Furniture: What Does Your Home Say About You?

Deciding on materials for your home furniture is a difficult decision as there are many factors you need to consider.
Top 5 Considerations:
? Practicality
? Cost
? Style
? Durability
? Colour
Different people will always prioritise different factors, and everyone has an individual taste when it comes to colour and style.
But while there is no one simple answer to which kind of furniture you should buy, the guide below will give you an insight into what certain materials are likely to say about you!

Image by Boa-Franc

Oak
If you have lots of oak in your home you are likely to be family orientated. Oak suggests a warm, traditional, country style of living.
Oak?s durability makes it great for families with children!
An oak dining table is a beautiful centrepiece at the heart of your home and oak living room furniture can extend your countryside theme further into the house.
There are two types of oak furniture available ? solid oak and oak veneers.
Solid Oak: If you are looking for an investment piece, then choosing solid oak is a great option. Solid oak will last a very long time, and can always be re-sanded and re-finished. It is also unique and has lots of character.
Oak Veneers: But if solid oak is too expensive for your budget, oak veneers may be a better choice. Veneers improve the look of cheaper materials, and while not as durable as solid oak, they are still visually appealing.
Oak comes in red and white varieties; red is the most popular, white is the most durable.

Glass
A home with lots of glass furniture is likely to belong to someone neat, modern and fashionable. The owners of glass dining tables are people who enjoy entertaining
If you have young children it?s best to avoid glass furniture; it may be easy to clean, but it is also easy to break!
A glass dining table looks elegant and sophisticated; perfect for wining and dining, and little need for decoration. Glass topped coffee tables offer a lovely way to display photographs or artwork. Great if you?re creative!
Furthermore, glass bookshelves offer an elegant way to display your collections, without taking attention away from the rest of the room.

Dark Wood
Dark hardwood suggests confidence and power. If you have lots of dark wood in your home it is likely that you are high flying, with a good sense of style.
Dark wood can easily overpower a room, so if you are not knowledgeable about interior design, try to use it in moderation. It is also best used in rooms that get a lot of light.
Two popular dark hardwoods are walnut and mahogany. Walnut is available in light brown to dark; mahogany comes in a range of colours, from tan to a reddish-brown. While not quite as durable as oak, these woods have a good resistance to wear and tear.

Plastic
If you have lots of quality plastic furniture in your house, it is likely that you are a risk-taker on the cutting edge of modern design. If, on the other hand, you have adapted plastic garden furniture for home use, it is likely that you are extremely budget conscious!
It is difficult to analyse a home with plastic furniture, as plastic is usually found at either the top end or the low end of the furniture scale.
If you want your home to look warm and inviting, solid plastic is not the material to use. But its durability makes it the ideal material for a child?s playroom.
Alternatively, PVC veneers are a great way to introduce bright colours into your home, and used in moderation they can still make a home look comfortable. They are very on trend at the moment, and particularly good on kitchen units, for an instant design statement!
If your goal is to create an ultra-modern living space, then plastic could be the ideal material for you. It is also a great choice if you have an eye for design and love mixing and matching bright colours.

Which Should I Buy?
Ultimately it?s always going to be down to personal choice, and every material can look great in the right setting.
But before you go shopping, try ordering the bullet points at the top of the page from 1-5. As long as you know from the start what is most important to you, you?ll be sure to be happy with the end result!

Which is your favourite material?

Estelle Page is a freelance interior designer and design-conscious blogger, on a mission to make interiors everywhere stunning, one home at a time.

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