What You *Must* Do Before Buying Furniture Online

It’s a familiar story; you spend months searching the internet for the perfect sofa, coffee table, or accent chair. You decide to pull the trigger and officially starting the six-month countdown to delivery.

That day finally arrives, and your excitement fades in seconds — your new pride and joy won’t fit through the door. Or, it’s absolutely massive in your space. Or, it’s too small compared to the rest of your furniture. Or, you don’t even have enough room for it. Either way, it’s back to the drawing board (after the weeks-long return process, of course).

If this sounds familiar, this blog post is for you!

Visualize using painter's tape

Using painter’s tape, map out the exact dimensions of your chosen piece of furniture on the floor. That way, you can see if you like the overall size, shape, and scale, especially as it relates to nearby pieces. If you’re not exactly sure where it will go yet, use newspaper and tape to create a two-dimensional mock of the piece and try it out in different areas. Of course, you can skip this step entirely and hire a designer instead (wink, wink).

Note all entryways

The front door isn’t the only entrance that may present a challenge when buying new furniture. Stairwells, basements, tight corners, low ceilings, and slim doorways may stand in the way of your new sectional or armchair. To avoid having to refuse delivery or disassemble new furniture, consider your path before purchasing. Check the website for box dimensions, assembly instructions, number of shipments, and whether or not the feet are removable (taking off sofa legs, for example, may help you maneuver around a tight corner).

Make space for walkways

Many people measure just to make sure a piece of furniture will fit, not function. Sure, there might be enough room for a cozy desk chair in your office, but what about when you pull it out? Always make sure there’s at least three feet of space between furniture and any necessary walkway or passage.

Create a floor plan

If you’re really serious about planning a functional, aesthetically-pleasing space with little room for error, measure your entire space and mock-up your layout using a digital floor planner. This will give you a true overhead view of new and existing pieces, so you can plan around walkways, doors, closets, and the like. Better yet, hire a Lawless Design to do this admittedly tedious part for you (I couldn’t resist a shameless plug).

- Raph