Appeal to Millennials

Simple Furniture Updates

“The Consumer Buying Trends Survey conducted by Furniture Today shows that millennials have become the largest consumer group in the US furniture and bedding market.” -- Forbes.

The way Millennials buy furniture is vastly different from the buying habits and patterns of older generations. Notably, Millennials are more apt and comfortable with making larger and more expensive purchases online, which is great for your business, as your buyer base is no longer as limited by geography and selling locally.

One of the greatest differences in Millennial furniture consumerism though, is the need for unique pieces, items that are less cookie-cutter and more customized and eye-catching. Millennials live in the age of social media where everything is photo op, including their own homes. Pieces that are colorful, eclectic and trendy will catch the eye of the Millennial shopper, and as it turns out, it is very easy to create the kinds of pieces the next generation of buyers want. Buying bulk liquidated furniture can be easily flipped and transformed into dazzling pieces using the following techniques.

PAINT FURNITURE A BOLD COLOR: Nightstands, dressers, chest-of-drawers and buffet tables are the perfect pieces for painting. You can easily disguise inexpensive pressboard or beat-up surfaces with a few coats of paint. This easy step will completely transform a piece of furniture and make it worth double or even triple when resold. White is always a popular color choice, as are various shades of grey, but choosing a bold color, like a deep blue or emerald green, is very on-trend at the moment. We recommend using Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration – where your target buyers are also gathering ideas from – to see what colors are popular and currently trending. For an easy-step-by-step guide for painting furniture, you can refer to this tutorial.

And you are not limited to one solid color of paint. Other popular designs in painted furniture includes Ombre effects, stripes and chevron patterns, as well as rustic/shabby chic distressing. You can use gold or silver paint to enhance accents or a contrasting color paint on the legs of the furniture, or on the top of it. Get creative, it’s what Millennials want!

Painting furniture is also a great way to create a set out of miss-matched pieces. If you buy a lot of furniture on Liquidation.com that has complementary pieces that aren’t exactly a pair or set, you can paint them using the same color and technique, and you now have a furniture set opposed to single pieces, which you can sell for a greater profit.

CHANGE OUT HARDWARE: Changing out the hardware on dressers, nightstand, armoires and other pieces can have a huge impact on the look of a piece and really take it from “run-of-the-mill” to something that looks expensive and refined. Matching wooden knobs are outdated. Instead try gold, rose gold or copper hardware, which are all very popular right now and will attract a wide audience. Similar to painting furniture, you can also paint hardware a bold or eye-catching color to compliment more traditional pieces. This will be perfect for the Millennial who wants something unique, but still classic. Also try using different, but complimentary, knobs and pulls on the same piece, for a different look. So, if a piece of furniture has drawers as well as doors, like an armoire or sideboard might, use knobs on the drawers and complimentary or matching pulls on the doors. Also extremely on trend is agate or geode knobs, which can be found retailing for over $15 per pull. This DIY tutorial breaks down how to create the same look for way less, a technique that will draw in Millennials and turn a huge profit.

TEMPORARY WALLPAPER FOR UNIQUE DESGINS: Ready to really transform the look of a piece of furniture? Create that true one-of-a-kind statement piece for the Millennial furniture shopper by using removable (or permanent) decals or wallpaper. You can use simple decals, such as gold polka dots, for a subtle flair on a wooden piece, or go full-out and wrap the sides, top or drawers in a colorful, patterned or textured wallpaper. Using a combination of wallpaper and paint will be a sure stand-out for the current-day home shopper. There are even a e-retailers that sell and create custom decals and stickers specifically to fit different furniture pieces, which you can find at MyKea and PANYL.

REPLACE THE LEGS: Replacing outdated, shaky or chipped/broken legs on a chair, coffee table, bench, etc. can make a world of difference on not only the look, but the stability of a piece. Plus, this easy swap will skyrocket your profits when you go to resell. Furniture legs and pegs and can be found all over the web, and you can nab everything from simple designs to truly stunning ones. Try some of these trends out to start:

• Acrylic or lucite pegs for couches, side or arm chairs
• Hairpin legs for coffee tables
• Brass or gold legs for couches and chairs
• Contrasting or bold colored painted pegs for benches, desks and side tables

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