When considering furniture for your home you will be looking for something that you will want to live with for some time. Like all big ticket items, thinking the process through will be worth the time and effort. Consider how much space you have in the room, measure carefully and make sure that the piece will go through doors and upstairs if required. There are lots of cases where the sofa looked great in the showroom until it was delivered and could not be got through the front door or filled up the room so that the doors couldn’t be opened or closed!! Enlisting the help of a professional space planner would make sure that these problems do not occur.
The next thing to consider is what the room is going to be used for, such as watching television, reading etc. If you do a lot of reading, a comfortable armchair with an occasional table with lamp would be top of the list. How many people would be using the space and what style are you looking to create? Consider maybe one statement piece that is a little different to the rest of the furniture in the room, this will bring the space alive. Decide on how long you want the furniture to last – the sturdiness of the frame would be the first thing to look at together with the fabric. Ask what the rub or Martindale test is on the fabric, this should be a minimum of 25,000 rubs. If children are to use the room then it would be a good idea to pick a fabric that has stain proof treatment for practicality.
If you are looking for Contract or Commercial furniture, then very different parameters should be considered.
Firstly a strong frame – ask what the furniture is stressed to, thirty stones would be a good benchmark. I personally prefer steel frames and legs as they are more hygienic and easier to clean. The fabric should always be a contract grade fabric of Crib 5 or above and domestic fabric should never be used unless it has been FR treated. I recommend a much higher rub or Martindale test on contract fabric e.g. a minimum 60,000 rubs. If the furniture is being used in a Healthcare or Care Home environment, then a waterproof fabric should be used and there are many lovely waterproof fabrics on the market now in a variety of colours and designs.
Look out for Koubou Interior’s new Contract furniture range now launched.
