shopping Archives

7 Questions to Ask Before Buying Upholstered Furniture

Are you in the market for upholstered furniture? Whether you’re furnishing a new home, updating a room, or replacing a single piece, there are many factors to consider before you begin. Here are seven questions to ask to help you start the furniture buying process like a pro! Will it fit? Measure the length and width of your room, including windows, alcoves, doorways, and fireplace hearths. Then create a floor plan on paper with the measurements to scale. Sketch in the dimensions of furniture you like. Finally, recreate your plan on the floor, marking the spaces for each piece with tape (use painter’s tape to be sure it won’t damage the floor). Add any ottomans and end or coffee tables. Does the arrangement work in your room? What’s your style? This is the fun part of furniture shopping. Knowing the style of furniture you like best and that fits in with your décor will help you choose a furniture source that offers the most choices for you. Magazines and design look-books are a good place to start and platforms such as Pinterest and Houzz are also terrific for honing your style. It’s easy to window-shop online today, but visiting [...]

By Helen Sullivan|2023-03-14T21:36:08-04:00March 14, 2023|

When Sales People Help

In one of my first jobs, my boss told me something I have always remembered and taken to heart during my career: A knowledgeable salesperson can provide an education and guide you in making a wise purchasing decision. When you’re in the market to buy something, it pays to connect with a salesperson that listens to you to understand exactly what you are looking for. You want someone who has invested time to truly know about the products he or she sells. You want the person to realize that making you happy is the key to avoiding returns and to building a business based on referrals from happy customers. If you walk into a store and don’t feel confident that the salesperson has your best interests at heart, ask for someone else or take your business elsewhere. I read recently that April is National Training Month, so I thought it is a good time to give a shout-out to the more than 2,000 bedding and upholstered furniture sales reps throughout the U.S. that have taken our CertiPUR-US® Certificate of Knowledge online training course. I want to applaud the companies that sell products containing certified foam that are encouraging their [...]

By Helen Sullivan|2022-01-25T12:57:08-05:00April 6, 2018|

Seven Tips for Buying a New Mattress

A mattress is one of the most important purchases you’ll ever make—after all, you spend approximately a third of your life in bed. The number of choices can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to lose sleep over it! These seven tips can help: Size matters. If you’re sharing a bed, you should buy at least a queen-size mattress. A healthy person moves 40 to 60 times a night and makes lots of full-body turns. For sound sleep, you need freedom of motion. Test-drive different models. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes you can easily slip off so you can lie down. Compare a variety of support levels and styles within your budget. Finding a bed that feels right is a personal choice. Look under the hood. Ask the salesperson to show you illustrated or actual “cutaways” of the interior of the different mattresses and foundations. The mechanics of innersprings and foams vary widely, which can greatly affect comfort. Find a reputable dealer. Furniture stores, department stores and sleep specialty shops all sell mattresses. Ask friends and family for referrals. If you don’t feel your salesperson is knowledgeable or helpful, take your business elsewhere. Go for the best value, not [...]

By Helen Sullivan|2019-05-24T09:49:57-04:00January 10, 2018|

What is Certified Foam?

Before the establishment of the CertiPUR-US® foam certification program, consumers looking for the comfort of knowing what’s inside the foam in their mattress and upholstered furniture--or rather, what isn’t--had no compass to guide them in the shopping process. CertiPUR-US has demystified a critical aspect of shopping for mattresses, mattress toppers, pillows and upholstered furniture, which typically contain conventional or viscoelastic (memory) flexible polyurethane foam for cushioning. CertiPUR-US-certified foams meet standards for content, emissions and durability, and are analyzed by independent, accredited laboratories. The CertiPUR-US foam certification program, administered by a nonprofit organization, was established in 2008 to combat substandard foams imported from other countries. In some cases, these substandard foams contained substances that had been banned in the U.S. or were listed by chemical watch groups as potentially being harmful. A group of foam manufacturers, in conjunction with environmentalists, academics, industry and consumer groups, and chemists developed a testing, analysis, and certification program specifically for these uses of flexible polyurethane foam. Now considered the industry’s most rigorous certification program for foam used in bedding and upholstered furniture, certified foams are: Made without ozone depleters Made without PBDEs, TDCPP or TCEP (“Tris”) flame retardants Made without mercury, lead, and other [...]

By Helen Sullivan|2019-05-24T09:36:36-04:00August 16, 2017|