How to find furnishings to suit your home and budget

So you're not a design whiz, but you really don't want to hire one, either. You might just find happiness in a medium where enlisting design help is as easy as buying a sofa.

Lots of Seattle-area furniture stores have designers on staff who will help customers pull together a look from the store's stock — and many offer this service for free.

At Bassett Furniture Direct in Tukwila, 14 "idea coordinators" are trained to create and complete room designs, said assistant manager Angeline Hart. Some are professional interior designers; others are trained by Bassett.

Technically, an interior designer is trained to be able to work with an architect to make changes in lighting, wiring or structure, according to Hart.

"We're truly working with decoration," she said. "A lot of people think a designer and a decorator are the same, but most people are only looking for a decorator."

Painless process

The process is similar either way, Hart said. Customers are given a worksheet to list preferred colors, textures and patterns; goals for the room; and a budget. Idea coordinators (who double as salespeople) then go to the customers' homes to take measurements and digital photos and check out wall colors and existing pieces.

"We come back from the home with a clear idea of what we're working with, what the customer wants," said Hart, who has worked in the industry 25 years.

Back at the store, floor plans are drawn and fabrics pulled, and a computer program lets buyers see how any of Bassett's 100 furniture frames and 1,000 fabrics would work together. In-store "presentations" demonstrate how the furniture would look and feel with real area rugs, fabrics, lamps and florals.

"It's really unique," said Monique Stantliff, Bassett's director of sales. "Instead of using a piece of paper with swatches glued on, we do a 3-D presentation to show tactile things."

There is no contract to sign, Hart said, and furniture prices are not inflated to compensate for design help. As long as customers intend to buy from Bassett, the decorating service is free, she said.

Almost all of Bassett's sales are custom orders, and the average order takes four to six weeks to deliver.

Most younger customers will spend $3,000-$5,000 on their first major purchase, Stantliff said, and many will have a floor plan drawn now, then add on one, piece by piece, as they can afford it.

Design among the young

The design service is an increasingly popular option, Hart said — especially for younger adults.

"It used to be that after the kids were into their late teens and weren't going to damage furniture anymore, parents would come in and do the home she's been dreaming about all those years," Hart said. "But now it's young couples, with no children, or a first or second child, and they want to do a home that suits their personal taste and expresses their lifestyle."

It's popular among another demographic, too — professional designers.

"We have quite a few interior designers come in because they know we have all the fabrics right here, plus 100 [furniture] frames to choose from," Hart said. "They're charging their customer for the time, yet we're right here and can do it for free."

Another store that offers design help is Ethan Allen. Design consultants meet with customers in the store to determine their needs, then visit and measure their homes, discuss their style, draw up floor plans and offer computerized presentations.

This is a free service, if customers plan to buy the bulk of their furniture from Ethan Allen.

Ethan Allen designers work on everything in the home from furniture to floor coverings, and window treatments to paint colors and accessories.

Avoiding regrets

Becky Dietrich, a senior designer at Ethan Allen in Redmond, said it's important to take advantage of design services to avoid regrets later.

"Most people cannot visualize space and have no idea of scale or color coordination," she said. "It's easy to spend lots of money and make lots of mistakes."

While Ethan Allen may have higher prices than some stores, Dietrich said their furniture mark-up is "very small; we make up for it in volume." Indeed, she said she sees many second- and third-generation Ethan Allen customers.

"A lot of people who walk in the door, their parents and grandparents had Ethan Allen furniture," she said. "It's all about quality."