Whilst online furniture stores provide an incredibly convenient way to buy furniture, there are situations in which it's best to shop for it at a store, in person. Here are some times you may want to visit a furniture store in person.

You have sensory issues and cannot tolerate certain fabrics

Many people have mild aversions to fabrics that have certain textures; for example, some individuals cannot stand the sensation of their skin rubbing against velvet fabric. However, if you have sensory issues, then the feeling you get when you come into contact with specific materials can be too overwhelming to bear. If you have this issue, then you must choose your furniture by going into a store.

Whilst you can order swatches of, for example, armchair fabrics from online furniture stores, you can't really tell if they'll trigger your sensory issues, as you might only find the sensation of a particular fabric bothersome if, for example, you can feel it brushing against your entire back whilst you're seated. A little patch of fabric won't provide you with this experience and therefore will not allow you to determine if you should buy the furniture that it has been used to upholster. As such, if you buy an item based on a swatch, you might end up with furniture that you need to return within days of receiving it.

However, if you go into a furniture store, you can check how upholstered furniture items covered in certain fabrics feel against, for example, your legs or your back when you use them. This will then help you to pick a fabric that you not only like, but which you feel comfortable being in contact with.

You need an extremely sturdy piece of furniture

If you need a particularly sturdy piece of furniture (for example, if you need a new dining table that will not only be used for your large family's thrice-daily meals but will also be used by your homeschooled children for hours each day), then it might be best to go into a furniture store to search for this item.

It's very hard to tell how robust a furniture item is based on a few images of it and a description of its materials and dimensions. However, if you go into a store looking for a dining table, you can examine the display version of the item you want and get a much better idea of how sturdy it really is. For example, you can grip and try to move the legs to see if they wobble, check that the tabletop is weighty and does not lift a little when pulled lightly away from the legs or see if the wood has any marks on it that might indicate that it scratches easily. If it passes each of these 'tests,' you'll then be able to feel more confident about it being suitable for use in your busy household.  

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