If you are ready for a bedroom makeover but aren’t yet sure how you want to furnish your new relaxation oasis, consider the pros and cons of bedroom sets versus individual bedroom pieces.
While bedroom sets can offer ease of setup and comprehensive design, individual pieces allow you to find bargain furniture and mix and match your own personal style. This makes individual pieces more practical and versatile.
Whether you are a fan of the traditional Victorian style or prefer furnishing your home with a boho-chic aesthetic, deciding whether to get a bedroom set or individual pieces will impact the layout of your sleeping space. Continue reading to learn more about which option best suits your furnishing needs.
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What Are the Pieces to a Bedroom Set?
Originally developed during the Renaissance period, bedroom sets became all the rage for the wealthy elite. Before young babies were born, high society mothers would indulge in purchasing complete bedroom sets including bassinets, cribs, full beds with trundles, dressers, drawers, wardrobe, and end tables for their children-to-be.
In contemporary home decor etiquette, bedroom sets follow the same general guidelines that they did all those years ago. From sturdy places to hide folded laundry to bed frames for your mattress and box spring, the pieces to a bedroom set include:
- A bed
- A nightstand or two
- An optional mirror or vanity set with chair
- Dresser, armoire, wardrobe, or chest of drawers
- Headboard, bed frame, or both
- Optional matching lamps
While there are options for small bedroom sets, traditional bedroom sets, and large bedroom sets to suit different sizes of homes and bedrooms, most bedroom sets are made to intentionally match with the same colors, patterns, textures, and materials.
Where to Purchase a Bedroom Set
If you are interested in purchasing your own bedroom set, it is essential to know where to get one. Most contemporary bedroom sets are sold by major retailers, box stores, and even online. While these bedroom sets come with the convenience of color choice and moderate pricing, the tradeoff usually involves lower quality materials and generic designs lacking character.
The current trend for bedroom sets is now to order a custom set online. This can be done either through a custom design company or from an individual woodworker. While this allows some flexibility when it comes to design to suit your stylistic preferences, the tradeoff is that the cost will be much higher when ordering this way.
The Pros and Cons of Bedroom Sets
If ordering a bedroom set online, you are also taking the risk that your set may not fit the dimensions of your sleeping space. Always take measurements by square feet and inches, and try to be diligent when double-checking bedroom set item size descriptions.
Some additional cons of choosing a bedroom set include:
- High price point and poor return policies
- No style variation or ability to change sizing
- Set colors and aesthetics without the ability to customize
- Quality is often moderate to low, made outside of the United States
- Usually set to a specific bedroom dimension requiring specific placement in the room
On the other hand, some of the pros for choosing a bedroom set are:
- No need to make stressful decisions on which separate pieces to buy
- The set is pre-color coordinated to match
- These generic styles will usually match all interiors
- You can buy all your furniture in one place at one time.
While the pros of a bedroom set mean fewer decisions need to be made, and less overall shopping needs to be done, bedroom sets can be both aesthetically limiting and pricey.
Furnishing a Bedroom with Individual Pieces
Furnishing a bedroom with individual pieces is a great pastime for anyone that enjoys shopping, being creative with decorating, or interior design.
While this method of bedroom furnishing does not necessarily guarantee a completely cohesive bedroom set design, it does offer you the ability to mix and match your favorite patterns, fabrics, textiles, and materials to create a truly unique bedroom that speaks to your sense of style.
Where to Purchase Individual Pieces
The best thing about opting for individual furniture pieces rather than a bedroom set is that you can easily find high-quality and unique pieces at any of the following places:
- Antique stores or malls
- Garage sales
- Goodwill outlets
- Independently-owned furniture shops
- Thrift shops, resale stores, and vintage malls
Another great way to get creative custom individual bedroom pieces is to opt for a crafty DIY process if you cannot find any to your liking. You can easily purchase low-cost materials at a rebuilding center or scrap yard to sand, polish, and assemble into your very own hand-made nightstand or armoire.
The Pros and Cons of Mix and Match Furniture
Mix and match furniture is the ultimate current style trend, making creating your own bedroom set a fun and invigorating experience. Rather than ordering online and waiting for your uniform bedroom set to be delivered, you have the opportunity to express your style and hunt around your city for the best pieces to suit the mood you want to create in your bedroom.
Some additional pros of choosing a bedroom set include:
- Design your own bedroom setup to the dimensions of your home
- Low price point with the ability to get most items second hand
- Options for DIY, re-sanding, and repurposing furniture to customize it
- The ability to find high-quality antique pieces in accessible places
- The option to order single pieces through custom makers or online shops
- You have control over your color scheme and textile choices
While hunting for your own creative individual bedroom pieces can be a novel experience, some of the cons of individual pieces include the following:
- Building your own pieces requires ample time and woodworking knowledge.
- The effort needed to go from store to store looking for pieces
- It’s hard to find specific pieces when shopping second-hand or through antique shops.
- It can be challenging to transport individual pieces and may require truck rental.
Even though sourcing individual pieces for your bedroom can be time-consuming and take some energy or effort, it is worth it to get individual pieces because your bedroom furnishings will end up most likely being higher quality and lower cost.
You will also have the freedom to mix and match items to truly showcase your sense of style rather than purchasing generic pre-arranged bedroom sets from a box store or catalog.
Cultivating Your Sense of Style
The better option is to get individual bedroom pieces, allowing you to wow your guests and family members with your unique taste in bedframes, dressers, armoires, and cabinetry.
In addition to creating your own beautiful furniture scheme, you will have the option to change your style as time passes with minor revisions like switching out drawer pulls, sanding and painting, or even changing light fixtures or lampshades to match your evolving taste.
To keep up with the trends, save your family money, obtain unique and high-quality pieces, and offer yourself the freedom to customize your home, make sure to purchase individual furniture pieces for your bedroom and forego buying the traditional and outdated bedroom set.
Conclusion
Whether you purchase a bedroom set or decide to get individual furniture pieces for your bedroom is a personal choice that affects you and your family. While matching bedroom sets do offer low-maintenance and minimal effort while removing the requirement to make any stylistic decisions, opting for a bedroom set has become an outdated furnishing trend.