I have been shopping at HomeGoods for years, and my garage shows it. There was a time when I would go to HomeGoods and just buy anything that I thought was cute. I would be walking the aisles aimlessly thinking, “I don’t know what I’m looking for but when I see it I’ll know.” That led me to many impulse buys for things I did not need and items that did not fit my personal style or my space. It was a waste of money and time. I brought some of those items from our apartment hoping to use them in our new home, but they are still in our garage collecting dust. There are also many other decor pieces that ended up at the thrift store.   When I worked as a design assistant, I learned that many of these designers working on high end homes, used HomeGoods to style their clients’ homes. I was shocked and intrigued by how they found such amazing pieces that looked and rivaled many high end luxury home decor stores. After assisting many designs and installs, I finally learned how interior designers shopped at HomeGoods. I was able to leave my terrible shopping habits behind me and curate the home of my dreams (even though it was just an apartment at the time). After purchasing and renovating our home, I re-defined my style and started over and I am using the same process to shop at HomeGoods. Here’s my process on how you can find quality pieces at HomeGoods:

• Develop A Plan
• Find Examples
• Go Often
• Get Variety
• Test The Product

Develop a Plan

  Before you get your butt in the car to drive to your favorite HomeGoods store, you need to create a plan. Decide the room you want to design, your design style, and finally create a list. First up, What are you shopping for? Are you planning to refresh a room or updating a whole space? Are you shopping for a nursery or an office? Once you’ve decided on the space you’re working with, you need to determine your design style.  To figure out your design style, get inspiration. Go to pinterest, look in magazines, go to your favorite restaurant or hotel. When you see images that you are drawn to collect them and gather them into a folder and analyze what draws you to those images. Notice the items in the images, do you see lots of the same patterns, textures, fabrics, home decor, furniture.  If you need more help figuring out your style, you check this post, “How to Determine Your Style.”  Finally, after you’ve analyzed your inspiration images for repeating home decor, create a list for you to take to HomeGoods.  

Find Examples

Research high end pieces, go to home decor websites that are the style that you have identified. If you’re not sure which websites you should go to, I explain that here, “Where to shop for your design style.” Go to the home decor websites you resonate with and search through their products. Look at the products and note what they look like and what they are made of. Refer to your list and add your favorites to your pinterest or print them out for your folder.  

Go Often

To find the best decor pieces at HomeGoods, you have to go often. The good items are gone quickly so you want to go often so you are more likely to see all the best pieces and have the best selection. You don’t need to go every single day, but you can try going a few times a week. If that doesn’t work for your lifestyle, figure out which days weekly shipments are made and which days they put out stock. The best day of the week to go to HomeGoods depends on the store, but always go during the week, never go on the weekend so you can avoid the crowds. The best day to go to my local HomeGoods is on Mondays, they usually have a lot of returns from the weekends.  

Get Variety

Get variety from different stores. Not every HomeGoods has the same products so travel and go to different stores in different areas. Stores stock product depending on the demographics of the area, so remember that when you are looking for other HomeGoods to shop at.   

Test The Product

Before you buy anything at HomeGoods, you want to make sure it is a good quality piece. So inspect each product before you put it in your cart. Feel the product, does it feel solid and made of high quality material? Visually inspect the product, is there thread coming out, are the stitches straight, are there any bumps or holes or tears? You want to always inspect your items before taking them home with you because we only want the best high quality pieces.   

My Shopping Plan – an example 

I am currently renovating my shared office space with my husband. My plan is to fit a work area with two desks, a sitting area, a kids play area, and create a custom storage closet. It’s a small space so I have to be conscious of what items I am sourcing. I have my plan made and I created a mood board on my pinterest (you can check it out here if you’d like) and my shopping list.  Here is my shopping list for this space: 

• Black marble
• Unique shape glass vases
• Circular side table 
• Accent chairs 
• Fluted glass
• Ticking fabric
• Leather office chairs
• Sideboard/Credenza

My designer approved pieces from a recent Homegoods trip

  Marble items really elevate any space and it is a beautiful contrast to textured pieces, like wood, baskets, woven items.    Wicker baskets, everyone loves a basket. Make sure to test them for quality, Test the handles and make sure it is sturdy and holds its shape.    Black frames with mat   Black stone concrete vase   Accent chairs    Children’s poofs and knit baskets