Brick and Mortar - Is Shopping in Person Still Important?

Online shopping - we all do it! It’s convenient, there are endless options and sometimes it’s just easier to sit comfortably at home and scroll through furniture and home accessories. But when it comes to designing your home, is online always the best way to shop?

Personally, BHI still loves a good old-fashioned brick-and-mortar store! There is something to be said for actually seeing, touching and experiencing an item before making the commitment to bring it into your home. This is especially true when it comes to fabrics, textiles, rugs, paint colors and wood tones. Have you ever ordered something online that looked like the absolute perfect color, only for it to arrive and look completely different? That, right there, is exactly why in person shopping when it comes to your home is so important.

The reality is, colors can look very different on a computer screen than they do in person; and to make things even trickier, screen brightness, display settings, photography and even the lighting in the room can change how a color appears online. That beautiful warm beige you fell in love with online could arrive looking gray. The rich walnut finish you thought was perfect might have a red undertone you could have never noticed through the screen. And fabrics? Those are about so much more than color, the texture, weight, softness and quality are difficult to fully understand from a photograph. Sometimes you just need to touch and feel it!

But, ok, what if you find the perfect rug or fabric online and there is no way to see it in person? Here’s a little Bella tip: If you love a rug but aren’t completely sure about the color, order the smallest size available first - easier to return a 2 x 3 rug, than an 8 x 10!. Definitely order the fabric samples first; almost all fabrics out there will offer samples to order. Put the rug or fabric sample in the room it’s meant for. Look at it during the day and at night. See how it works with your flooring, furniture, paint colors and natural light. If you love it, great! Now you can confidently order the size rug or yardage you actually need. 

When it comes to a major furniture piece purchase, in person is ALWAYS better. You need to sit on a sofa, a bed, that expensive but beautiful armchair. There is no sense in purchasing a large piece of furniture without knowing for sure you will enjoy it and be comfortable using it.

Another thing we love about shopping in brick and mortar locations is the personal interaction. When you walk into a store, you have the opportunity to ask questions, compare pieces and sometimes discover options you never would have considered online. Good customer service or having your designer there with you can make the entire shopping experience easier and much more enjoyable. Having a knowledgeable person there to answer questions and provide their expertise can be invaluable.

Now, let’s be honest, no one is giving up online shopping anytime soon. There are too many wonderful products and resources available to us that we may never find locally. But when you have the opportunity to see something in person, especially an important design element for your home, take advantage of it. Visit the showroom, bring home the fabric sample, look at the wood finish against the paint chip, sit on the sofa, feel the rug.

Design is largely visual, but it’s also very tactile. The things we put into our homes aren't just there to look pretty. We sit on them, walk on them, touch them and live with them every single day, they need to allow us to function in our day to day.

At Bella Home Interiors, part of our job is helping our clients navigate all of those choices, and sometimes not everyone has the time to do the in person shopping. Schedule an appointment today to see how we can assist in handling all of those decisions for you with our expert eye for design!