Choosing the right furniture for your home: style or functionality?
- Featured Lifestyle
Arushi Sakhuja
- 9 minutes read
Jade Crasto
It is a popular belief that your home reflects your personality. From the colour palette you choose to the choice and layout of your décor, people can find out more about you through the way your home is styled. But if you’re not well versed with décor and choose the wrong pieces of furniture for your space, it could confuse guests visiting your home. LuxeBook spoke to experts Sonali Batra and Akshita Sekhri, Founders of Mi Casa, Sarah Sham, Principal Designer at Essajees Atelier, Abhishek Kathuria, Founder and Creative Director of Rosabagh and Saba Kapoor – Co-Founder & Designer, Nivasa, to find out how you can choose the right furniture.
Picking furniture
“Choosing the right furniture is essential for creating an ambience that aligns with your likeness or taste. There are several variables that determine what should be kept in mind while sourcing furniture for your living spaces”, says Abhishek Kathuria, Founder and Creative Director of Rosabagh. Kathuria believes that one of the essential ingredients is to invest in timeless vintage pieces that embody the eternal quality of craftsmanship. Although we see the market being flooded with contemporary and modern furniture brands, vintage pieces will never go out of style or fashion. Saba Kapoor from Nivasa suggests that when it comes to picking out furniture, one needs to keep in mind the styling, the aesthetic that suits you and the actual dimensions and layout of the space. You need to ask yourself the question, “What is it that you really want to use the space for? For instance, if you were choosing a sofa, you would want to consider, should it be in leather? Or fabric? What should be the seat height? Is it for older people? Is it for younger people? Are you someone who entertains a lot? There are multiple things to consider while choosing your piece of furniture and the list genuinely goes on and on,” adds Kapoor.
Style or Functionality?
Style or functionality completely depends on the space and your aesthetics. According to Sonali Batra, “If I am looking to do my study area then I would choose functionality over style. Having a lightweight work from home desk is the need of the hour. Whereas the focus for my formal living area would be more plush and I would experiment with fabrics, prints and colour palettes.” For Sarah Sham, Principal Designer at Essajees Atelier, functionality comes first, style next. She realises a lot of people tend to select things based on the look and style of the product without realising its sole purpose and thus, these get discarded. Sham further explains, when it comes to balancing style and functionality, “You must first determine what is the functionality of that piece? Is this a dining chair that you would need to eat in? Is it a lounge chair that you need to watch a long movie in? or Is it a formal chair? Only after that you can decide on the design element.”
Synchronization
When it comes to designing our homes, the first thing we look at is the colour of our walls. You either go for a simple and plain white or teal for a pleasant and elegant feeling. But now it is of utmost importance that you synchronize your spaces colour palette to your furniture and décor. “The space has to be designed in such a way that all elements — wall colour, interior design, furniture — come together as a cohesive unit complementing each other,” says Kathuria. Saba Kapoor adds that, “the colour palette should be something that invites the vibe that you are going for within a room. If you want a room to feel muted and subtle, it is important that your walls and your furniture have a similar colour palette and look and feel.”
A touch of colour and warmth
Your home is meant to be your comfort zone. We all live busy lives, running up and down the city can be chaotic and overwhelming. So when you return home after a busy day at work, you naturally crave some warmth and cosiness. And the best way to do that is by adding upholstery, cushions, throw pillows, rugs etc. Sham recommends to keep all the furniture neutral and to play around with loose items like cushions, throws and lots of covers. For the bedroom she recommends doing a “really nice bedspread which can add a lot of colour and personality and warmth into a space, so it’s more the styling element versus the actual piece of furniture.” Kathuria suggests that in addition to adding throw pillows, upholstery and a pop of colour, adding greenery in the form of lush indoor plants is a great way to enlighten the spaces and to brighten up the space you can add interesting lighting fixtures. “The soft glow of these fixtures, if strategically placed in the home, can do wonders to enhance the overall look of your sanctuary,” says Kathuria. Another addition he suggests are mirrors, as they can be a beautiful break from the monotony and tie together the whole look of the room. If placed strategically they can be light enhancers for a dark room, and a distinct accent or reflect a piece of art or nature to add depth, be it a living room, bedroom, dining room, staircase or entryway.
