Jennifer Sheahan: Here's how I choose furniture for a home

'The problem is rarely a lack of nice furniture. Usually, the pieces simply haven’t been chosen to work together, or the room hasn’t been thought through before the shopping started'

Jennifer Sheahan likes to choose multifunctional pieces and takes care with the placement of each item.

Furniture is one of the most exciting parts of designing a home — and also one of the easiest places to come unstuck. There are endless options, endless styles, and no shortage of opinions on what you "should" choose. Walk into any furniture showroom on a Saturday afternoon, and you’ll see the glazed look I’m talking about.

But when I visit people’s homes to help with interiors, I rarely find that the problem is a lack of nice furniture. Plenty of furniture is nice. Usually, the pieces simply haven’t been chosen to work together, or the room hasn’t been thought through before the shopping started. Creating a home that feels calm, cohesive and genuinely put-together has surprisingly little to do with trends and a lot to do with understanding a few simple principles.