Furniture is one of the most common things to purchase when you’re buying a new home or renovating your existing home. If you find yourself sitting on makeshift furniture made from cardboard boxes and pillows watching your television as it rests on the floor of an otherwise empty living room, you might know a thing or two about furniture shipping delays.
Don’t let the frustration of waiting for the perfect sofa ruin the wonderful experience of finally moving into your dream home. Understanding why shipping delays happen can help alleviate or at least lessen that frustration. Here we explain common causes for supply chain issues, what you can do to speed up furniture delivery, and how you can make the wait productive.
Why Shipping Delays Happen
Furniture shipments can be delayed for several reasons, often out of the control of the furniture seller or manufacturer. A few of the most common are as follows:
Limited Transport Space
It’s important to remember that the items you buy have to make their way to your door via ships, trains, and automobiles, and all those modes of transport have capacity limits. Surges in demand for furniture and other goods can mean there’s not enough space to transport all the items consumers buy from one place to another in the anticipated time frame.
Extraordinary Events
The world can be a crazy place at times. Unexpected or uncontrollable events — everything from extreme weather, to fire, wars, and even piracy — can delay shipments.
Production Delays
Sometimes, items can’t be shipped on time simply because the manufacturer hasn’t made them yet. Production delays often occur due to a lack of staff or materials. For instance, car production was heavily delayed in 2021 and 2022 due to a microchip shortage.
How to speed up the delivery window
If you don’t want to leave the delivery of your furniture to the whims of the fickle shipping gods, there are some things you can do to ensure your furniture arrives at your front door within a reasonable time frame. One of the best things is to shop for furniture with same-day pickup. By filtering your potential furniture purchases by this criteria, you can ensure that your sofa or dining room table won’t have to traverse entire oceans to make it to you. Many shops, such as your local CORT Furniture Outlet, keep their inventory on-site, ensuring what you see is what you get. No crazy wait times are necessary.
What to do while waiting
If you can’t find furniture that fits your space or your tastes within a reasonable distance from your home, there are a couple of things you can do to make the wait for your new furnishings more comfortable and productive.
1. Declutter
If you’re waiting on furniture, why not make sure the space that it will occupy is as uncluttered as possible? One of the best ways to make way for new things is to part with items that may no longer work with your current lifestyle, or that simply no longer work. Not only is decluttering a productive way to spend your time as you wait but it’s also proven to help alleviate stress. Win-win!
2. Take care of home projects
Are there landscape projects that need doing? Would the living room look better with a new coat of paint? If you’re moving into a new home, why not give the whole house a deep clean before moving in? Now is the perfect time to finally check all those projects off your home improvement checklist. You’ll get the satisfaction of completing tasks that have been on the back burner, and your new sofa will look even more impressive in a newly cleaned and updated space.
3. Rent furniture instead
Finally, if you just can’t stand the wait, you might consider renting furniture in the meantime — or even for the long term. You can fill your home with stylish pieces that look great and provide the creature comforts you crave, without the hassle of long wait times. And if you rent from CORT, they’ll even deliver the furniture and set it up where you want it, so you don’t even have to worry about wrangling friends and family to help you maneuver your new living room set through narrow door frames or up steep staircases.
Don’t put your life on hold waiting for furniture to arrive. Instead, consider renting what you need! With CORT, it’s easy to create a stylish, custom furniture and decor package that suits both your needs and your space. We’ll deliver and set up your rented items and take them away when you no longer need them. Browse packages online or drop by your local CORT showroom today to start enjoying CORT Furniture on your terms.
