susan earlam ~ horror author

When buying for the home I think its safe to say that we all could easily spend a fortune on anything from wardrobes to bed linen.  My Pinterest boards alone will tell you that!

The trick is to know how and where to shop, and when you can get away with inexpensive items, and when you really should fork out a bit more cash if you can.

I thought I’d share some of my buying tips for the living room.

Sofa- With the amount of times a sofa gets used and the fact we expect them to last a while, its fair to say this is one piece of furniture we need to spend on. Your sofa can make or break the style or theme you are trying to achieve in your sitting room or lounge (whatever you call yours). If you have a luxurious looking sofa then the other objects in the room will automatically look of a higher standard, whereas if you have a threadbare, rickety sofa- everything else in the room will also look cheap- even if that Murano glass ornament cost you an arm and leg!

I think the image above is a good example, despite the sofa being obviously well used you can see it is of a high quality. A deep seating area and it being made from leather both give it that luxurious feel- and the fur heightens the feeling of luxury. It sets off everything else in the room.

You can see in the image below what a sumptuous sofa  can do for a room, look a little closer at the coffee table. It almost looks like its been made from an office desk frame with planks placed and attached across the top.

This brings me on to the other main object in a sitting room (furniture wise obviously- we aint talking plasma TVs here!) the coffee table.

If you have a delectable, well made sofa you can get away with an inexpensive coffee table. Fact.

You could pick one up from a junk shop and paint it, you could construct one from an old luggage trunk, I’ve even seen neat piles of magazines, perhaps of two by six wide stacked together at the same level and then a toughen thick plate of glass placed on top. You could fashion one from a apple crate, add a lid and you’ve got an Ottoman.

What I’m trying to stress here is don’t splurge on a coffee table. It doesnt mean you cant have that mid-century oval number but find it on an auction site or perhaps at a vintage fair. But remember to haggle as the sofa is where you should be spending your pennies… Don’t forget to shop around for the best deals on interior decoration too.

Thoughts ladies and gents? Do you agree?