ISO Decorators familiar w quality furniture online

amother

Hosta

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

Are there Decorators in the Lakewood area who are uniquely familiar with the quality of furniture on the different furniture websites (Amazon, Wayfair and others), and other discount sources of furniture, who can guide you on what theyve gotten reasonably for other clients, and there were no issues? IOW Id like to know of decorators who say "Buy this" and "Dont buy this" off of furniture websites, based on their past experiences.

I assume many or most decorators have relationships with the local stores and perhaps get a percentage of cost of furniture, and arent looking to save their clients money.

Do any Lakewood area decorators recommend online or discount sources of furniture?

Susan Strauss used to show such deals on her stories with links to Target and Wayfair. So I'm assuming some decorators could do this.

amother

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 4:15 pm

amother Brickred wrote:

I'm a designer. Check out rove concept

https://www.bbb.org/ca/bc/vanc.....80122 They have an "F" rating.

Quote:

And Tov furniture

https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/ceda.....76944 They have an "A-" rating.

As a designer, who I assume has used these brands for some clients, can you guess why the two companies ratings are so different?

amother

Smokey

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 4:22 pm

amother OP wrote:

There are many decorators that dont insist on a minimum of hours, so imho, paying $150 to $200 for an hour, 2 or 3 times, to one or more decorators, is a small indulgence and probably well worth it if you want a professionals viewpoint.

In theory but the reality is that each item will probably be more expensive- my designer wasn’t coming to home goods to find an end table etc. happens to be I found it helpful for paint colors and tiles (she stuck to budget nicely on that). Vanities I didn’t want to spend the Jewish prices, she didn’t know more about the Wayfair ones than I did…

For furniture I told her I want budget options but that meant Churchil type she wasn’t going to send me wayfair options.

amother

Garnet

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 6:53 pm

amother Starflower wrote:

OP, I think the reason you're not getting what you're looking for is that you're looking for a unicorn - I.e. a designer who works with low budget options.

A designer is a luxury. The people using designers can generally afford this luxury service. It follows that they can afford the pricier options that the designers suggest. Also, a lot of people who use designers get customized furniture.

I don't think there's a secret club of insider information on cheap, quality furniture that the designers just aren't willing to share. There are probably people who are good at putting together a room, who follow trends in decor, and whose homes are pulled together on a budget. But they most likely did it on their own and took a gamble with some of the furniture.

Not true that people using designer can afford anything. My designer said, if you have no budget, you don’t need a designer! The challenge and what makes a designer good is too be able to stay in budget and look amazing.

amother

Peachpuff

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 6:58 pm

amother Garnet wrote:

You still need a designer without a budget. You need all your expensive pieces to flow and coordinate. There’s a lot that goes into that. That is what designers do.. many designers also work with a budget and can tell you where it’s worth spending and what you can get away with cheaper and still look elegant/updated etc.. as most people mentioned designers are a luxury not a necessity

amother

Garnet

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 7:02 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thanks for weighing in.

So if I want a curved sofa, along the lines of the photo below, or a more trendy sectional, Im not going to find it within the brands mentioned in your link, that do only more traditional sofas, I think.

Katz furniture has curved couches they are considered not so expensive

amother

Holly

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 7:03 pm

amother Garnet wrote:

This is not true at all because almost no lay person can duplicate the look of a room done by a really talented designer.

There is a way that they combine fabrics and colors so that they work together but not in a safe boring way.

It would be almost impossible for any lay person to be able to duplicate that kind of "finished" look successfully.

If you look at most rooms in homes that are on the market, they are pretty boring and not particularly well done.

I had a great designer and would never have been able to achieve the results because I would have erred on both ends - played it safe and didn't get stuff that truly worked seamlessly together in an interesting way.

If you look at really high end beautiful rooms they are not just beige sofas with a rug - they generally have layers of texture and subtle differences in color and patterns that work together.

People with an unlimited budget aren't necessarily great at putting things together. It can actually be overwhelming to have no limits.

There are ways to achieve things less expensively but the reality is that you need a realistic budget for a designer to work with OR you hire a designer by the hour to give you some specific design ideas and then you do the legwork.