"What's selling these days?"
Well, that depends. Ask a suburban realtor and the answer is a four-bedroom bedroom colonial with an updated kitchen. Ask a car dealer and it's a Tesla for the nouveau riche and, for the rest of us, a pre-owned low-mileage mid-size SUV.
Lots of people ask that question of us here at Furniture Consignment Gallery. The easiest answer is what's not selling: soiled chairs or sofas, country dining room sets with chicken wire instead of glass on the china cabinet, television cabinets as big and heavy as sarcophagi, or anything Queen Anne, Italian Provincial, or Mediterranean.
The fastest selling items in our showroom? Predictably, those are the pieces in neutral colors with classic lines. A white sofa with simple lines sits on the showroom floor for about five seconds. As soon as one arrives, I can close my eyes and silently count "one, Mississippi, two, Mississippi" – and the sofa vanishes instantly!
What I love are the bold, the daring, the fun pieces. Purple velvet chairs with nailhead trim stop our customers in their tracks when they're strolling around our showrooms. Everyone pauses to brush the soft velvet with their hands and exclaim over the rich color and style. But when it comes time to buy, they opt for the white swivel chairs every time.
Take a walk on the wild side, folks. Don't be afraid to show some personality. Give the neighborhood something to talk about. Buy the purple chairs or the orange chaise and make a statement. Style should be exciting, enthusiastic, and opinionated. It's your home. Have some fun with it.
