There is a huge range of furniture to choose from, but before decisions are made there are things that need to be seriously considered, such as:
• Room type
• Measurements of the room
• Angles and shapes, e.g. L-shaped, stairs and chimney breasts
• The way the natural light enters the room throughout the course of the day
• Doors, entrances and walkways
• Use of the furniture
As always, it’s a matter of what works best for you with regard to comfort, function and what you consider to be attractive.
It’s important to remember that sometimes things that are considered as opposing styles, such as Georgian, Victorian and mid-century furniture, can be quite happily incorporated into a modern style room given enough thought and planning to the overall picture.
As the purchase of new furniture can be quite a major expense, it’s worth taking the time to find the right piece for your project. With this in mind we need to consider durability versus cost, as the purchase of cheaper furniture can end up being a false economy if the piece doesn’t last at least a few years.
For instance, furniture bought for a home with a family, particularly small children, would need to be able to take a lot of wear and tear. Likewise, if you have pets it’s worth keeping in mind the areas the animal will have access to and the potential for damage. 
If you were considering choosing furniture to add to what you already have you need to consider how current and new furniture will blend with each other.
If you’re looking at furniture on the high street it may be worth having photos of existing furniture with you when visiting the store so you can more easily imagine them together.
Naturally, when buying sofas, chairs and beds, it’s very important to test them yourself for comfort before buying them. Don’t rely on descriptions by retailers, as they are bound to tell you the item is comfortable and will look great. Whenever possible, see it physically yourself. 
At the very least, look up reviews online written by people who have already purchased it. Ultimately it’s a matter of personal choice and preference, but doing this may raise issues you had not considered. 
It’s also worth remembering that modern pieces of furniture such as a sofa, whilst looking trendy and adding to the overall style of the space, may not always be as comfortable as you’d like. The same goes for chairs, whether in a sitting room or for dining. Of course, your budget will have an impact, but it’s still worth trying out various types of seating first. This process is time consuming enough, so you want to get it right first time around if you can. 
When it comes to buying things such as shelving and bookcases there are things to think about other than style and material. The bookcases will be used potentially by every member of the family, so is the shelving accessible to all the family members? In this case, the dreaded ‘health and safety’ needs to be considered and you may need to purchase a stool for smaller members of the family to reach higher shelves. It goes without saying that books for children should be kept at lower levels to avoid them climbing. 
If you’re buying a dining suite, note that some sets are sold with quite a difference between the height of the table and the seating. Again, it may look great, but could possibly feel uncomfortable if you can’t sit at the right height to eat comfortably. You will want to be able to sit with your forearms laying easily on the table. (This will also apply to desks and other work areas, but we’ll go into seating for other purposes in more detail later.)
Although there are other types of furniture, these tend to be for some sort of storage or display. In modern schemes we tend to have simpler shelving or cabinets, but if you wish to incorporate a more traditional piece such as a sideboard, try to make sure it harmonises well with everything else. 
We’ll talk about this more in the traditional interiors section and when discussing each type of room.
A favourite item can be displayed beautifully on a very simple piece of furniture, which will highlight it well.
It’s very easy to feel we need a lot of furniture to house practical items or beloved things, but we can sometimes end up with too much furniture which does not allow enough freedom of movement around the room or space around each piece of furniture. It’s therefore worth visualising and measuring an area carefully to avoid over cluttering or, indeed, not having room to move. 
Ongoing, we will discuss the space concerned with each room being decorated.
Next…. Lighting
