Calligaris Showroom FurnishingsA trip to the world’s largest furniture market sure can change your perspective on things. In April and October every year a hundred thousand buyers make the trek to Highpoint, North Carolina to see the latest trends, meet with suppliers and manufacturers, and if they own a store, order furniture, lighting, fabric and accessories for their sales floor for the next season.
I was able to tag along this year and am so glad I did. In a marathon three and a half days we visited thirty showrooms, and that was less than ten percent of the total. Yes indeed, that is a lot of home décor!
As I digest all that I saw, I have been thinking about how we buy a lot of the “stuff” we own. Spending a relatively short period of time surrounded by beautifully designed, high quality, customizable furniture makes it very difficult to return to purchasing inexpensive knock-offs. Once you see and experience quality and meet the original manufacturer of a distinctive piece you are spoiled forever. The same can be said for clothing, footwear, electronics and more.
Over the last fifteen years of organizing people’s homes and offices and nearly ten years of redecorating and renovating, I have found homes for a lot of “stuff” that my clients no longer want or that has seen it’s fair share of use and is tired, worn or broken. That has me thinking about how we buy and how we dispose of unwanted “stuff”. And how, if we buy poor quality, we are disposing of that “stuff” a lot more often.
When we buy something inexpensive, we usually don’t put a whole lot of thought into what we’re doing. I have had so many people explain to me that they own an unused item because it was on sale, so they bought it with very little consideration as to where they would put it and if it was useful. I think perhaps we often do the same thing with home décor.
If we don’t invest much time or money in an item, then it quickly becomes disposable. If we always purchase based on price and getting a bargain, I suspect we make the wrong decision sometimes. I’m sure you take your time when you buy a car or a house as it is a huge investment. What if you looked at buying furniture for your home in the same way?
If you take your time, hire an expert to help you choose the perfect pieces, and then shop for quality and longevity, you will be truly invested in your home décor. The pieces you choose will last for many years and if chosen well will move with you from one home to the next. You will love what you have, treat it with care and enjoy it every day.
You will also be doing a good thing for the environment. If you shop less for better quality for everything in your life, you are saving precious resources. Think about the energy used to ship all of what we buy around the world. Think about all the raw materials needed to manufacture everything we buy. Think of all the discarded “stuff” that ends up in the landfill. Think before you buy. Be willing to wait for what you really want and save for what you will really love.
When you buy things for your home, what’s topmost in your mind?