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When it comes time to start buying furnishings, the hardest step is often figuring out how to go about it. This guide to buying furnishings solves the problem nicely!

When buying furnishings there is much you need to take into consideration. Your furnishings are something that you will have for many years to come, and picking the right piece can be an overwhelming experience. Taking this guide to buying furnishings into consideration before you head to the store will aid you in finding the perfect piece for your home.

Make sure you are prepared. Thinking of your long-term goals is extremely important. Before you visit your first store, make a floor plan of the room you are buying furnishings for to determine how a piece will fit and whether it will look right. Dimensions are equally as important. Know the exact square footage of the room, as well as the dimensions of each piece. You may see a couch that will look like it will fit but after you return home, you find out it is too large. This can all be avoided by traveling to all stores with a tape measure.

When buying upholstered furnishings, never buy a piece when you first see it without taking home a piece of fabric to test against your other pieces. Also, fabric looks different under various lights, so you want to make sure you try the fabric during both day and night to make sure you truly love it.

Testing the furnishings is probably the most valuable tip you should take from this guide. Make sure that it is comfortable for a long period of time. It may seem strange to be stretching out on a couch in the middle of a showroom, but furnishings are something that you can’t change your mind about later. Take your shoes off and get comfortable, and stay on it for a while before deciding. You’ll notice soon if the dining room table chairs you are sitting on put a strain on your back, or the couch you are sitting on becomes stiff.

Last, but definitely not least, never buy on impulse. You may see an item marked down 50 percent, but before you buy make sure that it is the exact color and shape you want. A sale makes you feel good about buying, but when you get home and realize that it doesn’t match or fit in, you will find yourself spending even more money to find a perfect piece later on.

Buying furnishings takes time, and should never be rushed. Quality furnishings may take months to find at the price you want. Just be patient and you soon you will have furnishings that can be handed down for generations.

Stephan Teak is with FurnitureStoresforYou.com - a directory of

I always used to think that moving was the one of the most disruptive events to bring voluntarily into your life. I have since found a more painful and time-consuming pastime – RENOVATING. The word itself masks the consequences it truly holds. One has visions of a little painting, possibly changing a light fitting or two and maybe putting in a lovely modern bathroom.

What you actually get is weeks of endless dust, an invasion of people into your home, an exponential increase in tea and coffee consumption, an up-close-and-personal encounter with belongings you neither had awareness nor need of and a huge increase in expenditure, which gives rise to cash flow crises. I have often thought over the past weeks – why can’t we just live in a shack on the beach, sit on the floor and only use one plate each?

While happy to indulge in slightly hippy fantasies, I fear that in this life I will probably not manage to shed my already numerous material possessions in favour of a carefree breezy existence. The fulfilment gleaned from house renovations is amazing and I am sure that once completed I will be proud to have put such industrious plans into action and seen them through to completion. But the end seems fairly distant at this point!

I have learnt some priceless lessons during this process and can only hope to pass them on to others so that you can benefit vicariously from them. This little list could save you countless problems and much disappointment:

1. Always check out references no matter how “honest” you believe the individual to be.

2. Do some research on the products you intend to use: i.e. wall coatings, exterior products and best practice methods for applying and installing your chosen finishes. This really helps, as at least you know a bit about what you are talking about and have an idea of what to expect quotes from contractors to be.

3. Get a professional, objective opinion on difficult issues. So often a fresh pair of eyes can see the wood from the trees in half the time that you have spent wrangling with the problem.

4. There is more than one way to skin a cat – use a bit of savvy and try to work with people who are prepared to be proactive in solving challenges, as they arise. I have found that resourceful individuals are worth their weight in gold. Use them and their experience to your advantage. Contractors who care about what you want can usually find a way to give it to you or at least get close to the perfect vision you had.

5. Understand that things will go wrong and try not to take the repercussions out on yourself, your partner or other loved ones. Few things are completely terminal and most broken items can be fixed (at a price). Find out about how to clean or repair fittings should damage occur - especially taps and baths. Buffing a bath is a vital piece of knowledge – for acrylic baths you can do it yourself with water paper to get scratches out and acetone for stubborn marks, or get a specialist in to do it for you. Check with your supplier before you go ahead with this just in case. Sealer can also be removed from chrome taps with water not turpentine or thinners, as they damage chrome. Just water, a fine green scouring pad and some elbow grease works a treat.

My advice overall is to be wary of the estate agents’ plug, follow your logical thought pattern and conclude that if renovating the house wasn’t worth it for the people selling the place it most probably won’t just fall into place for you. But with persistence, planning and a lot of patience you will see your dreams materialise. Sometimes things come out even better than you expected and sometimes you have to compromise a little or even a lot, but this is all worth it, if you enjoy the journey and accept that the destination is a work in progress.

Laura Dreyer has worked, lived and travelled a fair bit around the world. With a passion for challenges and a love for diverse cultures, she is currently renovating her new home in sunny Cape Town some 5000 miles from her native England. This beautiful city has afforded her the opportunity to begin work with justtheplanet.com Just the Planet a beautifully designed worldwide luxury travel website – exciting stuff.