Insider’s Guide To Furniture Shopping
Secret #1: Use Google Image Search To Find The Source
Under every video or image of a beautiful interior, you’ll always see comments like “Where do you get the sofa” or “Where can I find the lamp in your background” - while there’s no harm in asking, 99% of the time you may never get the answer. Well, I’m here to tell you the secret - Reverse Google Image Search.
Here’s an example of how to utilize image search. Let’s say I found this image online (it’s actually from one of my projects), and I’m wondering where to get that mirror.
There’s two ways you can do this:
Method 1
If you’re using Google Chrome as your browser, simply right click (and click on the option “Search Images with Google”). Then, it will ask you to highlight an area of the image that you want to search. In this case, highlight around the mirror.
Voila, it will show you all similar results, and you can just scroll to browse all the various different shops. If you keep scrolling, you’ll also find the exact store I bought the mirror from (highlighted in red).
Of course, you can’t always know for sure where exactly a designer sources their item from, but the fact that it shows the exact store where I got that mirror, means that if you do enough research, you can probably figure out where something is from (or at least find a close enough match).
Method 2
If you don’t use Google Chrome as your browser, everything is the same except the first step. So instead of right-clicking on the image, you want to either download them to your phone/computer or take a screenshot.
Then, go to https://images.google.com/ - click on the camera icon, and upload the image or screenshot.
The rest is pretty much the same.
💡 PRO TIP: Not all site are as reputable as others. Sometimes when you find something that is way too good to be true, chances are it actually is. If you’re about to buy from a site that you never have before, always do your due diligence and research the site a little bit before making your purchase to confirm that it is a reputable site.
Secret #2 - White Label Furniture
For those who are not aware of the term - A white label product is manufactured by one company then packaged and sold by other companies under various brand names.
This is quite a big thing in the furniture industry, many retailers “white label” the name of the products they sell. For example, a vendor or manufacturer may produce a console table, let’s call it “Bodhi Console”, but the retailer you buy it from will change its name to “Isabella Console” so it feels unique to them. Now, you can’t just search “Isabella Console” to see if you can find it elsewhere, but you can use an image of the console (preferably with a plain background), and use Google Image Search to double-check them.
This may surprise you but you may find the same exact item for a couple hundred dollars cheaper elsewhere. Now, this is not always the case, sometimes they look similar but are made of different materials, so always double-check the measurement and material.
Here’s an example to illustrate my point:
Secret #3 - Always Keep An Eye Out For Sales Calendar
So many retailers nowadays have never-ending sales (i.e. they always have sales on all the time), but even then, there are a few major days when you’ll likely get the best discounts throughout the year.
February: President’s Day (US)
June: EOFY (Australia)
July: 4th of July (US)
October: Click Frenzy (Australia)
November: Black Friday & Cyber Monday
December: Boxing Day
These are just some of the major sales events. Many retailers will also run their own “flash” sale from time to time, so if you find something you like but don’t have the budget for it yet, don’t get FOMO and force yourself into credit. Of course, if you have the means then you can buy them right away, as there’s always the chance it may go out of stock.
If you really like the style and prices offered by a brand, it may be worth signing up to their mailing list. Often times they will send you a discount code for your first order, or keep you in the loop on sales. You can simply unsubscribe if you don’t find it helpful or if they keep spamming your offers.
Secret #4 - If You Don’t See Something, Ask For It
Let’s say you’re window shopping at a retailer that you know has a made-to-order program. You may see a couch you like, but not at the size you need, or maybe there’s a small detail like the button tufting that you don’t really like. What you can do is ask them, chances are, they can make it for you the way you want or need it to be.
This is the “secret menu”. Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk to the customer service team, they may even help you with more possibilities of the “secret menu”.
Secret #5 - Always Read The Fine Print
This one is especially important when buying things like wallpapers. If you’ve ever shopped for wallpaper online, some sites will show the price as a single roll but only sell by the double, while others show different metrics in sizes which at a glance may look cheaper, but if you calculate the sizes/area it could be the same or even more expensive.
Another thing to watch out for is the warranty and returns policy. Different stores have different policies on this, so be sure to check them out if you’ve never had experience buying from the store before.
Secret #6 - Take Your Time
Never rush when buying furniture - it never ends well. The only reason designers and decorators can buy everything at once is because they’ve spent weeks or months on the design plan and consulting with the clients. This is not possible to do if you just dive head in.
If you’re unsure about something and don’t need it right away, then take the time to shop around. Of course, there will come a time when you need to eventually pull the trigger, but there’s no harm in looking around.
Struggling with decorating your home?
Check out my Practical Home Design course where I cover a step-by-step process so you, yourself can confidently make your own choices and design a home that you’ll love. There's roughly 3 hours of video content, and I'll also provide you with guides, handbooks, templates, and a bunch of resources to aid your learning.