Let's talk about interior home furnishings

[Flash Walken]

Hey CP,

It looks like in the next few months I'm going to be doing some shopping for home furnishings like couches, chairs, etc.

Up 'til now I've been an Ikea guy with some Lazyboy or The Brick thrown in, but we're looking at buying furniture that actually matches now so that's not going to cut it any more.

So, aside from flipping through a copy of Dwell, where should I start looking? If I'm going to be in Calgary, what are some good places to check out?

[Fuzz]

I found some smokin deals on leather couches at the Bay downtown several years ago. Not sure if they still have furniture up there or not.

[Canehdianman]

There are at least a half dozen threads on this already. They might not be super up to date, but they would be a good place to start.

We had good luck at bondars clearance centre.

[surferguy]

Ive been called bias for this before - and probably rightfully so based on my existing relationship - but I urge you to check out F2 Furnishings. Lots of quality made products and a no pressure environment. Bryan runs a excellent operation and he is super knowledgeable. Sometimes I feel that his store gets lost in the shuffle in this city because he is in the Beltline and not down in Deerfoot meadows.

Check em out - and while you are there be sure to ask about the Como Designs stuff specifically

[topfiverecords]

As a designer, I'd say throwing that question to a general audience is going to get you a very general yellow pages answer. What's your overall budget, comfortable price point per item, style, quality level wanted? What's your home's style and details? How much space do you have? What's the orientation of the furniture in the space. Do you have other pieces that are remaining that you'd like to co-ordinate with? etc. etc.

[EverfresH15]

Lazyboy, Eq3, structube.

[Table 5]

If you want something of relatively good quality and modern design, Crate and Barrel is a good place to start. That's usually where my interior designer wife starts off with clients who feel like they've moved on past Ikea but can't really afford the custom stuff. West Elm on 17th is similar.

If you have some money to burn and want the name-brand modern designer pieces, Kit has nice stuff. There are a lot of other nice furniture stores on that stretch of 11th Ave.

Eq3 isn't a bad place to go either if you like the modern furniture look, but without the price/quality of the name brand stuff. Structube to me just feels kind of cheap and trendy.

[VladtheImpaler]

This is so open-ended. This really depends on a couple of things - budget and style. There is a wide range of options between paying $400 and $15,000 for a couch. If you are a fan of leather and don't want to pay too much, costco.ca has a huge selection, they deliver for free, and, more importantly, pick up for free, if you don't like it. If you want to go higher end than that, Bondars has a good selection and caters to a variety of styles from traditional to modern. If you are spending a LOT of money, I would seriously consider bringing in an interior designer (get some recommendations first, because every second hausfrau is an "interior designer").

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

As a designer, I'd say throwing that question to a general audience is going to get you a very general yellow pages answer. What's your overall budget, comfortable price point per item, style, quality level wanted? What's your home's style and details? How much space do you have? What's the orientation of the furniture in the space. Do you have other pieces that are remaining that you'd like to co-ordinate with? etc. etc.

I'm window shopping.

I don't have the space yet for where this furniture will go, but I'm interested in getting a broad range of responses based on what kind of space I'm going to be furnishing. How many rooms will I be furnishing will impact budget etc. Ikea may end up being the best fit for budget, but I think mostly I'm looking for 2-3

If you feel like waxing poetic as a designer: if I came to you as a client and said "I am looking for 2-3 sitting pieces of modern leather to be focal point pieces," is that still too general or could you give me recommendations for designers etc that might fit that criteria?

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

This is so open-ended. This really depends on a couple of things - budget and style. There is a wide range of options between paying $400 and $15,000 for a couch. If you are a fan of leather and don't want to pay too much, costco.ca has a huge selection, they deliver for free, and, more importantly, pick up for free, if you don't like it. If you want to go higher end than that, Bondars has a good selection and caters to a variety of styles from traditional to modern. If you are spending a LOT of money, I would seriously consider bringing in an interior designer (get some recommendations first, because every second hausfrau is an "interior designer").

Agreed on the vagueness of the question but I'm starting from 0 here. I am Donnie; out of my element.

Thanks for the affirmation about a designer as that is something I've been considering, but like hiring a builder, I like to have a decent idea of what I'm talking about before the process starts.

Pretend you're giving peter12 advice on buying furniture.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Table 5

If you want something of relatively good quality and modern design, Crate and Barrel is a good place to start.

That's where I got my sofa and armchair from. Very happy Crate & Barrel.

[GP_Matt]

Get some decent couches and then something unique like a custom made coffee table to pull the room together. This one worked great for me.

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...63#post5025363

[calgarywinning]

We had a lot of stuff custom designed for spaces by a designer and furniture maker collaboration. Many times it ended up being cheaper than purchasing from various stores out there and it seems to be higher quality.

The fact that you get to choose everything, including fabrics are just fantastic. When the furniture is dropped into the space it is designed for there is no settling for anything else.

We had a desk custom made, a dining room table, a bedroom and a giant sofa sectional for the basement. Most substantially less then the retail counterparts.

[afc wimbledon]

You say that's looks nice dear to what ever she asks and if you can get out of the store in under an hour consider your self blessed.

[Peanut]

^^^ because real men don't care about furniture and how their homes look?

Anyways, I've had some good success at the consignment furniture stores in town. The Consignment Gallery in particular and also Showcase Consignment is decent.

[redforever]

Bondars and Cricklewood.

When you are looking at furniture, make sure the quality is there so try to buy sofas with hardwood frames, good cushion support will have eight-way hand tied springs and so on. When you sit on the furniture, is it comfortable as is or will you need bolster cushions to support your back?

Measure the spaces in your house before you go shooping and then take along a measuring tape when actually looking for your furniture.

[V]

We bought a leather couch and love seat 15 years ago through the Bargain Finder (yeah, it was a while ago) and they're still in great shape. 200 bucks. You snobby designers can suck it.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Peanut

^^^ because real men don't care about furniture and how their homes look?

Anyways, I've had some good success at the consignment furniture stores in town. The Consignment Gallery in particular and also Showcase Consignment is decent.

No, because men don't get a say, what ever their opinion unless they're picking a couch to sleep on!!

[nieuwy-89]

Not sure if you have one in Calgary but we really like Konto here in Edmonton. Good quality, durable, unique, modern and attractive. And the prices are decent, comparable to bulk stores like The Brick.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I'm window shopping.

I don't have the space yet for where this furniture will go, but I'm interested in getting a broad range of responses based on what kind of space I'm going to be furnishing. How many rooms will I be furnishing will impact budget etc. Ikea may end up being the best fit for budget, but I think mostly I'm looking for 2-3

If you feel like waxing poetic as a designer: if I came to you as a client and said "I am looking for 2-3 sitting pieces of modern leather to be focal point pieces," is that still too general or could you give me recommendations for designers etc that might fit that criteria?

Agreed on the vagueness of the question but I'm starting from 0 here. I am Donnie; out of my element.

Thanks for the affirmation about a designer as that is something I've been considering, but like hiring a builder, I like to have a decent idea of what I'm talking about before the process starts.

Pretend you're giving peter12 advice on buying furniture.

You might just talk to an interior designer first. When we did our major reno, we had a really good idea of what we wanted, so we didn't get one early on, but once it was almost done, we brought one in just to consult about paint colours and furniture. It was well worth it. She looked at the art we wanted to hang and basically built around that and the space. It cost us only a couple hundred and we are very happy with how she tied everything together. She advised on furniture colours and shapes, even couch cushion colours.
The other bit of advice is grab some issues of Style at Home and find some looks you like and steal them. We stole our kitchen style (down to getting exactly the same light fixtures) from some house in Toronto. Obviously, it was basically what we had in mind already, but it really helps when you can point at a photo and say this is what I want.
Figure out what style/look you are going for and try not to wind up with a mish-mash. Contemporary, modern, transitional, traditional, country, etc... If you want the name of the interior designer we used PM me. We went contemporary and that's the style she likes too, so I don't know how she would be if you are going for Victorian England or country farmhouse...

[DuffMan]

With all the people moving out of Alberta, check Kijiji. Actually, I already have no awesome deals yet.