be able to choose the right sofa:
1) where are the walls?
2) is there electric behind the sofas(if you buy reclining sofas that are electrically powered you need power)?
3) what other furniture is going in the room?
4) where are the windows? is there space between the windows that you want to fill? (think bookcases, fake trees, wall hangings) Grab these measurements.
5) where is lighting?
6) do you need to add lighting?
7) do you want 2 end tables and a coffee table or not?
8) what is the most you are able to spend?
9) do you need financing?
10) is the item you are choosing needing to be StainSafed? What is the additional cost?
THE ROOM’S FUNCTION:
The room that you are furnishing obviously has a function, it is your job to know what the function is and how the furniture will play into it. Our Family Room is the place where we all gather together to watch movies, play games, hang out, talk, and relax. My children need to be able to enjoy their room and live in it, and I need to look at it and say, ” I love how it looks!”. The room for me had to have active functionality which meant we could use the furniture, enjoy it and know that it would be able to handle the activity that is constant in that room! We have had a sectional in there since we moved in, and the wedge on the sectional was the least used piece on the sofa and actually if it were not there, no one would have missed that part of the sofa. I knew instantly that we did not need a sectional again, and that changing that one minor thing would change up the whole room. I know that opening that area, would move the end tables and give us even more living space.
As Jason guided me through the store, he asked me questions, many questions:
1) What did we use the room for?
2) How old are the kids(they were there, so he had an idea, but it matters)?
3) What colors did I like? (dark, light, etc)
4) What did I have currently? (hint pictures help here)
5) What dimensions were we working with?
6) Did I want recliners built in to the sofas?
7) What did I want to change in my room?
These questions allowed me to really think about what I was sitting on, trying out, and what I might best used in that room. The pictures helped show Jason what I had, where I wanted to go to and what I wanted to change. In addition, it allowed him to ask me questions that were in synch with my life; such as why was the sectional NOT working for me, etc. This also alleviated us really looking at more than one sectional, because he understood that was not what I was interested in. His knowledge of what I was trying to create through my likes, dislikes and functionality made us spend less time looking at what would not work in the room and allowed us to focus on the many possibilities that might soon ingratiate the new room! Spending less time getting confused on things I won’t need made a lot of sense and Jason was a pro at guiding, saving us both valuable time and allowing a decision to be made!
We discussed material versus leather and why I was partial to leather. We looked at all the reclining sofas and we discussed manual reclining and electrical reclining. PIECE OF KNOWLEDGE: Did you know, or did you realize that if you buy a sofa that has an electrical recliner(and many do) you need electric to actually power the recliner so you really need to make sure you have enough outlets in a room to support the sofa, the lighting and the media pieces you may have from televisions to stereos. This is one point that so many people don’t take into consideration, and then you have furniture that won’t function! Again, pre-plan, and organize your trip before you leave the house, save yourself a heartache!
Looking at a photo of my current room.. Jason at VCF
Jason and I discussed how sectionals could have pieces added into them to make them larger, and how pieces could be taken off to make sectionals a different size, but I really decided no to the sectionals. Value City Furniture has so many sectionals and regular sofas. There is every style from reclining to traditional sofas without recliners and they are all reasonably priced and wonderfully comfortable! My kids tried them all so I can tell you this first hand!
My decision became 2 separate sofas, one sofa, one love seat, all reclining, but MANUAL not electrical. My school of thought: the more pieces that function on something the more that can go wrong, and I know my kids would be ‘testing’ out the electrical non-stop if I did choose it, so I made the executive decision that if you are going to recline you will need to use a little muscle to earn that relaxation(LOL). In addition, I chose a recliner that matched the set, because I want everything to look seamless and coordinated. The recliner boasts large arm rests and a comfortable headrest and is a creamy, soft leather that just kind of sucks you into the seat!
The color was not hard either, because the it was either going to be black or dark chocolate.
END TABLES
While we were testing out the furniture I was looking at all the end tables & cocktail tables . I initially set out to find a storage-like coffee table, but after Jason and I went through and looked at the storage cocktail tables I decided that they were too big, and taking away from the look I was going for. There were so many tables to choose from, but I kept my eye to what the decorators at Value City Furniture had placed on the floor, looking to see what colors looked best with deep colors, and if there were looks that looked better or worse, which there are. I personally did not like oval tables with my squared off lines on the sofas and I did not like odd-shaped tables so I went square and rectangular.(I know boring right? ) No, these are not boring, they offer granite pigmentation along the tops of the table and deep wood colored legs. The legs square off the look and keep everything flowing.
LEANING BOOK SHELF
The Bookcase would be the latest edition. I have forever wanted to add this piece in the room, but I did not want to commit to permanent cases in the room, built into the wall. The bookcases are open, deep-colored wood and will offer a way to add accent pieces to the room, without cluttering the room up. The area they will grace has been the ‘toss it’ zone so that area is leaving–thank goodness!
IT’S AN INVESTMENT BUT IT DOES NOT NEED TO BREAK THE BANK
One of the best things I can tell all perspective furniture shoppers, is that while furniture is an investment and something you are going to have for a while, you don’t need to make a mini mortgage payment to obtain a great price on furniture that looks great and will hold up to everyday life– Welcome to Shopping at Value City Furniture, Great Furniture, Great Prices, Great Selection and no mini mortgage payments!
SHOPPING
If you go prepared and organized, you can definitely choose and pick your items when you are there. I am that type of shopper and I have to have myself all organized because time is precious little and I am pulled in so many directions that I have to just stop and focus to make sure one thing is done at a time. In the end it saves me trips from running back and forth and I know that I have accomplished a job because I have everything with me that I need and I can make a good informed, choice! I worked with Jason, one of the store managers, but any of the Value City Home Furnishing Consultants are equally suited to handle all of your furniture shopping needs.
THE CURRENT DEAL AT VALUE CITY FURNITURE RIGHT NOW 4/2013
The current promotion being offered is 36 months interest free financing with only a $699 minimum required. This finance offer is available throughout the next month. Remember offers change so check with your local Value City Furniture for what current promotion is being offered! Every day is a Value, at Value City Furniture!!!!
Stay tuned as I discuss recliners next week…
