10 Helpful Tips to Buy Furniture Online

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Tempted to buy furniture online during the lockdown? Never done it before?

Have no fear – I’ve become a pro at buying furniture online over the years, and will share everything I’ve learned to help you buy furniture online like a boss! I’ve bought coffee tables that are way too short, couches that are a bit too big, and a desk that was the perfect fit. Nearly everything in the below photo was purchased online (by me)!

10 helpful tips to buy furniture online Pin

My mistakes and wins are your learnings, so you can buy furniture online with confidence. I’ve made a list of 10 helpful tips for YOU to buy furniture online like a boss! Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • Understand Your Needs (and wants)
  • Measure, Measure, Measure
  • Determine Your Budget
  • Check the Specs
  • Check for Scale
  • Evaluate Quality
  • Find the Best Price
  • Examine Return Policy
  • Select Shipping Option and/or Assembly
  • Inspect & Enjoy!

1: Understand Your Needs (and wants)

Prioritize

Figure out what you really need in terms of furniture, and the function it needs to serve. If it’s more than one piece, then make a list of priorities (in order of urgency).

Next Consider Function

Who’s going to use this furniture? How durable does it need to be? What comfort level do you want? Or, can form be placed over function if it’s not a heavy-use item?

A lot of these functionality questions can help you decide what type of materials you need. For example, if you have small kids, white fabric dining chairs are probably a bad idea (trust me, it is!). Something darker or with wipeable fabric would be more appropriate.

If you want something to last a long time, you may want to steer clear of particle board and go for real hardwood construction.

Determine Your Design Style

Next up, determine your design style – this will help you find inspiration and furniture online that fits with your style. Take the interior design style quiz on my post, Finding your Interior Design Style – Quiz and Sources.

After you find your style, make your vision board on Pinterest, Instagram, or a Google Image search, and look for examples of furniture online that matches your style. Even if the pieces are out of your price range, it will help give you something to try to mimic in a lower price range.

Insider tip: Use your design style as a descriptor when doing a search for your furniture item. For example, “Scandinavian coffee table” or “Mid-century modern couch.”

2: Measure, Measure, Measure

I would say this is the single most important step in buying furniture online. You won’t be walking into a showroom to get a feel for the height of a table, or how tall (or short) a chair is. So, you need to measure and check the product’s specs to make sure it fits and is proportional to other items in the room.

First, Measure your Space

First, you need to measure the space you want to place this furniture. This is to get a basic idea of maximum dimensions for your new pieces.

If you’re buying any kind of larger piece – make sure there is enough space around it for traffic flow. Apartment Therapy has a great article, Dimensions to Follow: Furniture Spacing Basics. This will tell you the minimum space you need around your dining table or coffee table, for example.

Next, Measure Adjacent Furniture

Next, measure the pieces of furniture that will be near your new piece. For example, if you are buying dining room chairs, measure your dining room table.

If you are buying a coffee table, measure your couch and armchairs. According to Freshome, a coffee table shouldn’t be lower than 1-2 inches from the cushion of your couch seat. I made this mistake myself:

Coffee table that is too short for the couch
My coffee table was about 4-6 inches shorter than the couch cushion

I learned this the hard way when I ordered the above coffee table online from All Modern, and it was about 4 – 6 inches shorter than my couch seat! It looked tiny compared to my huge couch. It was on clearance at the All Modern Outlet, so no returns allowed!

I had to buy $30 of Nannarp furniture legs from IKEA to make it tall enough to be functional.

coffee table with IKEA legs added
Coffee table with IKEA Nannarp legs added to it.

Also Measure Items Your Are Replacing

Make sure you measure your existing items if you are replacing them, so you can try to get something the approximate same size (or bigger/smaller if that’s what you want), just a different style or color.

Don’t Forget Your Doorways and Passageways

Finally, measure all doors, entryways, hallways, and stairways (or elevators!) the furniture must travel through to reach it’s final destination. Crate and Barrel has a quick guide on How To Measure Furniture for Delivery. This step is mainly if you are buying something online that is already assembled like a couch or mattress, since most online furniture comes with some assembly required.

3: What’s Your Budget?

This one is pretty self explanatory but super-important. You don’t want to waste your time looking for couches, tables, or chairs you simply can’t afford. A lot of times I actually need to shop for furniture online a little bit before I can set a realistic budget.

Keep in mind, smaller is generally cheaper. So, if you are looking at the lower end of price ranges, double check the product specs to make sure the item is big enough. More on specs next…

4: Check the Specs

Dimensions Are Key

Once you find the pieces you like online, look at the product specifications on the product details page and write down the dimensions. Make sure you are looking at the assembled dimensions, not the dimensions of the box that it comes in.

Make sure the new furniture fits in your space and will work with the scale of your other furniture.

Project 62 Paulo Desk from Target

I needed a slim profile desk to fit in my small home office space, so checking the length and width of the Project 62 Paulo desk from Target, which I bought online, became super important. Check out my full review of the Project 62 Paulo Desk from Target.

Check the Materials

The product specifications or description will often reveal the materials of the item. If not, you can always call or email the online furniture retailer a question on what it’s actually made of.

Wood and Wood Products

For types of wood, The Stated Home Blog has a great post, Types of Wood for Furniture, that has an extremely thorough explanation of every type of wood or wood product commonly used in furniture.

How to buy furniture - types of wood
Coffee table with wood veneer

The coffee table I ended up getting for my living room had to be a light colored wood. I ended up getting this coffee table from All Modern, and it had a pretty nice manufactured wood finish. A similar one can be found here.

I will say that furniture in the lower price ranges typically uses wood veneers which can chip off or peel, with age or if you get it wet. But if you’re not looking for it to last a lifetime – that may be okay.

I’m somewhat partial to IKEA as they have a lot of real wood furniture (like inexpensive pine) that you can easily paint down the road if you get sick of the color.

Upholstery Fabrics

A great article with tons of information about the most common types of upholstery fabrics is Fabric.com’s post on Picking the Perfect Upholstery Fabric. I have a little boy at home so have been looking for easily cleaned upholstery like wipeable faux leather, dark fabrics, and easy cleaning wood veneers.

Toy Storage Ideas for Living Room

For our coffee table we chose bonded leather upholstery, the Noble House Angelo Bonded Leather Storage Ottoman (affiliate link) from Wal Mart, and I love it! My toddler often has snacks and drinks on the coffee table and cleanup is a breeze.

Check the Color (then check again)

Color can be super tricky when buying furniture online. Some ways around it include:

  • View the photos and closeups of the color on multiple devices (for example on your laptop, then your mobile, and maybe on an iPad).
  • Look at the reviews if anyone uploaded photos of the piece inside their home.
  • Read the reviews to see if anyone comments on the color, if it came in lighter/darker than expected.
  • Get a swatch – If the online retailer has a physical store, go in and check it out or ask them directly for a swatch of the fabric you like.

The West Elm Henry sofa I purchased online had a slate grey upholstery. It actually comes in over 90 different fabrics! I went to the store to check out a swatch and took a sample home with me, to look at in my place.

5: Check for Scale

There are a couple of ways to check for scale – meaning how the new piece will look relevant to other nearby pieces.

One way to check scale is to use painters tape or masking tape and tape out the dimensions on the floor in the room where it will go. This will give you an idea if it fits and if traffic can flow around it.

Another way to check for scale is to draw out a floorplan to make sure everything fits (for details, go to my post, 7 Simple Tips to Create a Floorplan. To sketch our your floorplan, you can use pencil and paper, or try a free online app like Room Planner.

The last way to check for scale is quick and dirty. I simply take a tape measure and measure out the product’s dimensions next to the adjacent furniture and imagine it being there. You could use cardboard boxes too, to get a good visual of how it will look.

I learned about scale when looking for an end table to go with my new coffee table. I almost bought below Sauder North Avenue Side Table from Wal Mart. It was super cute, very modern, and the price was amazing at less than $45!

Before I hit the “buy” button, I checked the product specs. It measures 15″ x 15″ x 20″ high. I measured my couch, the arm of the couch was 26″ high. So, this table would be 6″ lower than the arm of my couch – not very useful when you want to try to put your drink down somewhere.

The general rule, according to Apartment Therapy, is to have the side table around the same height as the arm of your couch.

how to buy the right height side table

So, I ended up picking up a cute side table at Ross for Less, which was within an inch or two in height of the couch arm. It was only $40, so a great price, and matched my coffee table well.

Bottom Line: Make sure you check for scale before you hit the “buy” button when buying furniture online!

6: Evaluate Quality

Question: How Can You Determine Quality When Buying Furniture Online?

Answer: Reviews & Personal Evaluation

Read Reviews

One of the major benefits of buying furniture online is you can often find numerous product reviews online, to inform your buying decision. Read BOTH the good and bad reviews to see the pro’s and cons of each.

Once I find a piece of furniture online that I like, I often put the exact product name into Google and add the word “reviews.” Then I can try to find the item on other websites to find even more reviews (and do some price comparisons too!).

Personal Evaluation (if possible)

Another option is to buy from stores offering both online and brick-and-mortar stores. This way you could actually go into the store to try and find the item you like to see how it feels and looks. Then, you could always wait until they have a big holiday sale, buy the furniture online, and have it delivered to your door.

Henry Couch from West Elm

This is exactly what we did when we bought the Henry sofa from West Elm. We went to a West Elm store and tried it out, then waited until they had a big sale, bought it online, and had it delivered to our door.

Alternately you could try to find someone who owns the exact piece of furniture you are looking at. The best place for that is probably some of the interior design groups on Facebook, or if a blogger has posted a review of the item, you could always email them a question.

7: Find the Best Price (including shipping)

Start with a Google Search

Finding the best deal on Google is fairly easy if you are looking for a specific piece, but can be harder if you are open to any manufacturer or color. Google Shopping is a great option here, but a lot of times Amazon is left out from the Google search results.

Wait for Holiday Sales

Another tactic to finding the best price is patience. A lot of furniture stores and big box stores like Target will have sales around nearly every major holiday. If you can wait, start checking online furniture retailers for sales on holiday weekends.

Sign Up for Their Email List

A lot of online furniture stores offer discounts for signing up for their email marketing list. This is usually a pop-up on their site, or a newsletter subscription box.

Insider Tip: If you sign up for an account (or get on their email list) and put stuff in your cart, then you may get some “abandoned cart” deals. Some retailers will email you offers for your item, or even special discounts to try to entice you to purchase what’s in your cart.

8: Check the Return Policy

Return policy is important so make sure you read the fine print. Anything custom is typically a no-return policy, so be careful.

If returns are allowed, some company’s require you pay a restocking fee, or pay for shipping back to them. Again, read the fine print.

One benefit of shopping for furniture online through a brick-and-mortar store is that you may be able to return the item by taking it to a physical store. Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot are great retailers with both online and physical stores where you can take most returns purchased online.

Always read the fine print for return info on the product listing page. Check out the Penny Modern Resource page for more modern and affordable sources to buy furniture online.

9: Select your Shipping & Assembly Options

Shipping Options when Buying Furniture Online

A lot of online furniture stores offer free shipping if you order a certain dollar value worth of furniture. Others, who also have physical stores, offer free ship-to-store service, where you pick it up for free at your nearest store. Alternately, you would need to factor shipping costs into your budget, after you enter your zip code at the checkout.

Keep in mind, most furniture purchased online has some assembly required. If you are not handy, some online furniture retailers offer assembly and setup for a fee (it’s usually given as an option at checkout):

  • Amazon and IKEA offer an add-on to buy assembly and set up service through a third party.
  • Living Spaces offers full service delivery for an added fee.
  • All Modern and Wayfair also offer assembly for an extra fee.

10: Inspect and Enjoy!

OK, you bought your new table, and now it’s time to sit back and relax, right?

It’s not over yet folks – make sure you do a thorough inspection of the furniture once it arrives. You want to make sure all the pieces are there, and there are no scratches, stains, or broken parts. If so, you should take photos and contact the store’s customer service ASAP and let them know.

Put your furniture together, and enjoy it. You worked hard to find the perfect piece now put it to use.

Insider Tip: Some companies may not want to take returns on damaged merchandise, so they may offer you a significant discount if you agree to keep a piece damaged in transit.

Recap:

10 Tips for Buying Furniture Online Pin
Sharing is caring – if you liked this article – please share on Pinterest!

So, you now know everything I know about buying furniture online! We went through so much, and covered:

Understanding your needs & wants, measuring everything, budgeting, checking the specs, checking for scale. Then we figured out how to evaluate the quality of furniture online, finding the best price, and reviewing the return policy. Lastly, we learned about shipping and assembly options, and how to inspect once you get your brand new furniture delivered.

Which one surprised you? Let me know in the comments below.

I hope that my mistakes will help you buy furniture online like a boss! You got this!

Next, I recommend checking out my post, How to Design a Room (for beginners), for a full step-by-step guide on getting a cohesive, modern look to your home.

15 Stylish Toy Storage Ideas for Living Rooms

15 Stylish Toy Storage Ideas for Living Rooms

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Are you sick of looking at toys all day, when you hang out in your living room? Are the piles of toys starting to look threatening? Or, do you just need some toy storage ideas for living rooms that are both modern and stylish vs basic and boring?

I have an almost-3-year-old toddler at home, and in the current situation, we have been having WAY too many toys out at nearly all times of the day and night. I needed some toy storage ideas for my living room, ASAP!

So, I’ve researched the heck out of how to hide and store toys in the living room, and can’t wait to share what I have learned!

This post is all about modern and stylish toy storage ideas for living rooms – while keeping to a modest budget. We’ll go over a 6 step process to get the toys under control, which includes an awesome product roundup with convenient shopping links. Our roundup will cover 4 main toy storage options including:

  • Cubbies
  • Storage ottomans
  • Storage benches
  • TV stands/credenzas

Plus we’ll ONLY show you pieces that are modern and contemporary to help create a cohesive look to your modern living room.

Let’s do this!

Step 1: Get rid of some toys

Donate or store old toys

The first step is admitting there is a problem – too many toys in the living room! Most kids just don’t need that many toys so I would propose a purge, preferably when they are not around. Donate or move to storage some toys that they just don’t play with any more.

Another thing you can do is move some of the toys to another room – either the kids bedroom, or a play room.

Step 2: Determine your living room’s exact toy storage needs

Put all the remaining toys in boxes – this will help you determine how much storage space you really need.

Next measure your space that you have to put a piece of furniture. This is really important when you buy anything online, as you need to make sure it fits the space, and will fit all your toys.

Step 3: Select a toy storage idea for your living room

toy storage ideas living room kam idris
Photo: Kam Idris via Unsplash

Here’s where I come in! Below are a bunch toy storage ideas for living rooms from different categories: cubbies, ottomans, benches, and TV stands. You may need a combination of a few of these pieces to fit all the toys in your living room.

Cubbies (from left to right):

Gotta love cubbies to provide a place to store toys in your living room. I tried to avoid the super basic ones so found a few that should be able to go with pretty much any color decor. Just buy some cute baskets or storage cubes to go inside and you are all set.

  1. Homfa Kids Toy Storage Cabinet – $129.99 from Amazon
  2. Better Homes and Gardens Bookshelf Square Storage Cabinet 4-Cube (Weathered) – $42.28 from Amazon
  3. FURINNO Basic 3×2 Bookcase Storage, Dark Walnut – $38.79 from Amazon

Storage Ottomans:

Toy Storage Ideas for Living Room

Storage Ottomans rule! We use the Noble House Angelo Bonded Leather Storage Ottoman (affiliate link) as our coffee table in our family room (photo to the left). Since we have a toddler, I wanted to avoid having sharp corners. It’s actually worked out great! It’s truly multifunctional: toy storage, coffee table, and a place to put your feet up! A few more options below:

Storage Benches:

I love storage benches since they can serve multiple purposes. You can store toys (or shoes) underneath, and it provides extra seating. Alternately, you could use it as a mini “drop zone” for backpacks and such too! We’ll probably be getting something like one of the below options for our family room:

TV Stands/Credenzas:

I love the idea of using a credenza or buffet under the TV, especially if it’s wall mounted, like ours. Or you can put it to the side of the room, or between the living and dining room. Here’s a few toy storage ideas that would go with modern or mid-century modern decor:

Step 4: Put the toys in your toy storage solution

Toy Storage Ideas for Living Rooms Phebe Tan
Photo: Phebe Tan via Unsplash

Pretty self explanatory, but now’s the time to put the toys in the toy storage piece you purchased. You could do another purge here if you want, or move some toys to another room if you need to.

Step 5: Make your kids put the toys away regularly

Now that you’ve got a nice, clutter free living room – it’s critical to keep it that way! It’s good to make kids do some work, and put their toys away before bed, even toddlers! You can try to keep toys organized in different bins, or just have them throw everything randomly into bins – probably would depend on their age.

Step 6: Enjoy “adulting” in a clutter-free, relaxing living room

Stylish Toy Storage Ideas for Living Rooms

After you put the kids to bed, have a cocktail with your partner and put your feet up. You did it! Doesn’t it feel great to have the toys out of sight and out of mind in your living room?

Which of the 15 toy storage ideas for living rooms did you like the best? Let me know in the comments below! Once we get our storage bench in from Amazon, I’ll post pics!

Next, if you want your living room to feel even more cozy and relaxed, check out my post, 5 Inexpensive Ways to Make a Room Feel Cozy. The first idea to up your room’s cozy factor is 100% Free!

5 Inexpensive Ways to Make a Room Cozy

5 Ways to Make A Room Cozy

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Does your room feel cold? A little lifeless? Are the colors too cool, and making you a little bit depressed?

You’re in luck, this post is for you! I had this same exact problem, since my whole house was basically grey and white. I learned how to make a room cozy by doing a ton of research and incorporating a few new ideas into our family room. I thought I’d share everything with you to make your room cozy too!

By the end of this post, you will have the exact skills and ideas you need to make a room cozy, warm, and inviting, even on a small budget.

First we’ll figure out what it means to be cozy, and we’ll share our sources of inspiration. Then you will learn 5 different low-cost ways to make your room feel cozy, comfortable, and warm:

  • Rearrange your furniture
  • Ways to add color on the cheap
  • Use texture to add coziness
  • Pick accessories that will maximize coziness
  • Create mood lighting for your room

So get cozy, and read on to learn how to get even cozier!

What makes you feel cozy?

Cozy Room Andrew Ly Unsplash
Photo: Andrew Ly via Unsplash

Is it your favorite throw blanket and a pair of slippers? Setting your mood lighting by lighting a few candles?

Coziness can be hard to define but in terms of interior decorating, it’s a setting that is warm, inviting, and comfortable.

The Scandinavians also have a good word that is related to coziness, it’s called hygge.

Hygge doesn’t have a direct translation into English, but, according to Hygge House, it’s more of a feeling or state of mind. It’s a feeling of contentment, coziness, comfort, kinship, or charm. It’s considered the art of creating an intimate environment.

A few sources of inspiration for my research on all things cozy include:

5 Simple Ways to Make your Room Cozy:

1. Rearrange your furniture

Cozy Traditional Living Room Demorris Byrd Unsplash
Photo: Demorris Byrd via Unsplash

This one is 100% FREE! If you change up your furniture arrangement, it can make things seem more cozy and intimate.

  • Make seating arrangements closer and chairs/couch facing each other to spark conversation.
  • Make clustered seating around a coffee table or fireplace.
  • Make the focal point NOT the TV. Otherwise when you have guests, everyone will just look at the TV (versus talk to each other).
  • Move furniture away from walls, and try put a sofa table or console table behind the couch.
  • Create a reading nook in a corner.
Cozy Reading Nook Avery Klein
Create a Cozy Reading Nook. Photo cred: Avery Klein

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2. Use color

Cozy Living Room Hannah Busing Unsplash

Color is a great way to warm up a room and make it feel cozy. According to Good Housekeeping’s post, How to Use Warm Colors in Your Home, According to Interior Designers, warm colors are in the family of yellow, orange, and red (or with those undertones).

You can use color to make a room cozy in a number of ways:

Paint the walls

Cozy Emerald Living Room Aina Sharma Unsplash

For an accent wall (or the whole room), a dark color like emerald green (like photo here), trendy black, or moody dark blue, can make a room feel more intimate and relaxed too.

Nothing changes how a room feels better than paint (and it’s way cheaper than buying furniture if you DIY). You can use neutrals like grey or white – but choose a shade with undertones on the warm side.

Warm wood or leather

Penny Modern Cozy Living Room with Accents
Use of wood coffee table and cognac leather pillow make our formal living room more cozy

Warm wood tones or cognac leather can add much needed color to a cool color palette. In our living room above, we bought an awesome faux leather pillow from Wal-Mart.

Natural wood can be added by accents like wood trays, wooden plant pots, natural wood frames, or wood furniture like side tables or end tables. In the photo above, our coffee table is the Whitt coffee table purchased from All Modern. We added IKEA furniture legs to it, to make it taller!

Art

Artwork can add color to a room, my favorite place to buy downloadable art is Etsy. This way you can directly support individual artists, and small businesses – plus the variety of printable art is unbelievable!

You can print the digital files from Etsy at WalMart Photo (poster printing is super inexpensive).

You can also get inexpensive frames at Wal-Mart too, here are a few of my favorites:

Mainstays 24×36 Poster Frame, Matte Black = $17.99

Mainstays Brass Metallic Poster Frame = $24.99

4. Colorful Accents

Penny Modern Cozy Living Room Accents

Pillows, rugs, and throws are another way to add a touch of warm colors to a room. Remember to try and repeat the color at least 3 times to make it a pattern, to make a cohesive look.

In the photo above, I bought pillow covers from H&M Home (the patterned ones were only $5.99 each!) and IKEA in “warm” colors like beige, and a reddish brown pattern. In addition, H&M Home had the cutest wood trays that also helped make our family room more cozy.

3. Add Texture (lots of it)

Cozy Green Living Room Devon Janse van Renseburg
Add texture via pillows, throws, and ottomans. Photo: Devon Janse van Rensburg

Julie Banner’s blog post on making a room cozy explains adding texture can be done in any number of ways:

Pillows – textured, knitted, velvet, leather – you get the idea. A few examples from Amazon below (affiliate links if you click on the photo):

Blankets – chunky, patterns, knitted – drape over your couch or put in a basket.

Rugs – warm color, raised texture, hand knotted, jute.

Window coverings – bamboo shades, velvet, woven, or linen curtains.

4. Accessorize, Baby

Penny Modern brown couch coffee table tray

Use accessories like wood trays, plants, and wooden objects like planters to add warm colors to your room’s decor scheme.

Wood Trays

You can find awesome natural wood trays from Ross or Homegoods. The tray in our living room above, is a mango wood serving tray from H&M Home, only $24.99 (watch for site-wide sales).

Plants

A bit of greenery will help bring the outside in and make people feel more connected to the outdoors, which helps you relax.

Baskets

Natural fiber baskets are everywhere these days and you can use them to store blankets, pillows, or toys. A few of my faves from Amazon (affiliate links):

Wooden Objects

Natural wood vases, trays, small sculptures. Both of below are from Amazon (affiliate links):

Books

Actually putting books on bookshelves will make your room feel more intimate and cozy.

Cozy Bedroom plants bookshelf Timothy Buck Unsplash
Cozy bedroom with bookshelf, plants, basket, and textured blanket

5. Mood Lighting

Light a fire

If you don’t have a fireplace, fear not, candles (even battery operated ones) will add a lot of atmosphere to any room. You can use candles paired with a glass or perforated candle holder to give a soft, intimate glow to a room.

Since we have a toddler, we’re all in on the battery operated candles – like these on Amazon, around $20.

Other Lighting Options

According to Curbly, there are a few other ways to create a feeling of mystery, wonder, and comfort, even with electric lighting:

Lamps

Use floor and table lamps versus overhead lighting to create a more intimate and relaxing environment.

Another option to make a room cozy is using sconces, or wall-mounted lights! If you don’t want to hardwire sconces, you have 2 options:

Option 1: You can use a battery-operated puck light inside a sconce, to put up a wall sconce literally anywhere (no electrician required)! Check out this YouTube video from Nesting with Grace to find out how:

Option 2: There are even sconces that plug into a regular outlet. IKEA has some cute options, and below are a couple of examples found on Amazon (affiliate links) are below:

Pendant lights

Add pendant lighting – IKEA has a TON of affordable options that plug into regular electrical outlets. You can put different types of pendant shades onto a plug in “base”. You can even easily switch out the shades if you want to give your room a new look.

Dimmers

Home Depot, Lowes, and Amazon have dimmer switches you can install for very low cost to make your overhead lighting more cozy. Remember to get bulbs that can be dimmed too!

Light bulbs

In addition to use dimmer bulbs, there are 3 easy ways you can make a room cozy just by changing out a light bulb!

  • Select warm colored light bulbs – use warm white or soft white. 1000 lumens is a good starting point to create cozy lighting.
  • Try Edison bulbs – these are the old-timey looking light bulbs. They even have LED versions of Edison bulbs now on Amazon.
  • Use a color changing light bulb, like the Phillips Hue smart bulb – it has literally millions of color options you can control from your phone!

Pssst. Don’t forget your FREE Room Makeover Planner & Checklist to help your project get done RIGHT from the start. Enter your name and best email below and I’ll send it right now.

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My Results

Our family room was very bare and we used it every day, since that is where our TV is. I wanted to make it more inviting but it’s really small & a little cramped already. So, I just added new throw pillows (H&M Home), a soft blanket, and a wood tray (H&M Home) with a few plants.

It’s not much but it made a big difference! My toddler loves all the new pillows – he makes a big pile and likes to jump into them!

How to make a room cozy - cozy living room
My cozy living room after adding some inexpensive “cozy” accents: throw pillows, blanket, wood tray, and plants.

Conclusion

Hope you have found a few ways to make your room more cozy and comfortable. We went deep into 5 inexpensive ways to up your cozy level.

First, we covered a 100% free option through rearranging furniture. Then we reviewed ways to add color through a variety of methods. Next came a lesson on texture, and then accessories. Lastly, we discovered how to set the mood through lighting.

I hope these tips helped you make your home cozy, comfy, and a more relaxing place to spend time. Let me know which one you want to try first in the comments below!

For the next step, try my free guide on How to Design a Room, which will give you a step-by-step blueprint on how to get a modern, cohesive look to your room. See you next time!

9 Modern Small Home Office Ideas

9 Modern Small Home Office Ideas

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Are you finding yourself working at home on your kitchen table? Finding it hard to be productive without a dedicated home office space?

This article will help you carve out a stylish AND small home office – all at an affordable price with convenient online shopping. You will first learn how to find the perfect spot for your office, and how to make sure everything fits. Then, we’ll give you 9 small space desk and chair combos to make a highly efficient & modern office space to get your stuff done – like a boss!

First, find a good spot for your small home office

The first thing you need to figure out is where you can place your home office (if you, like me, don’t have a dedicated room to use as an office).

You need at least space for a small desk and a chair, at a minimum. A bonus would be room for a bookshelf for things like a printer, and room for a filing cabinet or storage would be ideal, if possible.

Some ideas for locations would be:

  • A spare bedroom
  • A finished basement
  • In the kitchen or dining area
  • In/near your living room
  • In your bedroom or a kid’s bedroom
  • A wide hallway or breezeway

We decided to set up our small home office in our guest bedroom. Our office area now shares a room with a little twin bed.

Black Desk for Small Home Office

The desk is from Target – the Paulo Basic Desk from Project 62. See my full review of this desk here.

The ladder-style bookcase I cannot remember where we got it, but this one on Wayfair looks pretty similar. We are using a dining chair for now but getting the Sauder Harvey Park Occasional Chair in grey (listed below in Combo 1) to complete the look.

Next, measure up

Measuring is critical to determine how big or small of a desk you can fit, and also if you have room for a bookcase or filing cabinet. When buying furniture online, one of the biggest mistakes I made is not measuring my space, and not looking at the product specifications.

Measure twice and make sure whatever furniture you pick will fit in the space.

Check the Specs (Specifications)

Living Spaces Wood and Metal Desk with White Chair Modern Home Office

Next, make sure to look at the product specifications page for all the measurements of the items you pick to make sure they fit in your designated space. Here’s 2 more helpful hints:

  • Look at the specifications for each furniture piece you want to buy and try to figure out if they will work with each other size-wise.
  • You also may want to measure doorways or stairs to make sure you can get the desk in/out of the room.

Check out my post – How to Design a Room – for a step-by-step guide on how to create a cohesive look for your small home office. This is especially useful if you are trying to incorporate your office space into an existing guest room or living room (like we did).

9 Modern Small Home Office Combos

Now’s the fun part! Here are a ton of desk and chair combos to get you thinking about what would look good together. All combos are less than $400, and some are less than $250.

Combo 1: Natural Wood and Grey

Combo 2: White, Wood, & Grey

Combo 3: Black

Combo 4: Mahogany and Slate

Combo 5: Natural Wood & Black

Combo 6: Wood, Metal, and Cognac

Combo 7: Grey on Grey

Combo 8: White and Metal

Combo 9: Natural Wood and White

Final thoughts…

OK, so we went through finding a small area to put your home office, then we covered the importance of measuring and looking at the product’s specifications for the perfect fit.

We gave you 9 different desk and chair combos to make a modern & affordable home office, which I hope you found inspiring. Make working from home a happier and more productive experience by using these ideas to carve out your own personal office space.

For full in-depth reviews of (almost) all the chairs, check out my post, 11 Most Comfortable Desk Chairs for Modern Decor.

Or, you can check out my step-by-step guide to make your small home office look great in any room, How to Design a Room (for beginners).

Get a Scandinavian Living Room – for Less

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Want to get the “Scandi” look for your living room?

Not sure how?

Don’t want to spend too much?

Well, read on – this post is going to show you how to get a light and open Scandinavian living room without spending thousands. Here’s what we will cover:

  • What Scandinavian design looks like
  • Sources of Scandinavian living room design inspiration
  • Two moodboards with ideas & links to very affordable sources for your Scandinavian living room

What are the elements of Scandinavian design?

Find your interior design style
  • Neutral, muted, and light color palette
  • Light color woods – think beech, ash, pine, bamboo
  • Clean & simple lines – minimal decoration and uncomplicated furniture
  • Use of natural light – minimal window treatments and use of skylights
  • Cozy textiles – think wool, linen, cotton, fur
  • Function before form – open floor plans, and keeping clutter out of sight by having proper storage
  • Simplicity – use of plants, storage baskets, wall mirrors – but sparingly

Use of Scandinavian Patterns

Scandinavian style does not mean boring or lacking color! According to A Beautiful Mess, there is a love of patterns and color in most modern Scandinavian homes. It can be more sparing with pops of color mixed with a neutral background.

Patterns are typically very symmetrical, and often have animal or botanical themes. The graphics used to create patterns are high contrast with bold colors.

Marimekko is a company specializing in Scandinavian patterns for some high end inspiration.

Some pillow covers from Amazon that seem inspired by Scandinavian patterns (affiliate link):

Scandinavian Design Inspiration:

Scandinavian Living Room Inspo
Photo by Minh Pham via Unsplash

For my first moodboard to create a Scandinavian living room, I looked for some inspiration in 2 of my favorite Scandinavian interior design blogs:

My Scandinavian Home blog, “A Copenhagen Family Home Filled with Books and Scandi Design Treasures.”

AMM Blog (A Merry Mishap), “Most frequently asked, “Where is your sofa from?””

And, of course I went to Pinterest for inspiration. Check out my Scandinavian Living Room Board here.

After analyzing all this inspiration, some key pieces that were common in many photos included a grey couch, natural wood armchairs, light rug, and abstract art in neutral colors with a lot of white space. Here is what I put together:

Scandinavian Living Room Moodboard #1:

Scandinavian Living Room 1

Sources for Scandinavian Living Room Moodboard #1 (Get the whole thing for under $1400):

Sofa: Rivet Goodwin Modern Sofa $668 on Amazon (affiliate link)

Coffee Table: Poly and Bark Costanoa Wood Coffee Table in White – Wal Mart $78

Armchairs: JOYBASE Lounge Arm Chair – Amazon $180

Floor Lamp: Oneach Modern Floor Lamp – Amazon – $86.99

Rug: nuLOOM Mackie Moroccan Diamond Shag Area Rug 6’7″ x 9′ – Amazon $194

Grey Throw Pillow Covers: MIULEE Pack of 2 Decorative Throw Pillow Covers  – Amazon $12.99

Beige Throw Pillow Covers – Sunday Praise Cotton-Linen Throw Pillow Covers – Amazon $13.99

Abstract Art: wall26 Floating Framed Canvas Wall Art – Black-h02 & Black-h01 – Amazon, $49.99 each

Scandinavian Living Room Moodboard #2:

For my second Scandinavian Living Room moodboard, I used, as a source of inspiration (along with my Pinterest Board):

The Curated Interior, “The Essential Scandinavian Decor Guide.”

These sources gave me the inspiration to use the black lamp and table, while mixing it with the beige couch and natural wood chair. I chose abstract art and a light Moroccan style rug, since that was in nearly all of my inspiration photos.

Scandinavian Living Room Moodboard 2

Sources for Moodboard #2 (get everything for less than $1500)

Sofa: Elle Decor Mid-Century Modern Chloe Sofa – Wal Mart $428

Coffee Table: Homelegance Liatris 38″ Round Coffee Table – Amazon – $203

Arm Chairs: Safavieh Home Bandelier Woven Accent Chair – Amazon $306

Side Table: Lavish Home Decor Display and Home Accent Table – Amazon $45

Floor Lamp: Milton Greens Suzie Arc Floor Lamp – Wal Mart $155

Pillows: BLUETTEK Modern Simple Geometric Throw Pillow Covers, 18 x 18 – Amazon $19.99

Rug: nuLOOM Alvera Soft & Plush Shag Rug – 6’7″ x 9″ – Amazon $112

Art: NWT Framed Canvas Wall Art Zen3-04 – 24″x36″x3 Panels – Amazon $89.99

Final Thoughts

I’m hoping all my research down the rabbit hole of all things Scandinavian design related will help you out. First we learned about the basic elements of Scandinavian design.

Next, you saw my sources of inspiration and how I find trends for creating a Scandinavian living room from viewing a bunch of photos, and pick out affordable pieces that replicate what top designers are using in their decor schemes.

Finally I showed you my moodboards with detailed sources with very affordable pieces to get the Scandi look for less – mainly through the ease of shopping on Amazon.

Not sure you only want a Scandinavian design style for your room? Take our Design Style Quiz here to find out which style(s) speak to you the most!

Do these moodboards capture the spirit of Scandinavian style? What pieces are your faves? Comment below to let me know your thoughts.

Finding Your Interior Design Style – Quiz and Sources

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Know thyself.

That’s what they say, right?

This post is all about finding your interior design style. And as a bonus, I’ll show you what to do once you figure out your style. It won’t save your life, but it will save your sanity (and time)!

First things first, take our Interior Design Style Quiz below, then keep reading to review a list of resources for your specific type. We’ll give you both sources of inspiration and affordable home decor to help bring your style to life and tie your room together.

By the end of this post, you will:

  • Know & understand your interior design style through our quiz
  • Find relevant bloggers & sources of inspiration – specific to YOUR style
  • Receive a list of stores specializing in your style to make shopping easy

This post will make it super simple to start using your new style knowledge to quickly find the perfect accents for your home.

Finding your interior design style will help you complete your home’s overall look, which will make you happier and more confident.

Why do you need to know your interior design style?

  • If applied throughout your home – it makes everything look cohesive and will help when designing a room – see my post on How to Design a Room.
  • Knowing your interior design style helps you make decisive decisions. Also, it will help reduce overthinking and “analysis paralysis.”
  • Helps you get rid of clutter – donate or sell the stuff that doesn’t “go” with your style. It feels good, trust me.
  • Knowing your design style helps you filter and narrow down when you go shopping. You can focus on stores that specialize in your style to save time.

OK – enough chit chat – let’s get to the Interior Design Style Quiz!

Ok – hopefully your results make sense. Take a look below for a brief description, blogs for additional inspiration, and stores to shop for your styles.

Use your interior design style as a keyword

You can also use your style as a keyword to search for things on Pinterest (i.e. “farmhouse living room ideas”), or when you shop for things online (i.e. “modern couch,” “traditional dining table,” “boho rug,” etc).

Get a second opinion

If you don’t agree with your design style results, or just want a second opinion, the best quiz I could find is below (I took like 10 quizzes while researching this post):

  • Design BX Style Quiz – they give you a lot of explanation of your style results and include a lot of photos and examples of the style.

Interior Design Style Explanations & Resources

Modern Style

Modern Design Style

According to Decorilla – Think smooth, clean lines with chrome, metal, and glass playing a role. Not a lot of chotchkies, but use of art to add color, with a lot of neutrals for the most part.

Modern Design Blog: Minimalissimo

Stores for Modern Furniture:

Scandinavian Style

Photo by Daniil Silantev via Unsplash

According to DesignBx, Scandinavian style is simple, functional, and organic. There is a use of natural materials such as wood, wool, and the use of natural light. Colors are often earthy or muted, such as wood, cream, grey, and steely blues.

Blogs:

Stores:

Bohemian/Eclectic

Photo by Emma Van Sant via Unsplash
Photo by Emma Van Sant via Unsplash

According to Design Rulz, Bohemian style combines different colors, patterns, and textures. There is usually a variety of different colors and patterns, including metallics and earthy, warm tones.

Blog:

Stores:

Industrial Style

Industrial Loft

The folks over at Freshome let us know that industrial style is a mix of old and new, with lots of metal and wood. Industrial design embraces open concepts, exposed brick, vintage furniture, and neutral colors.

Blog

Stores:

Modern Farmhouse Style

Photo by Camylla Battani via Unsplash

Probably the most famous example of modern farmhouse interior design right now is the folks over at Fixer Upper, Chip & Joanna Gaines.

This design style has an earthy color palette of grey, black, white, and accent colors inspired by the farm: red, blue, yellow, green. Farmhouse is relaxed and functional, with a mix of old and new – like a vintage wood table but paired with a new sofa.

Blogs:

Stores:

Glam Style

Glam Bedroom by Aw Creative via Unsplash
Photo: Aw Creative via Unsplash

Some of the signs you love Modern Glam style, according to Little Gold Pixel, are a love of marble, gold & silver accents, and chandeliers. All the chandeliers. Glam lovers also want tufted or velvet everything – from Chesterfield sofas to headboards, it’s just the way. This style is a mix of Hollywood Regency, Art Deco, with some Victorian thrown in.

Blog: Modern Glam

Stores:

Traditional Style

Traditional Living Room by Francisco De Legarreta via Unsplash
Photo by Francisco De Legarreta via Unsplash

Decorilla defines Traditional Interior Design as being heavily influenced by European design and has ornate wood furniture and heavy fabrics like velvet, silk, and damask. Neutral color palettes are common with color brought in by oil paintings and flower arrangements.

Blogs:

Stores:

Minimalist Style

Minimalistic Room by Hutomo Abrianto via Unsplash

In an article by Elle Decor, minimalist style is defined as simple and often monochromatic, but also with an emphasis on form. There is a lack of clutter, a focus on the architectural features, and a feeling of restfulness.

Blogs:

Stores:

Conclusion

So, did you learn anything about yourself? About interior design? I hope so! Now it’s time to take action.

We taught you how to identify your design style, gave you some blogger sources of inspiration, and showed you a bunch of stores to fit your style (and make shopping a breeze).

I want to challenge you to take action on this new knowledge! Comment below with your design style result and one way you want to incorporate more of that style into your home!

Next, you can look at my post, How to Design a Room, for a step-by-step guide on a great process to use to get a cohesive look you love – while staying on a budget.

7 No-Fail Tips for Decorating with Throw Pillows

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Want an instant makeover for your living room?

Throw pillows.

Want to change up the vibe of your family room?

Throw pillows.

Want to make your room feel lighter and brighter?

Throw pillows!

This post is all about, you guessed it – decorating with throw pillows! I researched the heck out of throw pillows, talked to designers, and read all the best interior design blogs about this topic.

I’ve distilled it down to 7 tips to help you decorate with throw pillows like a champ. Plus, I’ve put the Penny Modern spin on this topic – so you won’t see any $140 throw pillows here (unlike most of the blogs I researched on this topic!)! All my links to throw pillows are under $30!

By the end of this post, you will feel confident to hit the buy button, or make your way to the closest home decor store to make your room look brighter and more joyful.

Let’s toss this baby into first gear!

Decorating with Throw Pillows SideKix Media
Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash

Tip 1: Pick an anchor color

The first tip on decorating with throw pillows is from a post on My Domaine, which showed some beautiful pillows – many over $100, one Gucci pillow was even $1250! Sorry, my sofa wasn’t even $1250, so I’m not spending that much on a single pillow…

Anyhow, the point of this tip is if you have a colorful accent chair or rug or something, pick a couple of pillows that echo that color. In the photo above, the pillows pick up some of the colors in the artwork.

The rule of 3 is good – if a color is repeated three times, it becomes a pattern. So if the color is repeated in an accent chair, pillow pattern, and artwork – it will help create a cohesive look to the room.

Couch and throw pillows NeONBRAND on Unsplash
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Tip 2: Do this to get a modern look

Since this site is all about modern and contemporary design, I had to include some advice specific to my aesthetic. Real Simple has a great slide show on decorating with throw pillows, with some actionable steps on getting a modern look:

  • Pick odd numbers of pillows – like 3 or 5.
  • Pillows that are square should be 18-24 inches. Lumbar pillows are a great add.
  • Keep the color palette very limited, and keep fabrics smooth. Embrace geometric prints.
  • If you love color – pull it from some artwork in the room (see tip 1).
  • Trim should mirror the primary color on the pillow, to keep a “color block.”

Some examples below of pillow cover SETS you can buy from Amazon (click each image for affiliate links). They take the guess work out and are a good deal at $20 – $27 for all for 4 pillow covers!

Tip 3: Choose a color and change up the pattern (or texture)

Architectural Digest has some good advice that shows how you can take one color and use it in a solid pillow, then find patterned pillows w/ the same color. Examples from Amazon below (affiliate links) of different patterns using white, grey, & gold.

Alternately you can pick one color and find different texture pillows all in the same color. Examples from Amazon below, of three different textured beige/cream pillow covers (affiliate links).

Hint: this is probably one of the easiest methods to follow for decorating with throw pillows.

Tip 4: Size Matters

To get a more designer look when decorating with throw pillows, use pillows at least 20″. Pulp Design Studios prefers 22-24″ to get a more luxe look, for the biggest pillows in the set.

Having varying sizes, by throwing in an unexpected lumbar pillow with a cool material like leather/faux leather also helps create visual interest.

Decorating with Throw Pillows of various sizes
Photo by Devon Janse van Rensburg on Unsplash

Tip 5: Mix and Match

I had a hard time feeling confident in mixing and matching when decorating with different throw pillows. To give me specifics, I found a great photo with specific examples at Little House of Four blog on mixing and matching. Hope it helps you too!

Little House of Four How to Mix and Match Throw Pillows
Photo From Little House of Four blog.

Tip 6: Try it out first

The beauty of buying stuff online is you can get pictures of everything. Then you can cut and paste photos to make a “pillowscape” to see if it works together with a couch photo similar to what you have. Just take note of the actual dimensions of the pillow if buying online. A lot of the less expensive ones are only 18″.

I’m still learning about decorating with throw pillows, and making a “virtual” pillowscape helped me out a ton. I just used Microsoft Powerpoint, and cut/pasted my couch, chair, key pieces of decor, and various pillow combinations. You can use any program that lets you paste pictures next to each other, and layer them.

Pillowscape - decorating with throw pillows

Alternately you can just go to a retail store and buy a bunch of pillows, then save the receipts & keep the tags on. Next you can just put them all on your couch and see what works, then return what doesn’t.

Tip 7: Save your money

Some of the best sources of affordable throw pillows and covers include:

  • H&M Home – So many modern & affordable pillow covers under $10!!
  • IKEA – they have down pillow inserts for $6! Poly fill inserts for $3. You can’t beat this folks. They have a TON of pillow covers from $3 to $12.
  • Amazon (affiliate link) – huge selection of pillow covers and inserts under $20.
  • Wal-Mart – huge selection of both pillows and covers, many under $20
  • World Market – they have some great “Always a Deal” pillows for under $10.
  • Discounters like Marshalls’s, TJ Maxx, Ross, & Homegoods.
  • Check out my resource page for other sources, tools, and inspiration for all things modern decor related.

Conclusion

Hopefully this helps you elevate your space, and you can feel confident the next time you are decorating with throw pillows. I gave you tips from experts, specific examples, how to make a pillowscape, and sources of affordable throw pillows.

Now it’s up to you to give your sofa a refresh by freshening up your throw pillow game. Hope these tips helped!

Do you have any tips for buying throw pillows? I would love it if you left me a comment below, to share with the Penny Modern community.

7 Simple Tips to Create a Floorplan

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Are you completely overwhelmed while staring at an empty room of the new home you just moved into? 

Are you trying to update your home, but not sure where to start?

If you said yes, we have the solution! The best place to begin is to create a floorplan to layout furniture in a functional and stylish way. Creating a floorplan will make your decorating challenge seem easy and enjoyable. Plus, you won’t waste time and money buy buying furniture that won’t fit in your space.

First we’ll review the tools of the trade to create a floorplan on any computer or smartphone. Then, you’ll get some of the best tips we’ve found from interior decorating experts including:

  • Where to start
  • Determining focal points
  • Furniture arranging tips
  • Space planning
  • Use of symmetry
  • Using zones
  • Filling empty space

We’ll be using a real-life example of the floorplan created for my living room redesign, so you can see each tip in action. By the end of this article you will be armed with the confidence you need to create a floorplan to make your room look thoughtful and modern, while functioning great for your family’s needs.

Create a Floorplan - Living Room
Photo by Alberto Castillo Q. on Unsplash

Let’s dive in!

Tools of the Trade:

Bust Out Your Tape Measure

This sounds silly but to create a floorplan, you literally need to measure the length of every wall, door, doorway, window, and architectural feature in your room. Even ceiling height should be measured.

Next, write all these dimensions down, or maybe draw it up with pencil and paper. Soon we’ll discuss the technology we need to create your floorpan, since the days of paper cutouts of furniture on graph paper are long gone, folks!

Best Free Desktop Software to Create a Floorplan: Roomstyler

There were several desktop floor planning tools I tried to create my floorplan, but the one that was easiest and 100% free was Roomstyler. They have a tool called 3D Room Planner you can access by simply setting up a free account.

Roomstyler allows you to make the room’s dimensions to replicate your own home’s measurements. Then, you can add a TON of furniture and accessories. Once you create a floorplan, you can switch between a 2D or 3D design easily.

The only thing that Roomstyler lacks is allowing you to figure out the actual stores and sources for their massive furniture and home décor catalog. Also, their mobile app does not have the ability to create your own room, so stick to the desktop version.

Best Free App to Create a Floorplan:

Room Planner – House Design 3D

How to Create a Floorplan - Living Room
Living Room Floorplan

To create all the floorplans you see in this article, I used the free iPhone app – Room Planner – Home Design. It super easy to use, and you can make the room dimensions close to your own. Then, you can add doors, hallways, windows, stairs, etc. Next, you can select from a bunch of mainly Ikea furniture in the app to put as placeholders to see how many pieces will fit in the room.

Room Planner is a “freemium”model – meaning there are in-app purchases to be able to use more items. They do have a good selection of basics for free, so you should be able to create some great floorplans to understand how much furniture is needed and so on.

This amazing app goes in 2D or 3D – it’s really awesome to get a feel for how things will look – even down to where to place plants, lamps, art, etc. Check out my Resources page for more great apps and tools like this.

3D Living Room Floorplan
3D Living Room Floorplan

And now, the top pro tips to create a floorplan: 

Tip 1: First start with a rug

I spoke with a designer from Living Spaces recently (talking to a designer there is free – just ask in the store), to try to get some advice and ideas for my living room redesign. She recommended we start by picking a rug first. I figure this must be a legit first step to create a floorplan, at least according to the Living Spaces designer. 

Rugs work in a lot of living rooms. To start with, 8×10 is a pretty standard size for any room. Furniture should be added onto the rug by at least having the 2 front legs on the rug, with the back legs hanging off. Check out this article on Wayfair, called How to Choose the Right Rug Sizes for more tips on picking the right rug.

  • 6’7″x9′ Rug

My floorpan helped me select the right size rug for my exact room. I made the room dimensions close to the actual room, then placed an 8’x10′ rug down. In the Room Planner app, you can actually change the dimensions of the rug too! The 8’x10′ seemed to take up way too much room, so a smaller (and cheaper) 6’7″ x 9′ rug was the preferred option.

Tip 2: Decide where the focal point(s) are in your floorplan

What is a focal point?

It’s where your eye is drawn as you enter a room – typically an architectural feature like a fireplace mantel, beautiful big windows, or built in bookcases.

If you don’t have any of that wonderful stuff, just pick the biggest wall and you could put a television, creative artwork, or large decorative mirror as your focal point.  Worthing Court Blog has a great article on focal points, How to Deal with Multiple Focal Points. 

For my living room, we had huge sliding doors that overlook eucalyptus trees, which is a natural focal point during the day. However, I didn’t want to have my chairs facing the sliders, or in front of the sliders, so I needed a separate focal point. 

I chose the longest wall in the room for my second focal point, right where the sofa will sit. That way, even at night I would have a focal point, which would be some large artwork above the sofa.

Before Living Room Photo
Focal point is above sofa

OK, I got my focal points, now what?

Tip 3: Arrange furniture around focal point

Seating arrangements

Now you can use the focal point(s) to orient your furniture and rug around, when creating your floorplan. You don’t have to make all the chairs face a window, but you would cluster large furniture around your focal point or use furniture to draw your eye towards your focal point.

Photo by Vecislavas Popa from Pexels

If you have a fireplace, arranging furniture in a semi-circle or U shape is ideal. According to Crate & Barrel, leave no more than 8 feet between seats.

Another floorplan option is to “float” your couch and chairs in the middle of the room. You can also have 2 couches facing each other, or the couch and 2 chairs facing each other around a central coffee table.

If you really get stuck just remember a basic room combo that is nearly foolproof: 2 chairs and a couch for a living room. This article at Ballard Designs will help you with some basic furniture layout tips and tricks.

For my living room, I wanted my couch on the same wall as my focal point, so I arranged my couch and chair around that focal point. I toyed around with adding another chair, but due to the fact this was also a playroom/office, I just couldn’t make another chair fit.

Next arrange tables & cabinets

Once you set your seating up, you can put in tables where it makes sense, for living rooms – it’s mainly a place to put your drink. Then you can add in things like cabinets, sofa/console tables, side tables, and ottomans. Crate & Barrel goes into more detail on how each of these items can be used.

I knew the coffee table would be in front of the couch, but had a hard time deciding between one or two side tables. We were using this as a multipurpose room, so I went with smaller and fewer tables so we’d have room for my toddler to play.

Place floor and table lamps

According to Crate & Barrel, floor lamps should replace a side table when creating your floorplan. So, you want to make sure a coffee table is nearby for placing drinks. Table lamps are easy – just make sure they don’t take up the whole table. Keep this in mind when buying furniture online – look at the specs of side tables to make sure they will work for your needs.

I wanted at least two lamps since our room didn’t have any overhead lights. These were just placeholders but the floorpan helped me decide where to put my floor lamp and table lamp.

Tip 4: Leave enough space

According to Better Homes and Gardens, leaving enough space around and between furniture is key to make a room functional in your floorplan. They recommend allowing 30 inches between pieces that you must walk around. Then leave 14-18 inches between a couch and coffee table. This will ensure your drinks or whatnot are within arm’s length.

Other tips for space planning for your floorplan include:

Tip 5: Symmetry in your floorplan

Beige and Teal Living Room
Photo: Francesca Tosolini via Unsplash

Trying to remember to use symmetry to create a floorplan is important. It makes it seem more traditional but very intentional and planned. An example of symmetry is in the above photo with 2 lamps and 2 stools. If you can’t get 2 of the same pieces of furniture, you can also use symmetry in terms of accessories, wall décor, or lighting.

I’m totally breaking the symmetry rule for furniture since I only have room for one couch and chair, but am going to use 2 framed art prints (with the same size frame) above the couch to get my symmetry on!

Tip 6: Use zones in your floorplan

Zones are great if you have a large space to work with. You can have a reading zone, conversation zone, or office area, you name it. Most people have rooms they want to serve multiple functions, so using zones is a great way to serve your family’s needs.

Furniture is a great way to designate each zone, but you can also use lighting, rugs, or room dividers. For more info, check out the design experts at Lenore Designs for a brief post on using zones in open floorplans.

For our living room floorplan, we needed a multifunctional room that included play area for my son, desk/office area, and a conversation zone for when we had guests. Making sure I could squeeze an office area in a 12×14 room was a major challenge!

Tip 7: Fill up empty walls and corners

Large empty walls can make a home feel sterile, but can be intimidating to figure out what to do with. 

Corners can be made more interesting with a cute occasional chair, an awesome plant, or an armchair/lamp combo to make a reading nook. Other ideas include using a bookcases, pedestal, or bench. 

This article by Ballard Designs goes into most of these points in a lot more detail.

I saw a lot of my Pinterest inspiration photos with a tall plant in the corner of the room, so I wanted to see how this looks in my floorpan. I tried a few different options using the Room Planner app. When I switched to 3D view, I could see how it looked, and was able to place a floor lamp on the opposite side of the couch to “balance” things out a bit.

Some great inspiration photos for using greenery indoors at this article on Freshome.com.

Wrap up

Hopefully by now, you are seeing how these tips can be brought together to create a floorpan that rocks! You should use both the 2D and 3D viewpoints of the room planning software to help make things look balanced and planned. The Room Planner app even gives you a “realistic photo” rendering of your 3D design. Check it out:

I hope my “live example”of my living room redesign helps you feel confident that you can do this too. From getting the recommended tools, to furniture configuration and space planning, you can see it really isn’t that hard to create a floorplan yourself. 

I hope these tips make you feel like a floorplan guru so your room feels fresh, welcoming, and super-functional too! Did any of these tips help or surprise you? Leave a comment below…

How to Design a Room (for beginners)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Did you just move into a new place, and have new, empty rooms screaming at you to learn how to design a room ASAP? 

Has your room design been the same for the last 10 years and sorely needs a update? 

Do you have family coming over for the holidays, and need your place to look “all grown up” with a cohesive, modern design?

Then you are in the right place! This is the ULTIMATE step-by-step guide to how to design a room – with a “real life” example. Yep, I’m taking you along as I design my living room. My “before” photo is below, and you are invited to witness every step (and mis-step) on my journey to fix this “situation.” 

How to Design A Room - Before Photo
SOS – My living room needs a plan!

By the end of this guide you will know a basic process for how to design a room and get a cohesive, purposeful look. This new knowledge will make you feel like a modern day Martha Stewart. Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • First we’ll learn about function
  • Then we’ll find inspiration
  • Next comes planning and budgeting
  • Last (definitely not least) is execution (aka Go Shopping!)
  • End result: A “blueprint” to help elevate your living space

I’m not going to front – this isn’t something I made up myself, since I’m not an interior designer. BUT I’m a great researcher, so I’m learning and sharing all my findings with you to help save you time (and money).

What I did was use the basic process from HGTV’s post, “11 Steps to a Well Designed Room,” and expand on it by researching other related blog posts and guides (especially when I didn’t quite get what they were talking about).

I hope sharing my own journey helps in making your home look elevated and insta-worthy, and shows that YOU can design a room too! Let’s get started!

Step 1: Figure out the purpose of the room.

The first step in how to design a room is to ask yourself a few questions:

  • Is this a room where people will be sitting and relaxing, like a family room? 
  • Is the room for eating? 
  • Will it be used for entertaining? 
  • Will you need storage in the room? 
  • Do you have high traffic areas of the room to get somewhere else in the house? 

These are key questions to understand the layout and types of furniture and decor you need to buy. A great guide for understanding how to layout a room can be found on the Ballard Designs blog.

For my living room design – I knew this was becoming a multi-purpose room to put my son’s train table, do some entertaining when we had people over, and a place to put my desk to write this awesome blog.

Paulo Desk from Target
Desk area on the other side of the living room

Step 2: Who will be using the room?

  • This is really asking – do you have kids?
  • Little ones or older kids?
  • Will older adults or just regular adults be using the room?
  • Will this room be used for guests when they visit?

The users of the room will definitely influence what type of items you would buy and how you actually design the room.

Beige modern living room
Photo: Mateo Fernandez via Unsplash

For my own space – I knew my toddler, husband, and myself would be the primary users, and also occasional guests. Having furniture that would be safe from a toddlers antics was a must-have. So, we definitely won’t be buying a glass coffee table or white couch!

Step 3: Make a wish list

The third step to design a room is to write up a wish list of all the items you want to buy, and decide what items you want to keep. Then, prioritize your list. There’s a little more info about designing a room in this post from the Bless’er House Blog.

This is super useful because it gives you a starting point for your budget. Plus when you start blowing your budget you can decide what you want to buy now, versus what can wait for a little bit later. 

living room grey sectional
Inspo photo that contains examples of most of our wish list items!

Since I knew I was keeping my current couch and swivel chair, I created a wish list with the following items:

  • Rug
  • 1 or 2 Lamps (it was always super dark in this room due to lack of overhead lighting)
  • Coffee table
  • Side table(s)
  • Wall Décor for above couch
  • Throw Pillows
  • Pouf
  • Some kind of artificial plant life (I’ve killed a cactus, people)

Step 4: Find inspiration

This is the fun part. Finding swoon-worthy photos on Pinterest is easiest, or take screen shots of Instagram or other websites. Check out my resource page to find links to modern design inspiration. Keep it to photos that REALLY make you happy. For beginners learning how to design a room, I would keep it to about 5 – 7 photos, too much and you start to feel overwhelmed.

Check out my Living Room Pinterest Inspiration Board here.

Step 5: Measure (twice) and make a floorplan.

Making the floorplan is a super important step in learning how to design a room. The floorplan should be as close to your actual room as possible, to make sure everything fits and you have “flow.” Check out the post I created showing 7 simple tips to create a floorplan to help you make a floorplan like a boss.

Get out your tape measure…

Measure your room – I mean every dimension! The length and width of each wall of the room, the doors and doorways, the windows, how far each window/door is from the corner, the height from floor to ceiling. Also mark down and measure architectural features like fireplaces. Don’t forget to measure all the furniture you are keeping. Measure everything!

Draw it out (or use an app!).

Use the measurements to make a basic floorplan on paper, graph paper, or use some free floor planning software. A great option for creating floorplans on your desktop computer is Roomstyler.

There’s an app for that!

If you want an app, try Room Planner – Home Design 3D, which super easy to use, and I could make my room dimensions close to real-life. I then selected from a bunch of furniture in the app to put as “placeholders” to see how many pieces will fit in the room and to test out different furniture layouts.

I totally skipped this step, then ended up with an awesome mood board of all the stuff I wanted to buy. Then I totally freaked out that I didn’t have “symmetry” by having 2 chairs, so I made a floor plan (below) to see if I needed to buy an extra chair.

Once I made the floor plan, I realized I simply did not have the room for another chair due to a major traffic pattern going through the room.

Don’t skip making a floorplan when you design your room! It will make things easier and you won’t buy the wrong stuff.

Living Room Floorplan

Here are the top 3 tips from my post, 7 simple tips to create a floorplan, to get you started.

Tip 1: First start with a rug.

I spoke with a designer from Living Spaces recently (talking to a designer there is free – just ask in the store), to try to get some advice and ideas for my living room project. She recommended we start with by picking a rug first. I figure this must be a legit first step, at least according to the Living Spaces designer. 

To start with, 8×10 is a pretty standard size for any room, but if you create a floorplan you can see what size rug is the best fit.  Check out this article on Wayfair, called How to Choose the Right Rug Sizes for more tips on picking the right rug.

How did I pick a rug? I looked up “grey couch” (since I was keeping mine) on Pinterest and almost every dark grey couch pin had a rug similar to above Ivory Moroccan Trellis Rug from Amazon (affiliate link). So, I knew I would need something white or cream with some kind of geometric design. I picked something slightly different but Pinterest is a great guide if you have no clue!

Tip 2: Orient furniture around the room’s focal point 

What is a focal point?

It’s where your eye is drawn as you enter a room – typically an architectural feature but it could also be a television, creative artwork (like below photo), or large mirror.  Worthing Court Blog has a great article on focal points, How to Deal with Multiple Focal Points.

Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash
Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash
How do I use a focal point?

Now you can use the focal point(s) to orient your furniture and rug around. You don’t have to make all the chairs face a window, but you would cluster large furniture around your focal point or use furniture to draw your eye towards your focal point.

No fail combo

If you really get stuck just remember a basic room combo that is nearly foolproof: 2 chairs and a couch for a living room.

For my living room, we had huge sliding doors that overlook trees, which is a natural focal point during the day. However, I chose the longest wall in the room for my second focal point, right where the couch will sit. That way, even at night I would have a focal point, which would be some large artwork above the couch.

3D Floorpan Living Room

Tip 3: Use symmetry to design a room

Beige and Teal Living Room
Photo: Francesca Toscolini via Unsplash

Trying to remember to use symmetry in room layout is important, and it gives a feeling of balance. It makes the design seem more traditional but very intentional and planned. An example of symmetry is in the above photo with 2 lamps and 2 stools. If you can’t get 2 of the same pieces of furniture, you can also use symmetry in terms of accessories, wall décor, or lighting.

My incorporation of symmetry is going to be the 2 pieces of matching artwork that will be a focal point above the sofa.

Step 6: Consider the rest of your home design.

Look at adjacent rooms…

Make sure you consider the other rooms next to the one you are redesigning. In the open-concept homes of today, this is especially important to stay within the color palette and design style of the whole open area to create a cohesive look.

open concept living dining
Photo: Random Sky via Unsplash

Determine your whole house color palette.

One way to make sure your whole house stays within the same color palette, is to check out this great post, 7 Steps to Create your Whole House Color Palette, by the School of Decorating blog.  

This process really helped me think about the color palette I could use for my whole downstairs (my upstairs still needs a lot of help).  You don’t have to use this for only paint colors, you can use it for selecting furniture, pillows, and accents too. It makes shopping waaaay easier!

Using this process, I looked at my dining room and kitchen, which connect to the living room, and are mainly white, grey, black, with brass hardware and beige trim on all the windows.

Ikea Dining Table and Chairs
Dining area connecting to living room

Based on my existing color scheme, The whole house color palette I chose is pretty neutral: grey, black, cloud white, and beige, with accent colors of camel and brass to add some warm.. I used the Kelly Moore MyColorStudio Tool to put my whole house color palette together below.

whole house color palette

Don’t know where to start?

What if you have a “blank slate” and don’t know where to start? One piece of advice I heard while we were renovating our first home, was to look at the clothing in your closet. Then, take note of what colors you (and your significant other) tend to buy of clothing.

Your clothes are likely colors you love, and would be great picks for your home too. This was totally true for me, I have tons of grey, black, white, and beige clothes too!

Step 7: Find your signature or lead piece for the room design.

This is a little design trick recommended by both HGTV and this great blog View Along the Way, of picking one of the most colorful items in the room first. It could be just a chair, a throw pillow, a piece of fabric or favorite artwork. The signature piece will help guide your color decisions for everything else, which makes shopping so much easier, and faster. 

I didn’t think I needed this step but this blog post from View Along the Way changed my mind: Decorating 101: The Cheater Formula to Decorating a Blank Room. In the example below, the artwork is the signature piece.

Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash

For my signature piece I chose the beige and peachy bark of the eucalyptus trees, which are part of the amazing view you get from my living room windows. I used this color to inspire my coffee table purchase, pillows, and art.

I really wanted to warm up my primarily grey and white color scheme, to make things less sterile and more homey. This beige/peach combo did the trick perfectly!

Eucalyptus Tree
My Signature Piece = Eucalyptus Trees

Step 8: Make a budget – and stick to it!

This can be tough, but set something you are comfortable with. It can be really hard, I know, especially when you first buy a house, then remodel it, then you have hardly any money left to get new furniture (been there, done that).

In Step 9, you’ll start to put together a plan and shopping list, so you will get a feel for how much things will actually cost. There are ways to make everything “fit” into your budget – by using more of what you already own, painting your existing or pre-owned furniture, yard sales, thrifting, etc.

I decided to try to keep my living room redesign to $500. This was a personal challenge to myself since I wanted to showcase my skills at finding affordable modern furniture & decor to design my room.

Step 9: Make a plan.

First, gather your goodies…

Keep your work together that you’ve done so far, such as your inspiration photos, floorplan, whole house color palette, and your signature piece. Make sure you also add any fabric samples, flooring samples, and paint chips that you love.

Next design a mood board…

This is my favorite part!  A mood board is basically putting the room together on your computer, with cropped photos of furniture, pillows, curtains, flooring, everything! The goal is to see if it all “goes” together to make a cohesive room design. Here was my “first draft” mood board. I can go through a lot of different versions!

How to design a room moldboard draft

Software Solutions

You can really use any program where you can arrange and layer photos together.

  • You can use the Snipping Tool on PC’s or the Grab tool on Mac’s for cropping photos from furniture retailers on the web. 
  • I use Microsoft Powerpoint to make a mood board on a single slide, since it allows you to “bring to front” and “send to back” in terms of arranging photos.
  • For a bunch of options to make a mood board, check out 5 Go-To Resources for Making a Moodboard by the Chris Loves Julia blog.

An art, not a science

This is way more of an art, than a science. Use your inspiration photos for guidance – look to the professionals on Pinterest & Instagram for how to add contrast, color combos, where to place lighting, chairs, etc.

Look to the pro’s for guidance

I looked to my inspiration photos & simple Pinterest searches for “modern living room” to determine:

  • If I could put a floor lamp on one side of the couch, and a table lamp on the other (short answer: yes).
  • Where and how to incorporate plants.
  • What kind of rug I should contrast my coffee table and couch with.
  • Even throw pillow inspiration and guidance!

Then make your shopping list…

I like to include the link (and price) of an item I found online in the notes section of my Powerpoint mood board, so I can easily go back and buy it when I’m ready. This is really what I use to develop a prioritized, fully costed shopping list – and identify what I can buy now versus later. 

Here is my mood board with my living room design:

How to Design a Room - Moodboard

Step 10: Go Shop! 

First thing is, make sure you made an online shopping list of items you put in your mood board. Then, Note down all the prices of each item, and try to make it fit into your budget by cutting corners when you can (& prioritizing). 

Now it’s time to go out and try to beat those prices and find a bargain!

Prep for your shopping trip

Grab some of your swatches, paint chips, and load up your phone with photos of your mood board and shopping list (maybe even print it out).  

Try discounters first

Go for the most affordable places first, like thrift stores, Big Lots, HomeGoods, Ross, Tuesday Morning, and TJ Maxx. Having your mood board with you will give you focus and keep you from feeling overwhelmed, or from getting off track. Make sure to check the clearance sections!

Thrifting for Furniture
Photo by Julien-Pier Belanger on Unsplash

Online shopping next

Shopping online is also super awesome & convenient, although I like to buy online from retailers like Target, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart since you can take store-returnable items right back to the store. Also Amazon has tons (not all) of items with free returns for Prime Members.

A few major watch outs for online home decor shopping:

  • Make sure you read the retailer’s return policies & watch for restocking fees. Free returns are pretty rare at online only furniture stores.
  • Read both the good and bad reviews to know what you are in for.
  • Check out the item’s measurements in the specification section. Remember with furniture – height matters, especially when it comes to coffee and side tables.
  • Don’t do what I did and order a coffee table online, just to have it delivered and it’s 4 inches too short when I put it next to my couch! Good thing my hubby is handy and can add some legs to it!
Online Shopping via Laptop
Photo: Kari Shea via Unsplash

Wait for a holiday (if possible)

Keep your eyes peeled during the holidays and check your favorite online (and in person) stores for sales like on Memorial Day, July 4th, Black Friday, etc. Check out my resource page for a full list of affordable modern furniture sources. Target.com often puts home decor and furniture on sale during holidays.

Try a simple DIY hack

If you really can’t fit everything you want into your budget – think about a small DIY project to give something you already have a face lift. Pinterest is a great source of DIY hacks and updates for almost anything. I decided I would try two things to save $:

  • Update a floor lamp I have by spray painting it black and changing the lamp shade – savings of about $40.
  • Get new pillow covers for existing pillows (not exactly a DIY but certainly saves $$). H&M Home and Amazon (affiliate link) are both great, inexpensive sources for pillow covers.

Amazon even has the above throw pillow cover sets (affiliate link) you can buy to take the guesswork out of mixing and matching pillows.

Mix it up

Try not to buy everything matchy-matchy but buy from different retail stores and brands. Keep to your budget, but it’s ok to make changes if you find a great deal! 

Step 11: Embrace Design Trends, But Cautiously

Solid advice from HGTV was to try to keep super trendy items limited to accessories when designing a room. Ultimately it will save you money by not having to redecorate very often, if you avoid trends on big, expensive pieces.

Neutrals are good for pieces like your sofa or bed.

Pillows or artwork are great for exploring new colors, textures, and patterns. For example, Mud cloth pillow covers (affiliate link) may not be in style forever, but changing out a pillow is way easier than changing out a couch!

Step 12: Lighting is Key

Changing lighting can really change your room’s look and feel. In addition, a lot of lamps today are almost pieces of art in themselves, and are considered part of the design. There is lighting for doing specific tasks, checking email, ambient lighting, or mood lighting.

Our living room was super dark, as we had no overhead lighting. So, lighting was critical to my design. I knew I wanted at least two lamps for this area. This short lighting tutorial video from West Elm helped me figure out what type of lighting to get:

Since I didn’t want the more traditional look of the symmetry of two end tables on either side of the sofa, I went with one floor lamp and one table lamp.

I chose black metal lamps (example below), with a modern/industrial feel, to go with some of the furniture pieces I had in mind. The glass shade echoes the pendant lights I have in my kitchen, helping create a cohesive whole-house design.

Simple Designs, Black Bronson Desk Lamp. (affiliate link)

Step 13: Make It YOUR home.

Personal touch

The final step in learning how to design a room is to simply make it personal. Add your personal touch such as a beautiful photo, books you love, or collections. Even keepsakes like baby items or mementos could find themselves into room décor. 

Get artsy

Finding artwork you love is another great way to reflect your personal style. It has never been easier (or more affordable) to order large prints (Shutterfly) or find printable original art online (Etsy), to create something unique that is just perfect for your space. 

What I did was find an awesome & inspirational modern interior design blog, “My Paradissi“, who has a printable shop on Etsy. I just loved this woman’s design esthetic – she’s an architect and interior designer named Eleni living in Crete, Greece. Art is personal – pick something YOU love.

Studio Paradissi Gallery Wall
Photo by My Paradissi

I bought a couple of Studio Paradissi’s abstract art printables for $8 each, then printed them out (Wal-Mart and Walgreens have inexpensive poster printing online). Once they arrived, I simply popped the prints into some black poster frames I already had (from Wal Mart). This was a total of about $50 for 2 large pieces of wall art!

Conclusion

Ok Wow! This was a long post, glad you are still with me. I wanted to make an ultimate step-by-step guide on how to design a room that would help out beginners at this whole decorating thing. In addition, I wanted to share my own experience and research to try to help someone else out too. 

We covered everything from the idea stage, finding inspiration, planning, shopping, and incorporating a personal touch.

The final step…

Living Room Redesign - Penny Modern
My Living Room – After!

The final step is putting it all in place. Your floorpan and mood boards should help guide you where to actually place everything in your room when you (finally) get everything home. 

Hope this guide helps you to update and learn how to design a room to achieve a thoughtful, cohesive modern look. 

Leave a comment!

Leave a comment below or message me if you get stuck along your own journey. I would love it if you leave me a photo of your before and after if you used this process – happy decorating!

11 Most Comfortable Desk Chairs for Modern Decor – (They’re all under $200!)

Disclosure: This post contains mostly affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

Have you been spending days searching the web for the perfect modern, stylish chair to use at your desk, but can’t find anything that looks awesome, is in budget, AND will be comfortable? Well, I had this same problem after I got my new black writing desk from Target (Paulo Basic Desk – Project 62™), which I reviewed here.

Paulo Basic Desk Project 62
Paulo Basic Desk from Project 62 (Target)

I needed an awesome modern chair to pair with it, but most of the ones that looked trendy also looked extremely uncomfortable. So, I put a ton of time and effort to put a short list of my top 11 most comfortable desk chairs together, and thought I could share it with everyone else looking for the same thing.

This post will review 11 comfortable desk chairs to help keep your modern decor scheme intact while not breaking your back (or pocketbook).

First we’ll review the latest trends for modern home offices to get our style inspo, then I’ll tell you how we evaluated our list, and then we’ll get into the pro’s and con’s of each pick on our top 10 list.

Let’s get started…

Latest Trends for Modern Desk Chairs in 2020

Photo by Christian Lambert on Unsplash

First we need to know – what are the latest trends for modern desk chairs in 2020? What are interior designers and furniture houses using as desk chairs? This article by HomeDesigning.com gave me some great ideas. I also looked at popular interior design blogs (some found on my resource page).

I then went to my local high end furniture stores like Room & Board and Scandinavian Designs for inspiration IRL (in real life) and snapped a few pics of chairs I loved – unfortunately most were priced between $400 and $800 – way out of my budget.

  • Grey Cora Swivel Office Chair – Room & Board – $699
  • White and Chrome Office Chair
    White and Chrome Office Chair – Scandinavian Designs
  • Blue Velvet Dining Chair from Room & Board
  • Beige Tenley Office Chair – Room & Board – $799

The trend, for modern home office design seems to be avoiding the typical computer chair that is black or grey mesh with wheels, that you would see in any corporate office.

White desk white chair Nathan Waters Unsplash
Photo by Nathan Waters on Unsplash

I’m also noticing a trend with interior designers showing very minimalist chairs with hardly any cushions or padding, like the ubiquitous white plastic chair you see above. These chairs seem horribly uncomfortable, which I simply cannot put form over function in this case, since my butt is the one that is going to be sitting on this thing!

Do comfortable desk chairs have to look ugly?

Short answer is, no.

I had a little designer inspiration and ideas, now I just needed to search for some more affordable lookalike candidates which are actually verifiably comfortable. Here is how I compiled my list, and created a rating system.

Ratings Criteria

Comfort factor:

I did not sit on all of these chairs myself, but I did go and sit on a ton of chairs in the high end stores that I can’t afford, and know what to look for. That would be things like how “cushy” the seat is, lumbar support, how high the arms and back are, and if the height is adjustable.

So how will we determine if it’s a truly comfortable desk chair?

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews. My method is to make sure there are more than 5 reviews for a product, and I read them all so you don’t have to. I always read all of the negative reviews, and compile a list of pro’s and cons for each chair (no chair with legit reviews will have only pro’s). If they are all positive reviews it sets off a red flag that some might be fake.

Materials:

We looked at the product info for the type of upholstery covering on the chair.  At the price point we are looking at (less than $200), real leather is unfortunately out of the question. According to this article by BKA, PVC faux leather is slightly more durable than PU faux leather, so is a better choice if you want this to last. PU leather will typically be softer and feel more like leather. Fabric coverings are typically synthetic, but will breathe better than faux leather, although be harder to clean. Fabric might be the way to go if you live somewhere hot, without air conditioning, or sweat a lot when you are at your desk.

Specifications:

We examined which areas, if any, of the chair are adjustable – height, tilt, armrests, etc. The more adjusting you do, the more it can be fitted to your body in a more ergonomic fashion. Also, in this area you can look for the type of padding or cushion they use in the seat.

Return Policy:

This is really the key for comfort. Everyone’s body is different, so my idea of comfort may not be comfortable at all for you. ALL of the chairs in this list have FREE RETURNS according to their Amazon listing (as of the writing of this article).

This is super important since if you intend to use this to work at a desk on a daily basis – you will want to be able to return it if YOU don’t think it’s comfortable.

So, here we go…

The 11 most comfortable desk chairs to go with your modern home office decor, all under $200:

Review of Sauder Harvey Park Occasional Chair (link here to buy).

The Harvey Park chair comes in gray and is around $165 (check price via link).

Loving this chair due to the retro/mid century modern design and the fact it does NOT have wheels – which seems to be very on trend these days. Also I have a toddler so the thought of having a wheeled chair for him to roll around our living space has me scared senseless.

Pro’s

  • Thick seat and back padding should be comfortable for long stretches of sitting.
  • Fabric covering will be durable and cool to sit on in the summers.
  • 20 Reviews on Amazon and 4.1 out of 5 stars.

Con’s:

  • A few reviewers complained of a few parts being defective, but seems they were sent replacement parts by Sauder.
  • Upholstery may not withstand lots of stains since it’s fabric and a light color.

Link for the Sauder Harvey Park Occasional Chair on Amazon here. (affiliate link) or directly from Sauder here.

Flash Furniture High Back Office Chair in White

It’s only $95, and looks almost the same as the one from Scandinavian Designs (photo above) that was over $300!

Pro’s:

  • The seat padding is very thick, it has a high back, and it has much-needed lumbar support.
  • It’s adjustable in a lot of placed including tilt/lock and pneumatic height adjustment.
  • Comes in 2 colors – white or black, and you can choose between chrome, gold, or rose gold metal.

Con’s:

  • Upholstery is PU Faux leather, which won’t hold up like real leather, but reviews say it’s super easy to clean.
  • You have to do some assembly yourself, and it sounds like it can be a little rickety if you don’t know how to adjust it correctly.

Link to the Flash Furniture High Back Office Chair on Amazon here (affiliate link).

Review of Elle Decor Ophelia Bentwood Task Chair.

Priced at $159.99 (but check listing for latest price). Available in French Ivory, French Gray, and French Pink.

This is so cute, modern/mid-century, and looks so cushy! I also like that it comes in 3 colors.

Pro’s:

  • Fabric upholstery will be softer to sit on, and will wear better than fake leather.
  • Adjustable height to help w/ ergonomics.
  • Armless so should fit well under any desk.
  • Over 56 Reviews and a 4.5 star rating.

Con’s:

  • A few reviewers say it’s a little squeaky – WD 40 might be a fix?
  • The fabric cushion can lose it’s shape over time.

Link to the Elle Decor Ophelia chair, on Amazon here. (affiliate link)

Review of Rivet Alfred Mid-Century Modern Wide Curved Back Dining Room Chair.

Available in both an Ash Gray (darker) and a Felt Gray (lighter), for around $169 (check price on listing).

I love these barrel type chairs since the seem so comfy, and this one would look great with a walnut desk.

Pro’s:

  • Plenty of padding all around.
  • Hardwood legs
  • Very sturdy

Con’s:

  • Some reviewers claim they did not receive an instruction manual for assembly.

Link to the Rivet Alfred Mid-Century Modern Wide Curved Back Chair (affiliate link).

Review of Armen Living Summer Chair.

This baby comes in charcoal, green, and blue, for only around $105 (check listing for latest price).

Mid Century Modern vibesssssss all day here folks. I love how it’s a little masculine too.

Pro’s:

  • Highly rated for both comfort and easy to assemble.
  • 283 customer reviews and a 4.4 out of 5 star rating.

Con’s:

  • Doesn’t swivel or have any ways to adjust the height/tilt/etc.
  • Some folks complain of the seat cushion getting compressed.

Link to the Armen Living Summer Chair here (affiliate link).

Review of Armen Living Monte Dining Chair .

The Monte comes in black or gray faux leather, and is around $86.43 (check listing for latest price). This is very minimalistic chair if you have that type of minimal modern vibe. I think it also can be masculine or feminine and would look on point with a wood and dark metal desk.

Pro’s

  • Many reviews say the chair is both comfortable and sturdy.
  • These are very easy to clean – so great if you have kids!
  • Looks fairly simple to assemble.
  • 34 reviews with 4.4 out of 5 stars.

Con’s:

  • The pad on the seat is thin but dense.
  • Sounds like a couple of people couldn’t get the holes to line up during assembly – luckily there is a free return policy if that were to happen.

Link to the Armen Living Monte Dining Chair here (affiliate link).

Review of the Sauder Park Occasional Chair in Emerald Green.

Comes in Emerald Green Velvet or Black and White checks/houndstooth. Price is around $139 (check website for latest price).

I just love this chair. The velvet. The color. My hubby likes it too. I think it would go great with my black desk, what do you think?

Pro’s:

  • No wheels, which is a pro for me since I have a toddler and this will be on our main floor.
  • Swanky velvet fabric will make you feel like a boss.
  • Has a lot of cushioning for extra comfort.

Con’s:

  • No reviews on Amazon. What’s a girl to do?
  • There is the same named item on Amazon (above) in grey. The reviews were good and that it’s comfortable.
  • Would the legs/feet scratch a laminate or hardwood floor?

Link to the Sauder Park Occasional Chair in Emerald Green here (affiliate link) or directly from the manufacturer here.

Review of Rivet Modern Tufted-Back Dining Chair.

The Rivet Modern Tufted-Back Dining Chair is available in blue for around $125 (check listing for current price).

Pro’s:

  • The blue fabric will make any room uber classy.
  • The legs give it a mid-century modern feel.
  • Fabric will breathe better than faux leather.

Con’s

  • Only 6 reviews – 4.3 out of 5 stars.
  • No arms or wheels if you are into that kind of thing.

Link to the Rivet Modern Tufted-Back Dining Chair here (affiliate link).

Review of the OFM Core Collection Modern Fabric Upholstered Office Chair.

This chair is available in a light grey for $167, as well as a black faux leather for $218 (check listing for latest price). This one looks SO similar to the beige one from Room & Board in my inspiration photos. I think it would be a great add to any modern office.

Pro’s:

  • 3″ Thick coil spring cushion adds to the comfort of the seat.
  • Arm rests will also make it more comfortable.
  • Height is adjustable.

Con’s:

  • Only 5 reviews, but 4.7 out of 5 stars.
  • It is pretty large so may not work for small office spaces.

Link to the OFM Core Collection Modern Fabric Office Chair here. (affiliate link)

Review of AmazonBasics Modern Adjustable Low Back Armless Ribbed Desk Chair.

This beauty is available in Brick Red (pictured), Black, Grey, and White, for a price around $75 (check prices via the link). I had to include a cognac/saddle leather-like chair since that seems to be the rage lately to warm up any room. The brick red seems to be more like a cognac or reddish brown, versus a red.

Pro’s:

  • Slim design without being bulky, fits under any desk.
  • Very easy to assemble.
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars out of 440 ratings.

Cons:

  • Seat is a little firm, although most reviews say it’s comfortable.
  • Does not recline or have many adjustments other than the swivel and pneumatic height adjustment.

Review of Rivet Contemporary Dining Chair

Colors include Ink Blue (pictured), Forest, and Grey. Pricing is around $179 but check the listing for the latest price. Note the back does have a channel-back pattern on the back of the chair.

This chair has almost the exact same shape as the Room & Board Cora chair I took a photo of on my inspiration trip. That one was priced starting at $699, and had wheels, which won’t work for my room (or budget).

Pro’s:

  • Looks very padded and has super soft fabric for breathability.
  • Solid Wood Frame
  • Comes fully assembled

Cons:

  • Only 6 customer reviews, but a 4.8 out of 5 rating.
  • On the higher side for price, but still under $200, way cheaper than our inspiration chair at Room & Board.
  • May not have much lumbar support but the seat looks very cushy.

Conclusion

Well, that’s my roundup of the most comfortable modern desk chairs under $200. Remember – they (almost) all are sold on Amazon, AND offer FREE RETURNS. I hope this list helps you quickly find the perfect affordable chair for your modern home office, which will bring you joy!

Leave a comment below if you bought any of these chairs and let me know what you think!

Disclosure: The above post contains mostly affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at NO extra cost to you.

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