the look for less {part dos}

Did you know that the price of furniture is negotiable??

Neither did I. Until last year.

Backing up a bit. We've been married for five years. We have been slowly purchasing our furniture as we've gone along. For our Fourth anniversary we decided we would invest in a bed frame. We knew we wanted a dark wood panel bed. So the search began.

Those of you in Utah will be familiar with the store Down to Earth at Gardner Village.



It's located in a beautiful Red Barn in a historic shopping center. They sell the most awesome furniture, I love the store so much. It's one of my favorite stores to browse. It's one of those places I could probably find things for every room that are my taste and style.They do custom upholstery and sofas as well. We found a set there that I loved, but it was pricey. We waited until the bed went on sale and purchased just the bed and decided to save up for the rest.

I'm glad we didn't buy it all at once, and here is why:

I learned who the supplier was, and I did some homework. I found a few other retailers in the area, they didn't have it in stock, but where able to order it.

When it came time to buy the dresser and night stand last fall, I checked the price at my favorite store, then I got onto the website of the manufacturer (home elegance) and called around to every other store in my area. I was surprised at how the prices varied. The store with the cheapest price came in about $250 lower on the dresser and about $70 lower on the night stand. For the same pieces of furniture!!!That's a big difference. The only problem was that they had to order it and I would have had to wait for about 6 weeks. No big deal...

But I made one more call. The closest store to my new home. I talked directly to the manager and asked if he would match the price of his competitor.I let him know I was willing to buy it that day and that I was ready to pay cash if he would do it. He took my phone number and crunched the numbers, called me back in a matter of minutes and said "sure. When do you want it delivered?" End of story. I saved over $300 on the whole set.

It pays to do some homework, and to be patient. I hated the mis-matched look that I put up with for about a year, but it worked to our advantage. And especially in economic times like these, if you can pay cash for what you are buying some retailers are willing to come down on the price a little. The sale holds no risk for them, they are guaranteed to get their money.

And now for your viewing pleasure, I present to you....
The Master Bedroom...

In all of it's un-decorated glory. And because we're all friends here, and because this blog is about decorating for "the rest of us" I totally don't mind showing it to you in this state.

Consider this a "before" picture.







This room is like an empty canvas, waiting to be injected with personality.

We've been in this house for a little over three months and so far all I've done is change the green pillow out for accent pillows of various other colors to test the waters.

I've held off mostly due to color commitment issues, but I now have a plan in place and will probably get it going after my oldest boy's bedroom is done.

In the mean time I don't hate that it's pure and untouched, and I find something a little soothing about the quietness of it. The white bedding will stay, but I'm planning for a lot more texture and some little pops of surprise color (without loosing the serenity of it all.)

Oh, and here's the link to the manufacturer's site and the exact model number of my set.

I think I'll never pay full price for a piece of furniture again, now that I know you don't really have to. There are deals out there for those who dare to ask.

Good luck and happy wheelin' and dealin'!