Furniture and Furnishings

Furniture and Furnishings 3(1+2)

Lesson 09:Budgetiong/Cost Estimation Of Furniture for Different Income Groups And Areas

A Plan

A three- year buying plan which provides for the purchase of a few important pieces each year is usually recommended for newlywed couples of a low income. This not only fits the purse but also insures more satisfactory results as it allows time to acquire knowledge about furnishings.

The first- year purchases for the living room should include a sofa or four straight chairs, a painted kitchen table, painted bookshelves, three end tables, two lamps, three scatter rugs, and simple thin curtains. For the bedroom a good permanent spring mattress can be used without a regular frame. A painted stool and chest of drawers could be added. A shelf under a mirror may be used for a dressing table.

The second-year purchases should include a living-room rug and a good permanent table. The scatter rugs should then be put in the bedroom. A dining table can be improvised.

The third-year should see the purchase of another upholstered chair, an easy chair, draperies, and another lamp or two for the living room. The bedroom might gain an easy chair, night tables, and lamps.

Plans of this kind provide for the necessities only, at the beginning. One should realize that vacant space is not unpleasant but restful. The permanent pieces should usually be of the best quality in the class of furnishings within one’s means. Temporary pieces such as lamps and dishes should be very inexpensive.

Any plan should be elastic so that it can be adjusted to meet new conditions. Five - year plans are sometimes more practical than three.

A young couple with imagination might well consider their low budget a challenge and make a game of creating something useful and beautiful out of ordinary things, possibly from second- hand stores. They should be frankly poor and cherish most those things which were their greatest bargains, or which they themselves had made.
It is usually well for newly weds to postpone investing in any furniture until a careful study has been made of well- designed interiors and furniture in books and periodicals as well as in the shops.