Not all of us have the luxury of starting from scratch when we're redecorating a room, so it's important to think about what your new furniture will have to coexist with. Before you set foot in a furniture store, it's helpful to know two things...

1. Know your style. If you just buy whatever you like, the combinations may or may not work together. Avoid getting too eclectic by deciding on your personal style and sticking with it.
   
   
2. Know the size of your room and the hallways and doors leading to it. Too much furniture comes back to furniture warehouses because it didn't get through the doorway! And even if it does, nothing makes a room look smaller than furniture that uses up all the space. Compare the dimension of your room to the dimension of the furniture and make sure there's still plenty of walking space. Measure furniture from end to end, and if your room is small, avoid furniture that takes up more space than it needs to – such as flared-out arms on a sofa or flared-out sleigh beds that eat away precious space.

1. Stand in front of a chest and trying moving it from side to side. Make sure it doesn't wobble or sway. Pull out a drawer and see if it stays true to its drawer glide. Do the same to a bed and corner of a sofa. Well-made furniture doesn't sway, or rack, as we say in furniture land.
   
   
2. Check that each large drawer has a drawer stop and doesn't pull right out. Avoid the flimsy plastic drawer stop attached to the back of cheaper drawers. They don't hold and often break off. Instead look for drawer stops that are integrated into the drawer construction itself.
   
   
3. Check how the drawer joints (corners). Interlocking joints are better than straight joints, and English or French dovetails joints are the best.
   
   
4. Drawers should move easily on their glides, and fit back perfectly into the frame. Check for even spacing between each of the drawers and the frame.
   
   
5. Make sure mirrors don't distort your image. Stand close up, then stand as far back as you can. Some manufacturers use cheaper mirrors to save money.
   
   
6. Pull out several drawers in a dresser or chest at the same time to make sure it doesn't topple over. This is especially important when choosing kids furniture.
   
   
7. Find out what the furniture is made of. Check the manufacturer's product specifications. Solid wood isn't affordable for most of us, and not easy to find. It also isn't necessary. Veneer panels with solid wood molding is good too, and tends to warp less than solid wood. And remember that heaviness doesn't indicate quality. It may indicate the opposite. Particleboard and fiberboards are heavier than solid wood.
   
   
8. Feel under the bottom of sofas and drawers for corner blocks – a triangular piece that attaches side and front (or back) frame. Corner blocks keep shapes intact and reduce warping and damage.
   
   
9. Feel how much padding there is between fabric and frame on a sofa, chair or headboard. If you can feel the wood frame under the fabric with your fingers, these areas will wear more quickly and won't be comfortable if you're resting your arms, back or any part of your body against them.
   
   
10. Check how the back of a dresser or chest is finished. Furniture that's backed with a cheap piece of stapled-on fiberboard will be cheaper in price, but won't last as long.

1. Careful tailoring – extra top stitching, hand-stitching, hand-carving, poker-straight seams, complex veneers, inlays and mixed materials mean more labor went into the piece
   
   
2. More materials – features such as self decking on a sofa (the fabric covers the entire frame, even under the seat and back cushion), higher sides on the interior of a drawer, and a finished back on chests (the material used on the front is the same material used on the front) mean more materials were required
   
   
3. More expensive materials – solid wood rather than wood veneer, expensive fabrics, rare materials cost
   more. No surprise there.
   
   
4. No seams – leather sofas and wood frames without any seams often mean that a single piece of wood or fabric was required. For the manufacturer, that meant finding a big piece of wood or leather without any blemishes.
   
   
5. No blemishes – knot-free wood and blemish-free leather is more expensive and more difficult to acquire.
   
   
6. Dovetailing – every case piece features many joins – places where two pieces come together at a 90-degree angle. The stronger these joins, the more structurally sound the piece. Interlocking joins such as English and French dovetails are more labor intensive, but the best money can buy.
   
   
7. Dust-proofing – when every drawer in a dresser or chest is separated by a piece of wood, it's dust-proofed. This high-end feature means that each drawer sits in its own case, reducing the dust and dirt that can accumulate and making sure items from one drawer can't fall into the drawer below.
   
   
8. Reinforcements... extra sturdy construction such as five-sided drawers (the front panel of a drawer is attached to an interior front drawer panel), extra legs, rails and stretchers, and extra pieces of structural wood reduce damage and wear, especially when furniture is moved a lot.
   
   
9. Designer names – just like in fashion, getting a designer to design unique furniture or put their name on a furniture collection costs money.
   
   
10. Brand name – a brand name usually indicates a company will be around for awhile and that their name can be associated with a certain quality standard. Branded companies usually invest more in research, development and advertising, raising the price of their furniture.

It's not just your taste preferences that differ from someone else's. Your lifestyle does too. So buy furniture based on how you live.

• Do you live by yourself or with other quiet adults? If so, the world is your oyster. Go crazy... white sofas, silk pillows, mirror-front chests, glass tables – you've got the furniture world by the tail. Have fun.
  
  
• Do you have young children? Good news! You don't have to wait until kids are grown to get new furniture! Just look for hale and hearty fabrics – dirt-hiding patterns and textures like chenille and jacquards, heavy leathers that even scissors won't easily cut through, or a fabric that cleans easily. You might want to wait on the glass top tables for now. Also, be careful about bunk beds – don't use them for children under six years old.
  
  
• Do you live with pets? Leather is a great choice, but buy the heaviest grain you can afford. Animals can wear away at thinner leather hides. If you're going with fabric, buy dense weaves and avoid very dark shades that show every hair. Or choose a sofa that matches the color of your pet. And avoid velvets, some microfibers and other high-pile fabrics that build up static, attract hair and can be a nightmare to clean.
  
  
• Are you always in a hurry? If you move through your house at a quick pace, avoid chairs with arms that jut out, footboards with finials that you'll snag your clothes or yourself on, or platform beds with feet that aren't recessed because you'll stub your toe every time.
  
  
• Do you entertain a lot? Consider high capacity sectionals or plenty of lightweight chairs you can move around. Leather is good if you're worried about wine and food stains.
  
  
• Do you hate to clean? Avoid furniture with recessed grooves, grids, ornate detail and nooks that will fill with dust and have you using a toothbrush to clean them. Glossy furniture shows fingerprints and very dark and very light fabrics show everything. Opt for dirt-hiding fabrics in mid-toned colors.
  
  
• Do you like to change your mind? Contrary to popular thought, you don't need to live in a beige world to keep your options open, but do stick with solid colors on big pieces. Besides white, black and beige, look at colors such as wrought iron, sepia, taupe, khaki, honeydew, olive and ocher. These versitile colors can go with alot of accent colors
  
  
• Do you move frequently? Avoid particleboard furniture. It's perfectly fine for staying where it is and lasting forever. Just don't plan to move it often.

• Sofa patterns, especially stripes, should match (continue uninterrupted) from top to bottom, and from side to front and back.
  
  
• Wood grain variations are a natural part of wood furniture, but wood colors should match between panels (drawers, door, panels and frame).
  
  
• Avoid large or loose fabric weaves if your pets have claws.
  
  
• If you've got big or tall friends, or you like to lean on furniture, don't skimp on small or thin pieces.
  
  
• If you're worried about furniture wear and tear, buy furniture with a distressed finish... future wear will be less noticeable.
  
  
• If you don't like fingerprints, stick with matte rather than glossy or polished finishes.
  
  
• If you don't clean regularly, choose patterned or textured fabrics, and avoid extremely light or dark solid colors
  
  
• Be wary of new trends that won't last. What's to-die-for right now may be yesterday's news in a year or two. If the furniture isn't comfortable, timeless and a color you can live with for a long time, be careful how much you invest.

• Is your space tight? Look for extra features – underbed storage, or a storage bench rather than chairs. Look inside drawers to see how high the sides are. Some manufacturers save money by making the inside drawer sides shorter than the front, decreasing their storage capacity.
  
  
• Do you need to get organized? Look for drawers that section off areas for different types of storage solutions. Also check how far you can pull the drawer out – most drawers pull out about two thirds of the way. That's fine for larger items, but frustrating when you can't get to the back of the drawer to retrieve small items.
  
  
• Do you work in your bedroom or in bed? Make sure your night stand is big enough to hold a good reading lamp, or look for a headboard where you can clip on a small reading light. You can also swap a night stand for a small writing desk.
  
  
• Do you have trouble sleeping? Don't let a sales associate rush your decision on a new mattress. Ask to be left alone for 15 minutes or more, and sprawl out, simulating the same position you sleep in at night, and letting your body completely relax. Wear pants when shopping for a mattress and bring a shawl or small blanket so you're comfortable.

• First, find out what your personal style is. If you're not sure, take our free Environmental Personality test. Your personal preferences will help determine which furniture styles you should live with. You'll have the option to learn more about each of the EP Profiles™ after you complete the survey.
  
  
• Second, browse our room design search page to find rooms you like.
  
  
• Finally, browse our Room Cues™ to find a room style you love. Each of our popular room styles are cross-referenced to our EP Profiles™, and will help you pull together the furniture, accents and colors that make your favorite style work.