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One significant lesson I learned in my Dad’s architectural firm, in my opinion, is that no matter how modern or unique a space may be, it’s the things we fill the space with that makes all the difference.
From just a place we live in, to a place we can truly call home. This is what makes for exciting furniture!
What not to do
However, sometimes there are just some things you should not do with furniture.
Take for example friends of mine who live in a lovely condo.
Their unit is small with two bedrooms and one bathroom, but the use of space is well thought out, south facing, with plenty of natural lighting.
When they search for new furnishings, my friend immediately suggested a rather large, leather sofa that he recently tried out.
Frankly, we figure he just needs a man cave with comfy seats, but a quick measurement soon show the sofa would literally be the one piece in the room with no space for anything else!
He loved it…the wife didn’t, and everyone else was left standing humming the tune “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen…rather fervently.
In the end, his wife convinced him if he wants the sofa, he simply wouldn’t be able to fit the big flat screen T.V….ouch!…Wife, well played.
Fitting the space
On another note, there can be home designs with some very awkward spaces.
And usually people simply try to fit in whatever furniture they find that’s suitable.
Sometimes contemporary pieces may not work. Like a standard dining room set can actually make the room look and feel even worse.
That’s when I feel we should go back and find some inspirational furniture from the past.
Furnishings that see their lineage go back to furniture designs by some true masters.
Items that can truly make for exciting furniture!
Making the old, new again
There are encouraging signs that furniture, once considered old fashion, are now finding new life in clever redesigns gracing trendy shops and modern furniture stores.
Even Asian furniture markets are now recreating classic pieces, only seen in high end furniture magazines, making them all the more accessible to the masses.
The old is new again, and what goes around truly does come around again.
What is Exciting Furniture?
What passes for current or contemporary furniture, these days, use to be considered very basic and unpopular.
When IKEA became widely accepted in the market, all of a sudden the thought of buying an inexpensive furniture kit and lugging it home so you can assemble it yourself became a very trendy thing.
In fact, the mere thought of going out to select, buy, and build your own new furniture is now synonymous with the IKEA business model. Which is now copied by furniture store brands the world over.
For young adults or new home owners, this is exciting as they experience the thrill of shopping and building their own new furniture! And not inheriting old ones from their parents!
However, there are always downsides to any trend.
In the case for this “shop and assemble furniture business model”, the trend got so popular that it literally change the way of furniture shopping that had been so prevalent for the past hundred years.
What was once Exciting Furniture
In previous generations, when homeowners went about buying new furniture, they would either search out a furniture craftsmen and commission them to make what they want.
Or they would simply go to the limited variety of high-end furniture stores to find what they need.
Then there was the early advent of mail order catalogs such as Sears Roebuck which pretty much dominated the industry by selling everything from houses to any products you wanted to fill those houses with.
This of course, still involve the entire process of deciding on a design, material, style, color/fabric, and delivery costs.
However difficult the process, furniture shopping was special and exciting.
It required all the effort that made the chosen item special and revered as a home product.
But with the advent of the mass produce, mass package, and mass self-assemble furniture, the unique furniture stores and the catalog companies are all but swept away.
The trend is changing again
There’s no need to spend such a large effort to find that unique sofa or chaise, when one can now just go to the local big box store and easily pick up a set and assemble it at home in one afternoon.
But as in the past, the effort to buy furniture, no matter how simple it is now, is always an issue considering it still takes a certain amount of time and effort.
Even the point of assembling your own furniture has now come into contention with ever more complex furniture designs and untranslatable building instructions, such that even IKEA is rethinking their business model.
Advent of online shopping for Exciting Furniture
Amazon changed the shopping experience for the consumer, making millions of products easily accessible online.
Inevitably, online shopping is also changing the way furniture is made available to the masses.
Greater selections, convenience and ease of access, including assembly and direct shipping by the actual manufacturer, is an effective change to make furniture exciting again.
